How To Hide TV Components and Still Use Your Remote | Thrifty Decor Chick

A decorative, DIY way to hide TV electronics and components in style.

Why add metal sheeting you ask? Well when you hide electronic
components hidden away, it’s best to give them some air flow. Otherwise they run hot and that will shorten the life of the components. Also,
your remotes won’t work through a wood cabinet door, but will through metal
sheeting.

**You can also use an RF remote control system that allows you to keep your TV electronics in another room — I’ll add a link to that at the end of the post. We didn’t want to use that because we use the voice controls often. 

Here’s a reminder of how this project ended up: 

This is one of my favorite projects I’ve ever tackled!    

I cut the back out of two of the bottom bench cabinets in preparation for
the electronics to be added later. We knew we’d have a receiver down there
at the very least, and I wanted to allow for more air flow and access from the backs of the cabinets. 

A few weeks ago we had the first part of our sound system installed, and
every time we turned on the TV we had to open the cabinet to get the remote
to work. Then a cat or two would crawl back there…so I knew it was time to
get those door fronts replaced. 

I removed the cabinet doors from the hinges and used a large drill bit to make
holes in the four corners of the front panel. This gives you a spot to
insert your jigsaw blade: 

This is where I did things a little differently than last time — I sawed right up
to the edge of the center panel against the cabinet frame. This takes a little
bit more of a steady hand but it doesn’t have to be perfect!

It worked really well! I cleaned all of that up and touched up the inside parts with the paint color,
Westchester Gray by Sherwin-Williams. 

Last time I did this I used a silver metal sheeting with a dark gray on our
old fireplace built ins. This time I picked a brass/copper finish that
matched our brass hardware. These sheets come in a few colors and
designs.

Just figure out the size you’ll need and then it can be cut with regular
scissors. This sheeting is very thin! 

I used my stapler to secure the metal to the back of the cabinet
frame: 

It went into the sheeting easily — but you may have to pound the staples in
so they’re flush with the wood. 

The rough edges of the sheeting aren’t crazy sharp — I wouldn’t rub my
fingers along them on purpose but they won’t cut you just by touching it.
You can add some small trim over the edges if you are worried about those. 

It looked even better than I expected! LOVE it: 

I know I say this all the time, but don’t let anyone tell you you can have
both form and function. It just takes some creativity (or an internet
search!) to make it happen. 🙂 

The remote works perfectly through the sheeting — so no need to open the
doors anymore. Here’s how the space looks now: 

I’m considering adding
it to all three lower cabinets, but I don’t really want to spend more money when I like it as it is! This stuff
isn’t crazy expensive, but I can only get one door out of each sheet. You
can find these at most hardware stores or I’ll share some online sources
below. 

These sheets are a great option if you need remote control access in a built in unit, but they also just look great as a custom accent on any cabinet!

You can also use glass or cane webbing if you’d rather not use the metal. 

Here are a
few screen options to hide your electronics: