How to Mount a TV and Hide the Cables in One Weekend
Mounting a TV is usually the easy part — most mounts are a weekend project on their own. The part that gets skipped, and then bothers you every day afterward, is the cable run down to the outlet. Here’s how to do both in one pass.
Saturday: Mounting
- Find studs and confirm mount compatibility with your TV’s VESA pattern before you drill anything.
- Decide cable routing before you hang the TV — it’s much easier to plan the run with the wall exposed than after the TV is already up and blocking your view of it.
- Mount the bracket, hang the TV, and connect everything temporarily to confirm the picture and sound work before you commit to any permanent cable routing.
Saturday Afternoon: Planning the Cable Run
With the TV up and working, look at the actual path the cables need to take from the back of the TV to the nearest outlet. This is where most people either give up and leave cables dangling, or reach for the wrong tool — an in-wall kit when a surface tv mount cable concealer would have done the job in an afternoon.
Sunday: The Concealer Channel
A surface-mount cable channel is the realistic weekend option for anyone who isn’t running new in-wall wiring:
- Clean the wall surface where the channel will sit.
- Measure the full run and cut the channel to length if needed.
- Apply the adhesive backing or clips, lay the cables in, and snap the cover strip on.
- Paint the channel to match the wall if you want it to fully disappear (many are pre-primed for exactly this).
The Outlet End
Once the cable run reaches the bottom, don’t skip the outlet itself — this is where power bricks, an HDMI switch, and streaming device cords tend to pile up right where your eye lands at the end of the clean vertical channel. A wall outlet cover with a built-in cavity closes that gap and takes ten minutes.
What to Skip This Weekend
Don’t try to also reorganize your entire entertainment center cable setup in the same two days — mounting the TV and concealing the wall run is a complete, satisfying project on its own. Save the components behind the TV stand for a separate pass once you’re not rushing to finish before Monday.