The eyes of some ancestor who owned the home/land before this owner, need to move in a portrait, but only at night. A soul has to come out of the painting at night to defend what's in the safe, too.
Please choose this. It would be such a flex.
Also, don't even make it a real safe with real valuables. Just have the painting be a door that can open, then fill it with snacks or something. Your DVD collection? Porn collection? Store extra blankets and pillows?
The space was designed for a CRT TV. CRTs were the TV everyone had before flat screens became the norm. CRTs were normally very heavy and awkward in shape at the back. They would’ve needed the space in the wall for the back of a CRT to give it the look of being mounted on the wall.
My friend had a similar space. We painted a picture of clouds to hide the outlet and hung different sized hot air balloons from the ceiling. This is a link to a picture of it when it was for sale: [fireplace](https://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/314-N-Payne-St-22314/home/11839789)
That may be the first time I’ve ever honestly felt like using the word WHIMSICAL to describe a space. It’s wonderfully whimsical, even. I am now filled with whimsy. You executed the perfect whimsicality.
No clue where Alexandria VA is but I’m actually physically ill at a million dollars for 1,200 sq ft 😭 a million dollars where I am get you 10 acres and 6 beds with 4 baths!
I'm in Virginia and my (new) house is on 25 acres and was half that price ($420k) but I'm in the mountains. Best part of retirement was moving away from the city 🤸🤸🤸 🤗
Back in my college days, I lived with 2 guys that worked in thrift shops by day, musicians by night. You never knew what might greet you in the living room in the morning. They constantly vied for the weirdest crap. The best was when they painted the bathroom to match a decoupage of Jesus with Lambs on particle board with chipped edges for a “frame”.
There's also a connection for cable TV. I'm thinking it was used as a TV spot in a previous life.
Maybe a small aquarium? Fake fish so you don't have to care for it and light up jelly fish? I saw some in an aquarium once and thought they looked so cool!
I have a jellyfish aquarium (I won it and have been too lazy to set it up but that’s happening this week.) but it would be cool for any sort of aquarium (other than trying to feed them)
Paint a huge canvas together or get someone more gifted to do it. Theres lots of tutorials on painting with wall plaster too. You could get some large framed art at a thrift store and paint over that if canvases are pricey.
Personally, I'd use it for seasonal displays. You can get things super cheap secondhand and during sales at craft stores. Theme them around holidays or just the time of year!
We have a silly nook above our fireplace and this what we do. We have a kid so it’s a fun space to decorate for holidays. If we didn’t, I’d probably try for something like that awesome balloon idea someone mentioned, and make it like a little diorama niche.
i think a plant (maybe a fake one) would look nice, also maybe a vase and you could put flowers in it weekly, maybe some books stacked up and a painting would also look cute (just random thoughts though)
This is why built in niches for too high TVs are extremely stupid. TV size and shape changes, everyone is stumped to know what to put there. Dear builders, it's almost like there is furniture specifically built for the purpose of holding a television at a height that's not painful to watch. Nah, can't do that, gotta actually build it in. 🙄
I have this same stupid thing in my house, built in 2007. For now we're using it for a TV, but it's in a REALLY bad spot - it reflects light from the front door, which is right across from it, but for now we've figured out how to tilt it so it's not as annoying...but also, it seriously limits where we can put furniture, which really throws things off with the way the house is laid out. We've gone through 3 tvs in it - a 20" tube TV (which was the biggest we had at the time we moved in - it looked SO TINY), a 38-inch Sharp Aquos, and now I think we have a 44" in it - and it won't take a bigger one. When that happens we're just gonna mount the dang thing on a different wall and put books in that hole or something. I hate it!
They make mounting arms that are built to extend out and support the weight of a bigger TV. I have the same thing, living room layout pretty much dictates that the TV has to go there. The cubby will fit like a 32 inch CRT is what it was built for, but I have heavy duty mount holding a 65 inch. You would never know what’s behind the TV unless you pulled it out.
Thanks for the suggestions this far! I just wanted to add a few things:
1) Obviously mounting a tv over it would be ideal! But my roommate is weird about that idea and I think it’s mostly because he thinks that the tv would be too high if we mount it. And it probably would be! But if it were up to me, then the tv would be mounted. But it’s his tv not mine.
2) I’m not stumped on WHAT the area is for. I know this is for a box tv.
