Pretty boxwood wall covering around your mounted TV

One of the projects featured in the NY Times article is the boxwood wall covering around my mounted LCD. We put a small hole into the sheetrock, (easily patched and painted if I move), and pulled wires down to the baseboard. The big screen is then nestled into a white garden of artificial boxwood.

The boxwood sits on top a layer of 1/8" foam core on blocks cut from a 2x4, which are then glued to the wall. The benefit of this is two fold. One, the glue will scrape off if you have to move and you are left with the duty of repainting. Second, it works for those who don't have the capabilities to build a large plywood frame - this structure is temporary but very sturdy!

When prepping for this project, you need to know exactly how big you plan to make your wall. Our wall was approximately 6' x 4' not counting the cutout for the LCD. Using this information, you can draw out the number of boxwood squares, the number of 2 x 4's, and amount of foam core you need. Each project is different, so use this DIY as a guide of the technique, rather than a specific recipe.

Step 1 Materials & Tools

MATERIALS:

• Plastic Spray Paint Primer (my wall took 6 cans)
• Plastic Spray Paint in the color of your choice (my wall took 9 cans of white)
• Artificial Boxwood Mat You can use grass, flowers, or any artificial covering as long as its fairly lightweight. (my wall needed 32 10x10.5 squares) We ordered ours from Philadelphia Botanical Products and we suggest you do the same as they were so wonderful to work with!
• 1 or 2, 2x4 boards cut into 4 squares
• Liquid Nails or Loctite Power Grab

(use a quick dry liquid nails found in the caulking aisle of your hardware store)

• 1/8 Foam core sheets (If you plan to paint your boxwood, like I did. You need to make sure the foam core is the same color or a similar hue to your desired boxwood color.)
• Marking pencil

TOOLS:

• Measuring tape
• Laser Level
• Calking gun
• Metal rulers (we used a 3' t-square and 12 short rule)
• All purpose Scissors
• Utility cutter
• 120 grade sandpaper or lightweight wire brush
• Circular saw or chop saw (if you don't have access to tools like this, you can have the 2 x 4's pre-cut at the store most Home Depot and Lowes stores will do cuts for you)

Comments

[slysimon]

A little too twee for me. But a good instructable and a great way to hide all those ugly cables.