Making A Cable Box Pretty

Ah, another bedroom post. I apologize. One of these days it’ll be done and life can resume normalcy;)

In the meantime, let’s chat about the ugly eyesore that was sitting on my dresser, shall we?

hiding a cable box

I mean, the room is looking soooo purdy, I just HAD to figure out some way to make this thing go away.

I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to try hiding it with one of those cool aluminum sheets – I’ve seen them at Hobby Lobby and Home Depot, though I’m sure lots of other places carry them as well. They have different patterns and shapes…I figured, what better time than now? Let’s go for it! I picked up one sheet at Hobby Lobby (with a coupon it was $7!):

hiding a cable box

And that one sheet, along with scissors and a tiny bit of paint turned that ugly cable box into this:

hiding a cable box

Pretty cool, right?!

This was one of those “not-sure-if-this-is-gonna-work-totally-winging-it” kinda projects, so it’s not the most perfect things ever, but hey, it certainly looks better than before.

First, I laid it on top of the box to eyeball what size I’d need. I bent it (this stuff is bendable which is a beautiful thing!) to see where to cut, and just used some heavy duty scissors.

hiding a cable box

Don’t worry if you bend it wrong, just unbend it and start again.

Now…how to cover the front?

With my remaining scrap, I made a little piece by bending it so it would cover the front and a little of each side:

making a cable box pretty

I made sure to bend it a little tighter so it was nice an snug fit around the box.

hiding a cable box

PLEASE be careful with these edges and when you’re cutting – this stuff is seriously SHARP. I may have cut myself once…or twice…and gotten snags on my shirt…not kidding peeps, sharp stuff!

Once I was happy with it, I got out some paints and ended up just brushing over it quickly with some leftover SW Rainwashed. I didn’t care about it looking perfect – I wanted it to look a little beat up and not ‘brand new’…

hiding a cable box

hiding a cable box

When it was dry, I fit it on top of the box again, and here we are!

hiding a cable box

hiding a cable box

Now, I’m not saying this will work for ALL cable boxes, but it works for ours. The nice hole-y pattern allows for ventilation and keeps it from overheating (always have to let those boxes breathe!) AND we’re still able to access it with the remote control. The other night, my daughters and I were going to climb in bed and watch Fixer Upper – I told them to go upstairs and get it all set up, I’d be up in a minute. My daughter comes running downstairs, all confused, “Mommy! The box is gone!! I can’t turn on the TV!”

Well then, I’ll chalk this one up as a success;)

Comments

  1. I love this! I am going to try it. I enjoy reading your blog.

  2. Brilliant!

  3. What a great idea! Looks Beautiful!!

  4. Rondell says:

    Wish I could think outside the box like you , great job on this Diy!

  5. Sherri S. says:

    This is a great idea!!!!!! It sure looks better. 🙂

    Blessings…
    Sherri

  6. This is exactly what I came searching for ! We finally got with the program and hung our tv in our bedroom and then it was what to do with that ugly box.

  7. I just purchased the tin and will give this a whirl. Thanks for the idea. Those boxes are definitely an eyesore. I’m going to take it a step further and cover the DVR player as well. Lovely bedroom!

  8. This is a fantastic idea! I can’t wait to give it a whirl myself. Thanks for sharing!

  9. Great idea! I’m going to try it as well. In the meantime…my question to you is, where did you get the wall hooks for the lanterns?

  10. Totally awesome. Just finished painting a desk in gray Now I have the perfect solution to hide the cable box that sits on top. Serendipity. Ty

  11. Maureen Teachman says:

    Wonderful idea! Making the cable box look classy. Who would have believed it unless shown what you did. I have hated the black plastic/metal cable box look, but thought there was nithing I could do to improve the cable box appearance. I am someone who hates dark wood and black metal. Reason is they show dust quickly.

    I will be getting metal sheets later tomorrow and our cable boxes will be covered by tomorrow night. In what department are the metal sheets in Home Depot or Lowe’s?

    I think one could also use wood lattice, so long as a spacer is used to keep top and bottom of cable box from resting against the cover material for ventilation purposes. So many ideas now. Thank you.

  12. What dimensions did you buy?

  13. Love everything 😍 where did you get those lanterns?

  14. Beautiful! Where is the hdmi cord to connect the tv to the box?

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