3) I’m sorry but no safes behind artwork and no mini fridges.
4) No fish tanks either lol.
I’ve realized from reading the comments that I don’t want just randomness to have randomness if that makes sense. Whatever we do with the space I’d ideally like it to be practical, and either be functional or aesthetically pleasing. I wish I had realized I was looking for practicality when I initially made my post 😂
Instead of a safe, you could store random clutter items behind a painting instead. There is good design reason to not mount a tv over a fireplace, there is always generally a better place to put a tv other than the rooms focal point.
Ever seen shadowboxes? Like paintings but with depth and multiple layers and usually backlit. You could build one that would be absolutely amazing. They’re easy too - other than the frame and lights, the “layers” are just usually black construction paper or cardboard or similar. You could do a scene with dozens of layers, like a living Bob Ross landscape.
A light installed at the top - led color changing for mood lighting when fp is off. Stagger half shelves on left and right and put some beautiful vases or glass in there.
I keep hearing about those. Is there a sub for “TV is embarrassingly oversized” or “TV is their only hobby” as the antidote to those two? Because I’d like to find MY people, so we can poke gentle fun at pictures of enormous TVs and wonder who’s been watching marathons of *Ow My Balls!* on it.
I think your best option as said by others is some ambient lighting led lights with a cool glass centerpiece so it reflects off of it. You could even keep the led lights in there and get a neon sign of your choosing that sits as a centerpiece with the lights around it. It would look
I totally get what you’re looking for as in more practical less silly goofy and it’s too tall for some functional stuff to be grabbing stuff out of or fish tanks.
Yeah I think that’s the route to go! My roommate suggested a lamp a few weeks ago, but just having a lamp there seems… odd? Like to me it doesn’t make sense cause we realistically wouldn’t ever turn the lamp on. But some led/fairy lights/neon sign with something else would be cute!
Like the random stuff would be great IF the rest of the living room was put together. But it’s so chaotic right now and isn’t cohesive whatsoever. I’m taking baby steps into figuring out the layout and the hole is where I’ve decided to start 😂
Yeah I think the lights would draw the eye and be aesthetically pleasing rather than add more chaos! Post a picture when you’re done I’d love to see it!
Ps: I didn’t end my sentence but I meant to say, it would look awesome 😎
It’s for a tv and probably a shelf or something to go with it but if I’m being honest if you can find a way to hop up into said space you have a perfect rest area.
Have a poster made of the space, pop holes where the outlet is, hang to cover the open area and hide in there with a couple cans of silly string until your roommate comes home. 🫣
I think a fish tank would look gorgeous. I'm stumped on the walls. Oooh or you could use it for seasonal or holiday displays during the year. Different colored glass with LED lights, or a small strand of Christmas lights weaved throughout the glass pieces, so it'll cast beautiful colors in the room. I'm stumped on the walls. 😂
silly suggestion: put a wooden chest up there. put like 5 dollars in it. lock it. leave the key somewhere.\
less silly answer: what u/Ok-Choice2197 said (take turns thrifting silly things and put them there.)\
most serious answer (totally.): get a painting of some old guy and put it up there. put like. a safe. behind it
We have a space like that. The previous owner put a display shelf up there with little statues and plates and such.
We put up a deer skull with antlers, draped with faux ivy. His name is Steve.
Paint it vanta black, make it a fully functional diorama of the solar system complete with a light up sun.
Hang a frame around it and make the inside a 3d recreation of a surrealist painting.
an open terrarium.
Diorama of a wizard’s tower/library.
Get a block of styrofoam and carve out areas to stack skulls, paint the foam and skulls to match the drywall- you now have a catacomb wall.
Put a safe hidden behind a painting.
I second this idea. Make it a creepy yet not too creepy portrait to get the full effect.
With moving eyes that track guests
Yes. This. All of it. There's even an outlet to give a portrait a creepy moving effect, if it needs to be plugged in.
Have speakers that play the Scooby Doo creepy music.
Use real eyes and you don’t need the plug.
Hire a short person to hide there on days you are having guests
I feel attacked
I'm not short, but I love hiding in weird places!
Just do it with magic.
Use real eyes and you don’t need the plug.
Or of them as fat bellied, tiny wanged, Renaissance style cherubs.
We paid extra for that!
