Styling Modern TV with Vintage Decor

I always have been an avid fan and user of the newest and latest technologies.  And I credit my brothers to this. They knew how to play James Bond 007 on n64 and they knew how to work the Internet and since I needed to do everything they did (and they were too cool to teach me) I had to learn it myself.  Good and bad came of this.  Good = I can learn operating systems and fix issues quickly.  Bad = I need to have the best technologies and not because of the image but because I have a strong desire to learn the system and be in the know about everything current.

But my love for modern technologies and vintage decor hasn’t made interior design easy.  I hate when TVs are mounted on the wall because you can see all the wires!  Reminds me of a guys college house, yeeck!  And I really don’t like the TV stands that are sold at random furniture stores either, they’re too wanna-be modern… I hate the glass and I don’t like that black cheap plastic look.

So I bought a credenza to hold my flat screen TV.  I originally searched Etsy and found an amazing 1970s inspired barn wood credenza but it was $1200.  Thankfully I found a furniture consignment shop and purchased a mid-century credenza for A LOT cheaper.  The white marble top is beautiful and the tan wicker doors compliment my bamboo hardwood floor and white oak cabinets.  The piece is truly gorgeous!

I decided to arrange empty frames on the wall behind the TV so it wouldn’t take away from what was on TV but it also didn’t make the wall look too bare.  I found a couple amazing vintage frames at antique stores and flea markets but I really couldn’t fathom spending $50 for an empty frame.  So I began scouring thrift stores for either empty frames (which is surprisingly hard to come by) or very old paintings with cool frames that I could just pop right out.

This is a really easy DIY project.  The price of these frames ranged from $3-5 and only two of them were actually empty.  Popping out old paintings is not hard at all, just be careful of the sharp old nails.  Once I had 7 empty frames I nailed on saw tooth hooks and then hung it on a nail on the wall.  I arranged the frames on the floor before I actually hung it up, which helped give me an idea of where I wanted the big frames, how far apart to space them, and which colors to place next to each other.  Some things slightly changed during the floor to wall process, but I think the final arrangement turned out nice.

There definitely are some holes in the arrangement and I plan on adding more frames, I just couldn’t bear to look at a blank wall anymore.  And I just recently moved that turtle shell chair from Pier1 in the living room.  The credenza used to be centered with the TV centered.  Just playing around a bit with the furniture and accessories.

So there you have it.  2012 Samsung flat screen meets 1960s furniture and accessories.