It’s only been a month since my last blog post… YIKES! I promise I have a good reason, but we’ll get to that later. I’m excited we were able to update our “TV over the mantle” look over the holiday break. We got a hand-me-down TV from my parents, and it was quite an upgrade for us. We finally committed to the idea of hanging our TV, and I’m happy to share the experience.
Late Bloomers
This is old news for 75% of you, and the other 25% probably either don’t have a mantle or hate the look of a TV over the fireplace. When we bought this house, I noticed the outlet about the mantle and swore I would never put a TV up there, I thought it was ugly and tacky. *Sigh* It’s really practical though, and after enough searching on Pinterest, I determined it didn’t have to be design suicide. So this post is for the few of you who are still considering hanging your TV, but have been on the fence.
How this Turned DIY
To be honest, we had every intention of paying someone to do this project for us. The TV is about 100lbs and the idea of lifting it 8ft off the ground wasn’t thrilling. We excitedly marched into Best Buy and asked to set up a TV mount install, that is, until we discovered the price of just the install was $200. WHAT?! That doesn’t include the $130 mount. So, plans changed. We bought the Sanus tilting mount, it seemed like a good middle of the road option. I’m really happy we went with this brand, because they hold your hand through the entire process. They even have online tools to help you measure exactly where to drill your holes.
3 Fairly Easy Steps
This really was a fairly easy process. You follow the instructions to attach the brackets to your TV. Then you secure the plate to the wall. This was by far the most tedious part, but it wasn’t awful. I measured multiple times just to make sure it was centered above the mantel, level and centered on the studs. Finally, you hook the brackets on the TV to the wall plate and snap it into place. The last step was a (strong) two person job, my husband and his friend (paid in pizza and beer, of course) lifted the TV and latched it without too much trouble.
Before
After
I know this was a brief overview of the project, but that’s all it really needed. The instructions were clear, I didn’t want to pull my hair out, and it can easily be done in an afternoon. What do you think of the results? Do you have your TV mounted, or do you hate TVs over the fireplace?
Thanks for stopping by!
XO,
Liz