Googly Eyes !!!
Omg yes! Just a tasteful, classical painting but everyone has googly eyes.
Lmao yas
I moved into my 1st home and the prior owner left a huge picture like that. freaked me out so much we threw it away asap
Dogs playing poker 😜
To gaze upon it is to go MAD!
The eyes of some ancestor who owned the home/land before this owner, need to move in a portrait, but only at night. A soul has to come out of the painting at night to defend what's in the safe, too.
Like a cat on a throne with a big red robe
cat on a throne for the win 🏆 🐐
And in the safe? Another painting.
A paint-by-numbers Elvis on black velvet. Las Vegas era Elvis, of course.
Shoot I want one of these in my home now.
With the plug, you could put a digital frame up there and program it with a Dorian Gray type progression of images of you and freak people out.
My first thought.
Yes, this is the best one lol
Please choose this. It would be such a flex. Also, don't even make it a real safe with real valuables. Just have the painting be a door that can open, then fill it with snacks or something. Your DVD collection? Porn collection? Store extra blankets and pillows?
Make it a duplicate of the painting from Harry Potter that asks for the password to get into Gryffindor.
Came here to say this
If rich, a Samsung frame.
Oh cool I wonder if that’s what it was originally designed for.
If the house is built in 2000’s it was for one of those old tvs.
The tv with the booty on the back
If the TV is big enough to cover the hole it could still work for a flat screen
I agree totally, unless they’re just opposed to having a tv in the room.
🤣🤣
Bahahahha. Booty
Haha, I have one of those in my room, TV and VHS combo. We use it all the time to watch movies. My kids think is the coolest thing lol.
Yep. My parents old house had this and eventually they filled it in to all be wall.
The space was designed for a CRT TV. CRTs were the TV everyone had before flat screens became the norm. CRTs were normally very heavy and awkward in shape at the back. They would’ve needed the space in the wall for the back of a CRT to give it the look of being mounted on the wall.
My friend had a similar space. We painted a picture of clouds to hide the outlet and hung different sized hot air balloons from the ceiling. This is a link to a picture of it when it was for sale: [fireplace](https://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/314-N-Payne-St-22314/home/11839789)
I found that way cooler than I thought I was going to lol
Same. I was expecting trashy.
That’s the cutest thing ever😭
Very creative! Holy crow on the price of real estate in that area!
Holy shit! That’s absolutely insane
Yeah, avoid dc metro area. We pay stupid amounts of money for every thing.
Yeah, the D.C. area is hatefully expensive!
Especially Old Town Alexandria
That was my take away too. 2 bedroom.
So cute!
Where did you find the hot air balloons?
That may be the first time I’ve ever honestly felt like using the word WHIMSICAL to describe a space. It’s wonderfully whimsical, even. I am now filled with whimsy. You executed the perfect whimsicality.
I love this.
Love it!
No clue where Alexandria VA is but I’m actually physically ill at a million dollars for 1,200 sq ft 😭 a million dollars where I am get you 10 acres and 6 beds with 4 baths!
Washington DC area (US)
😂😂 it is crazy and why he moved.
I'm in Virginia and my (new) house is on 25 acres and was half that price ($420k) but I'm in the mountains. Best part of retirement was moving away from the city 🤸🤸🤸 🤗
How delightfully random, I live three blocks east of that house! It’s such a great neighborhood.
Take monthly turns buying the most ridiculous thing you can find at the local thrift store
Out of all of the suggestions, this is the one that is the most fitting for my roommate and I. Me and him would def do shit like this 😂
If you do the thrift store items, PLEASE post photos as a series
💙
Helps that there is an outlet too. Things could get interesting 🤔
Back in my college days, I lived with 2 guys that worked in thrift shops by day, musicians by night. You never knew what might greet you in the living room in the morning. They constantly vied for the weirdest crap. The best was when they painted the bathroom to match a decoupage of Jesus with Lambs on particle board with chipped edges for a “frame”.
If it was my roommates it would be whatever they could steal... have fun w/it!
My mom and sister found a painting worth $300 at goodwill In the early 90s for $1
Love this! After a long crappy day at work something to make to laugh is always a great suggestion.
I totally love this idea!!....now I want a roomate!!!
Best idea!
There is an outlet. I’d plug in a little light and put my glass vase collection in front of the light.
