I have bought a 40" LCD and a wall mount but want some ideas on how to hide cable and possibly a sky+ box

I am thinking about putting a stud frame around it And plaster boarding or use mdf and hiding the sky box behind and use an eye to control it.

Has anyone else done a similar project ?

Hole in the wall if you are brave, I'm not sure about the ac cord though, that might require electrician to meet code. Easy way is to get a wall raceway/conduit to hide the cable.

I recently stayed in a hotel and they had the bedroom 32"Lcd mounted on a wooden panel that went down to the floor and was a bit smaller than the width of the tv

I have no idea where to get them from or what they are called

Most likely that the hotel had many room refurbished so they were made to order. I've had similar things made for customers in the past.

but what are they called and can you buy them anywhere ?

They hide everything

TV wall panel

Ikea Tobo

I can't comment on that specific one, but we delivered a TV to a customer and fitted it on his Ikea stand/bracket - and it was absolutely horribly designed and built - a really poor stand/bracket.

The Ikea Tobo is a stand/bench and not wall mounted

Something similar to the top half of this

Yep. That's what happens when people pay very little in relative terms for a piece of furniture.

That's MDF Italia design.

Given that they sell a bookcase like this for £1600 then you can guess how much they'll charge for one of those lifestyle TV Wall Panels.

I seriously doubt that you're going to find exactly the right size and style of product off the shelf. The two most reasonable options are DIY or a one-off design commissioned from a joinery or cabinet making firm.

For DIY there are veneered MDF boards available from timber merchants. You'll need to decide how you want it finished - Home waxed or oiled, or a professional spray finish. The latter will give the best and most durable finish.

Neither route will be Ikea cheap, but you will get exactly what you want.

This is what I like about living up here where probably 90% of houses are dry lined with plasterboard stud walls.

It's easy to mount the tv bracket, and hide all the cables in the cavity behind the plasterboard, including a cable to feed a mains socket or two behind the tv.

The sky box/ dvd player are a problem. The best solutions is to either mount them remotely, or directly under the tv on a "floating" black shelf (the type where the fixing bracket is hidden) But the shelf solution almost always leaves the sky box sticking out further from the wall than the tv.

If it's a hard wall and you are not up to chasing the cables into the wall and re plastering, then there are some quite reasonable rounded decorative trunking sections that I have used.

Don't forget to include a telephone line to the sky box if you have the merest thought you might want multiroom one day.

I always have a problem with this. Just because you can do something does not always mean you have to do it! Most people are tempted to install them way too high. Looks stylish when it's off, crap for comfortable watching.

And then you change or add a component. That means destroying all your decorating just to remove or add a new cable!

My solution, get rid of the wall mount. Instead purchase a well made and good looking cabinet, (and not one of those awful glass tables) it will take all the ancillary equipment, hide all the cables and make upgrading much easier. And don't say you won't want to, technology is moving at a faster pace than it ever has. In addition the set will be at the correct height for best viewing, ideally your head height is at the centre of the screen.

I did this.

Created a 'floating wall' with the TV recessed into it.

I could have recessed the Sky box too as there was a chimney breast that we blocked up. But I decided to use an existing cabinet we had - as it had nowhere else to go...

To 56up's point, the flexibility of my arrangement is that the cables are just behind the floating wall and so easily swopped. And the floating wall itself can be taken off by just undoing a couple of hidden screws.

AVForums has an excellent DIY forum for projects like this

Thanks ioz did you use wall studs, and is that mdf or p board

The floating wall is made out of MDF.

It is against an external wall, with plasterboard covering, so I was able to embed the screws for the TV mount into brick.

But modern 40" LCD's are relatively light. I wouldn't think you would have much trouble mounting it on a stud wall. You could always attach a piece of plywood across the battons in stud wall first, then mount the TV on that.

There's a thread here where I described exactly how it was built

It is easy to hide ac cord behind the wall sure, but is it compliant with regulations?... No point invalidating your home owners insurance or whatever.

As I'm a qualified electrician, I don't just "hide a mains lead" I install a fixed 13A socket (usually a double) in accordance with wring regs.

Hah most people aren't qualified electricians

Thanks loz

I have made a small floating wall today with MDF and a few cls studs and i must say it looks ok.

I have cut a hole out the same size as the wall mount so it will remain bolted to the brick wall

1 last question though

How did you fix it to the wall ?
I was thinking about using 4 right angled brackets as there isnt really much weight...

Mdf? Just screw that into the stud or brick with the appropriate type screw.

You'll have to paint or finish mdf anyways, unless you bought some prefinished stuff