“How can I hide the TV?”

That’s a question I’m often asked, and there are a couple of ways I suggest you tackle that problem. But this new solution is rocking my world, and I can’t wait to share it with you today! You’ll also get a sneak peek of one of the bedrooms in our “new” old home.

I am not a fan of hanging a television above a fireplace, but there’s a fireplace in every room of this house and that’s where it had to go if I wanted one upstairs. You see, when you live in a 200+ year old house with solid masonry walls, it’s just not as easy to install internet and cable as in a new home with drywall and hollow space behind it. The connection had to come in from the attic above, snaked in aluminum conduit through the ceiling and down the wall.

It’s hard to make that pretty, guys! If you’ve been following our restoration of Granbery Manor on Instagram or YouTube, you may remember that I decided to have the trim carpenters build out a chimney box above the fireplace in order to hide the conduit and wires. First, we framed out the “chimney box.” You can see the metal conduit and junction box that is now running down the wall:

framing out the chimney box

They drywalled over it and made sure the outlet would be behind the tv when it was hung.

It was then painted out, and crown molding was added at the top to tie in with the existing old crown.

But how on earth was I going to hide the tv? There is nothing pretty about a big, black box on a wall – and certainly not above a fireplace in a historic home.

You are not going to believe how easy this is! Artcast takes blank television screens and transforms them into vast art galleries that are perfect while NOT watching tv and when entertaining guests. Artcast is a tv app that is available through streaming devices like Apple TV and Roku. While you can pay for expanded art galleries, there are many art options that are completely FREE. These are some free options that I have been using to hide the tv when it’s not on – which is most of the time in my house:

What a difference! I have had several guests come through this bedroom and not even notice that this isn’t “art,” but actually a television above the fireplace. Of course, I always point it out to them because I’m so proud of the result!

This is NOT a paid promotion – I’m just a happy camper who is loving having beautiful, changeable art that can hide the television in my bedroom!

We also use this to hide the tv in our library, where our family hangs out and entertains the most. I’ll show you that on another day when the room is cleaned up!

You know, in a way, Artcast is better than a single piece of art. I can change the art whenever I want a different look or style in the room.

Maybe others of you are already using Artcast to hide the tv in your home. If not, what do you think of this ingenious way to disguise the big, black box? Any other ideas that have worked for you?