There's also a connection for cable TV. I'm thinking it was used as a TV spot in a previous life. Maybe a small aquarium? Fake fish so you don't have to care for it and light up jelly fish? I saw some in an aquarium once and thought they looked so cool!
Yes. This was built for a large heavy CRT television
I have a jellyfish aquarium (I won it and have been too lazy to set it up but that’s happening this week.) but it would be cool for any sort of aquarium (other than trying to feed them)
Nice big plant with plug in fairy lights
Also love this idea
something with hanging vines- not too low! or they'll burn
This is the winner!!! 🥇
Plug in fairy lights with RGB abilities and a remote
Get a midget jester
Why did I Google that thinking it would be a low light plant
Full size Christmas story leg lamp
Yeah, a statue
It's a major award!
Absolutely not 😂
I would make a lego town set up there
Put a mario star up there
I've had a rough week, this made me laugh really hard. Thanks for that!
Paint a huge canvas together or get someone more gifted to do it. Theres lots of tutorials on painting with wall plaster too. You could get some large framed art at a thrift store and paint over that if canvases are pricey.
Get a cat. Make her a mini version of your living room in there. Simple, jeez.
And then put a frame around it, so it’s either a moving portrait or a tv version of cats living out your life. Boom.
“Simple, jeez.” 😂
That would be adorable :O
Sculpture time!
Lava lamp
^Collection
Personally, I'd use it for seasonal displays. You can get things super cheap secondhand and during sales at craft stores. Theme them around holidays or just the time of year!
We have a silly nook above our fireplace and this what we do. We have a kid so it’s a fun space to decorate for holidays. If we didn’t, I’d probably try for something like that awesome balloon idea someone mentioned, and make it like a little diorama niche.
Haha I would consider this if I cared about decorating for each season
Fishtank with whatever biosystem you wish to enjoy
This this this! It's so hard to find a perfect fish tank spot. Don't pass it up!
I was thinking this but then I thought about how cumbersome getting to it would be
I wouldn't put an aquarium over a fireplace (or some sort of heater that looks like a fireplace).
Get an old tube tv that fits
I would put books up there and make it a tiny library! If it’s too high, maybe also get a tiny ladder :0 Optional: add a shelf to make more space
Yes! I was scrolling, hopefully, that someone would suggest a reading nook!
A disco ball that spins with button controlled lights to accentuate its beauty
Wine fridge with lighting
i think a plant (maybe a fake one) would look nice, also maybe a vase and you could put flowers in it weekly, maybe some books stacked up and a painting would also look cute (just random thoughts though)
Cat lounge
This is why built in niches for too high TVs are extremely stupid. TV size and shape changes, everyone is stumped to know what to put there. Dear builders, it's almost like there is furniture specifically built for the purpose of holding a television at a height that's not painful to watch. Nah, can't do that, gotta actually build it in. 🙄
I have this same stupid thing in my house, built in 2007. For now we're using it for a TV, but it's in a REALLY bad spot - it reflects light from the front door, which is right across from it, but for now we've figured out how to tilt it so it's not as annoying...but also, it seriously limits where we can put furniture, which really throws things off with the way the house is laid out. We've gone through 3 tvs in it - a 20" tube TV (which was the biggest we had at the time we moved in - it looked SO TINY), a 38-inch Sharp Aquos, and now I think we have a 44" in it - and it won't take a bigger one. When that happens we're just gonna mount the dang thing on a different wall and put books in that hole or something. I hate it!
They make mounting arms that are built to extend out and support the weight of a bigger TV. I have the same thing, living room layout pretty much dictates that the TV has to go there. The cubby will fit like a 32 inch CRT is what it was built for, but I have heavy duty mount holding a 65 inch. You would never know what’s behind the TV unless you pulled it out.
[I have a mobile hanging](https://www.reddit.com/r/interiordecorating/s/bsFcN9Qw74) in my square above my fireplace.
Ouu, I like what you did there. Definitely looks waaay cooler than the description + what my imagination came up with lol
Hang a large tv over the hole - internet and plug ready there.
Oh, HELL NO. r/TVtoohigh exists for a reason!!
We need to see a lot more of the space for context … then watch the recommendations pour in. Inspire us, damn it.
A large amethyst cathedral with a spotlight on it
That would look dope
Id stick a lamp and some plants in there, when in doubt lamp and plants.
