Your bedroom TV wall looks like a sad, empty wasteland right now, doesn’t it? I get it – you mounted that beautiful new TV, stepped back to admire your work, and realized you basically created a giant black hole in your bedroom’s design. The good news? You don’t need to raid your savings account or sell a kidney to fix this situation.
Study after study after study has shown me that when you have to make a TV wall visually exciting without draining your bank account, creativity always beats money all the way. You only need to find where to spend your efforts and what DIY hacks work in fact. Believe me, your wallet will not comment and nor will your bedroom.
Planning Your Budget TV Wall Transformation
Setting a Realistic Budget
Be it in figures without letting your credit card wail. I always advise people to get at least 50-150 dollars or 150-300 dollars or you can go crazy. That sounds possible, does it?
The point is that you should make priorities in your spending. It will take you a lot less cash to invest in one large feature (such as an accent wall, or floating shelves) instead of loading up on a bunch of cheaper accessories that, frankly, will look cheap.
This is the way I prioritise on budget:
Measuring and Planning Your Space
Pick up that measuring tape before you invest a single dollar. I was taught this lesson through experience when I purchased shelves with dimensions that appeared to be small compared to 65-inch television. The proportions are important, and even on a budget.
Draw a map of your wall (does not have to be elaborate: a doodle on a napkin can accomplish the same thing). Place the location of your TV. This assists you to see the picture of where everything will fit and avoids those oops moments of not fitting and costing extra money.
DIY Accent Wall Ideas That Won’t Break the Bank
Paint Techniques for Maximum Impact
A gallon of paint will give you an instant drama through an accent wall behind your TV. This trick is the one I am so infatuated with due to it being anything between $30-50 in price, but appearing to be a 500 dollar designer feature.
There is magic behind the use of dark colors, as they help to disguise your television and can transform it in an overall, both cozy and warm effect. Navy blue or charcoal gray, or even black can change the atmosphere of the whole bedroom. Have you ever thought why in fancy hotels the Accent Walls are darkened? Precisely the same thing, a quarter of the price.
Once you start looking at eye-catching and beautiful paint techniques, you have to avoid getting overwhelmed and buying wallpaper. Instead, look at inexpensive paint tricks: • Color blocking to make a geometric pattern using painter stripper tape • Ombre blending using two colors (This YouTube video is going to be your best friend) • Texturing by using sponges or rollers to add texture • Stenciling to make patterns without high prices on wallpaper
Peel-and-Stick Solutions
I have heard peel-and-stick wallpaper is a bad thing–but the new stuff looks pretty good. I have applied to three separate rooms and people have always thought it was real wallpaper. And the finest thing is, that, until now, no one has ever persisted in objecting to it. Total re-do-ability in case you rent, or change your mind.
The best peel-and-stick TV wallpaper: • Wood-look planks to have a fresh farmhouse style • Industrial wood or brick styles to create an industrial style • Geometric layout to have a contemporary design • Grasscloth textures to present a fancy attitude
Handy hint: Get samples to begin with. The colors on your wall and colors on your phone screen are two completely different things and you will not want to scrap off an entire wall over buying the wrong shade :/
Creative Storage and Shelving Solutions
Floating Shelves on a Shoestring Budget
The MVP of cheap wall decoration on TV is floating shelves. They provide utility, aesthetic appeal and eye candy at less than the spiraling cost of your entire budget. Basic ones can be made by you body yourself under $20 or other quality pre-made ones at 30-50 dollars.
I am crazy about variously sized shelves in various heights. It gives that look of the expensive custom built look with out the custom built cost. In addition, you can change them to suit the season to make your wall appear fresh.
DIY Shelvesмотреть»; Floating shelf Materials• Reclaimed wood (as wood from old furniture, etc) • Straight from hardware store “Basic” pine sectors• Industrial pipe suspension system is in obsolete taste • Hidden retainer module — Designer Master of clean lines
Multi-Functional Furniture Pieces
Smart furniture can enable your wall to be used both as your TV wall and as an additional sideboard. Floating media units offer storage, and maintain clean sight lines. I found mine at a thrift store, revenue price of twenty-five dollars, painted it to fit with my wall and ever since people are continually asking me where I got such an “expensive-looking” piece.
