Fun Flat Screen Surround

I have a small 18inch flat screen tv / monitor. But its a bit too high tech and black plastic looking. So I made a simple wooden 'Theatre' surround to cover it up and make it fit in with the furniture of my home. So taking some scrap wood and a mdf board I made something to cover the tv up and introduce a bit of fun into watching tv.

Ok so the mdf board is 28 inch wide and 18 inches tall. (half-inch thick) I measured the tv and so these are the measurement I used to make the surround. If your tv is bigger, then a bigger sheet of mdf will be required.

Ok so cut the mdf sheet into a simple rectangle (28 by 18). match up the mdf sheet to your tv and mark out where the screen is. You are then going to cut out a hole in the sheet to match the size and dimensions of the tv screen.

Drill a hole near a corner and then using a jig-saw cut out the tv screen viewing hole. I also had to cut a curved slot across the bottom of the mdf board to allow the shape and size of the support stand for the tv. This was approx 8 inch long and half-inch high. ( I did this as a gentle curve to match the stand profile.)

Next I got a sheet of paper (Old Wall-paper...) and made a sketch of a theatre to get an idea of where to make my next cuts with the jig-saw.

So I used my paper sketch to then mark up the mdf board with my design. In this case a sketch of a 'Greek' Theatre. I used the jig-saw to cut the basic outline, roof, columns, little bit of detail. Keep it simple just the impression of the outline. Remember it just decorative, you want to watch the tv, not the surround..!

Remote control slot. Match the front control panel and mark where you have to cut out a slot for the remote control to work with the tv...

Next add two planks of wood to make it stand up. The planks I used were half-inch thick. 4 inch by 15 inch tall. These I screwed through the mdf sheet with 3, 1 inch screws for each plank. 6 screws in total.

You are now in a position to place the surround against the tv and try it out. Make sure it stands on its own and that the remote control operates the tv ( Through that handy slot you cut..). So now the fun bit... Painting the surround.. Which I will add as another in-structable.

! interesting when I watched the tv the first evening the tv picture seemed to be bigger..! Just an optical illusion of having the surround in front of the tv... Strange but true. Please comment if you found the same thing..! Good Luck and keep on instructing..!