These are easy storage solutions to consider: • Old suitcases used as shelving in odd shapes • Wooden crates hung up used as cubbies • Industrial pipe systems with wood shelves giving off city feel • Ladders leaning up against the wall used as shelving
Lighting Magic on a Tight Budget
LED Strip Light Transformations
The best $15 you will ever spend on home decor is more than likely some LED strip lights. Affix them to the back of your TV, as bias lighting, to eliminate eye burns and give an initial cool glow effect. And it literally seems as though you brought in a lighting designer.
I stick with warm white in my bedrooms, but color adaptive strips can adapt your mood, or the show you are watching. Off course, do not over do it too much with the rainbow effects, unless you want your bedroom to resemble a gaming terminal.
Affordable Accent Lighting
Battery powered LED lights have gone such a long way compared to those dim flickering things of the past years ago. Without running new electrical, or paying an electrician, you can create amazing ambient lighting.
Budget lighting that can actually work: • Fairy lights in glass jars will give you a warm, intimate lighting solution • Battery powered wall sconces (look shockingly real) • LED candles will give you the flicker you desire without the fire risk • String light that uses warm-coloured bulbs will help create a comfortable atmosphere
| Lighting Type | Approximate Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| LED strips | $10-25 | Behind TV bias lighting |
| String lights | $15-30 | Ambient room lighting |
Budget-Friendly Decorative Elements
Gallery Wall Magic
Hanging art around your television can be fooled into being so expensive, but only when hung properly. The trick here is the combination of the sizes of the frames and unity of colors. I go bargain hunting at thrift stores and dollar stores finding any frames I can, and spray them all the same color giving them a designer look at less than 40 bucks.
You do not have to feel obligated to find original artwork, either. Etsy wall art is available as printables and can cost as little as $3-5 a print. Once framed correctly they look fantastic. Add a few personal photos and you have a trendy gallery wall that is just unique to you.
Natural Elements and Greenery
Plants are miraculous when decorating on the cheap. They are cheap but make life, color and texture and they are cheap. Here I am referring to actual plants – fake ones tend to look fake no matter how much you pay.
Cost effective plants to use on TV walls: • Hanging plants such as pothos (will literally grow anywhere) • Snake plants on floor pots (works best in corners) • small succulents hanging on floating shelves • Air plants in geometric containers
Tip: Divide plants in friends collections. Majority of your plant parents enjoy exchanging clippings and you won a free greenery which chances are high in growing well in your area.
Textiles and Soft Furnishings
bits of textile give it softness and warmth and counter all that hard tech. Such a home cozy throw blanket on furniture around your TV or textured pillows or even a bit on your carpet can combine your TV wall with the rest of the design you have in your bedroom.
I adore juxtaposing textures with soft ceramics and raw wood, fluffy cloth and some metal. It produces a visual intrigue that are normally created by the expensive furniture yet at a much lower cost.
Smart Shopping Strategies
Thrift Store and Secondhand Treasures
Shopping at thrift stores to get TV wall decorations feels like treasure hunt. You never tell the gold stuff you will discover and the items are sold a fraction of the retail prices. I have discovered fabulous vintage frames, one of a kind planters, and just the right accent pieces that cost less than ten dollars each.
Top thrift items on TV walls: • Picture frames (spray paint them to fit your scheme) • Unique vases and containers planters • Wooden boxes and containers (storage) • Vintage books to place on shelves • Small little pieces of furniture (repurpose and use them)
Dollar Store Diamonds in the Rough
It will do you no good to ignore dollar stores as a source of decorating supplies. Of course much of what they say is cheap, but with proper styling, some things are just perfect. Simple storage containers, picture frames and glass vases can be presented in a way to create a very expensive appearance.
TIP: I store cables and remotes in dollar store glass containers – they look tidy & thought-out & cost pretty much zilch.
End-of-Season Sales and Clearance Hunting
A strategically planned purchase can cause your decorating expense to be reduced in half. I find the clearances which are at the end of a season in case that I can do the project next year. The holiday decor is reduced 70-90 percent and you can reuse much of that to use during the rest of the year.
Enrol in store newsletter and follow home stores of your preferences on social media. They make sales first to their followers and you can get mind blowing offers of what you require.
DIY Projects That Look Expensive
Wood Accent Features
Reclaimed wood can be used behind your TV to give you that high end, custom millwork appeal at a mere fraction of the cost. Wood pallets are usually free to the asking or can be bought cheaply in local businesses, sand them down and make beautiful feature walls.
I constructed wood accent wall behind my television out of $30 in wood scraps and simple tools. And there is always the question of who my contractor was. The trick is to measure and sand carefully and to make everything as smooth as possible.
Rope and Macrame Details
Macrame wall hangings bring textural, bohemian style to neutralize the tech feel of your TV. Learn basic knots on YouTube and you can make gorgeous piece for under $20 in materials.
Even the humblest rope elements – such as floating shelf brackets wrapped in rope or geometric rope designs – add its own curated flair that appears deliberate, high-end.
Cable Management on a Dime
Creative Cord Hiding Solutions
The quickest means of making your TV wall look tacky and incomplete is the visible cables. The positives? They are concealable without expensive in-wall set ups.
Budget cord management hacks: • Stick-on cord covers to the same shade of paint as your walls • Fannying yourself up some decorative tape or washi tape and have some fun with cord patterns • Using small hooks to put cords behind furniture • Cord organizers that can be stuck to, and be held by the back of your TV
Utilizing Existing Furniture
Placement of furniture needs to be strategic so as to conceal power strips and cable messes without incurring new purchases. I shifted my dresser a bit so that the ugly techy stuff could have a secrecy zone and the clean lines to be exposed.
Often the smartest dollar stretching option is simply reusing what you already own. Rearrange that side table, re-arrange that chair or move your bed out a few inches – small changes are big changes.
Seasonal Updates That Keep It Fresh
Rotating Accessories
The whole charm of budget decorating is that you can re-do your look every season without making big investment. I have a few various accessories and switch them every few months so as to avoid boredom in the bedroom.
Simple seasonal updates: • Switching decorative pillow cases, or covers • Seasonal flowers or plants or seasonal changes in photos or paintings • Switching candles scents and color
Holiday Integration
Your TV wall can definitely join in the holiday decorations but not in a tacky way. Hints of season such as autumn leaves in a vase, holiday lights, or winter branches have holiday vibes that are classy.
The trick is moderation: One or two seasonal accents at most, and pick things that will go along with what you already have in color.
Making It All Come Together
Styling Like a Pro
The functionality of the professional styling is, in fact, all about balance, repetition, and editing. Sequence objects in odd patterns, repeat the same color and textures through the design of your room design, or you can leave some white space. In some cases less is truly more.
This is what I learned when I over-accessorized the first TV wall I did. It was a messy hodge before I took away half the stuff. I now use the 30 per cent less after adding everything possible/rule.
Maintenance and Longevity
The budget decorating would need a little bit extra maintenance than costly ones, but not too excessive. Keep your shelves dusted, do some touch up now and then and substitute things that begin to look although.
The idea is to make a room you adore which will be developed in the future as you develop. IMO cheap decorating is actually superior because you are not afraid to switch out stuff as your style evolves.
Bringing It All Home
It is only a matter of intelligent decisions and being resourceful when it comes to making a beautiful TV wall decor scheme on a budget. It will not cost lots of money and hot pieces to get that designer look, just know where to put your effort and which homemade tricks are worth trying.
List one key impact factor such as an accent wall or floating shelves and continue to add layers of lighting and accessories. Your money will last longer and you will not become stressed trying to do too many things all at once. Guess what is the best part? Instead of having to come up with an excuse that you basically put creativity to work and had fun with $100 when someone asks you where you got all of that stuff, you can give them a strange mysterious smile when answering their question!
It is good to keep in mind that it is not necessarily the costliest objects seen in the best-designed-looking rooms. You should make your bed feel purposeful and gorgeous, even on a budget.