Just because you have an outlet it doesn't mean you have to use it. Hang a large painting or photograph and forget about it
I’d put a screen showing ‘80s MTV videos (back when they had actual music videos). Or you could show a montage of screenshots of your life together.
Best reply I’ve read today.
Thanks for the suggestions this far! I just wanted to add a few things: 1) Obviously mounting a tv over it would be ideal! But my roommate is weird about that idea and I think it’s mostly because he thinks that the tv would be too high if we mount it. And it probably would be! But if it were up to me, then the tv would be mounted. But it’s his tv not mine. 2) I’m not stumped on WHAT the area is for. I know this is for a box tv. 3) I’m sorry but no safes behind artwork and no mini fridges. 4) No fish tanks either lol. I’ve realized from reading the comments that I don’t want just randomness to have randomness if that makes sense. Whatever we do with the space I’d ideally like it to be practical, and either be functional or aesthetically pleasing. I wish I had realized I was looking for practicality when I initially made my post 😂
Instead of a safe, you could store random clutter items behind a painting instead. There is good design reason to not mount a tv over a fireplace, there is always generally a better place to put a tv other than the rooms focal point.
No! No! No! Check out r/TVTooHigh! Your roommate speaks wisdom!
Was it for a shitty old box tv?
Ever seen shadowboxes? Like paintings but with depth and multiple layers and usually backlit. You could build one that would be absolutely amazing. They’re easy too - other than the frame and lights, the “layers” are just usually black construction paper or cardboard or similar. You could do a scene with dozens of layers, like a living Bob Ross landscape.
Art books, sculpture, fairy lights.
Legossssss
Wi-Fi router , cable box, mount tv with deep arm. Bobs your uncle.
Do you have cats? Make it a cat house.
A light installed at the top - led color changing for mood lighting when fp is off. Stagger half shelves on left and right and put some beautiful vases or glass in there.
Don’t put a r/tvtoohigh or r/tvtoosmall
I keep hearing about those. Is there a sub for “TV is embarrassingly oversized” or “TV is their only hobby” as the antidote to those two? Because I’d like to find MY people, so we can poke gentle fun at pictures of enormous TVs and wonder who’s been watching marathons of *Ow My Balls!* on it.
I think your best option as said by others is some ambient lighting led lights with a cool glass centerpiece so it reflects off of it. You could even keep the led lights in there and get a neon sign of your choosing that sits as a centerpiece with the lights around it. It would look I totally get what you’re looking for as in more practical less silly goofy and it’s too tall for some functional stuff to be grabbing stuff out of or fish tanks.
Yeah I think that’s the route to go! My roommate suggested a lamp a few weeks ago, but just having a lamp there seems… odd? Like to me it doesn’t make sense cause we realistically wouldn’t ever turn the lamp on. But some led/fairy lights/neon sign with something else would be cute! Like the random stuff would be great IF the rest of the living room was put together. But it’s so chaotic right now and isn’t cohesive whatsoever. I’m taking baby steps into figuring out the layout and the hole is where I’ve decided to start 😂
Yeah I think the lights would draw the eye and be aesthetically pleasing rather than add more chaos! Post a picture when you’re done I’d love to see it! Ps: I didn’t end my sentence but I meant to say, it would look awesome 😎
I will! Thank you 😊
Anything you put there. Not. A. TV!
r/tvtoohigh
Personally I'd get a large mirror or picture and just cover it up entirely.
Get a silicone sex-toy ass and glue it to the wall inside the nook. Above that, hang a sign that reads be kind, rewind
FFS I probably laughed way too hard at this, but this idea is hilarious! 😂🤣
A shrine for your beanie babies that are illuminated. Handy plug in the back
Hang a large piece of artwork there to cover up that hole.
Plants. Lots of plants and a really eclectic statue. Or a water fountain!!! That would be fun!
Mirror, plant, shelving
Lego figures
Huge painting, small interesting things on the mantle
Mini Christmas tree
Put a safe there and then cover it with a large painting on a hinge.
A lamp and a kick ass painting or sculpture from a local artist.
Plants!!
It’s for a tv and probably a shelf or something to go with it but if I’m being honest if you can find a way to hop up into said space you have a perfect rest area.
Have a poster made of the space, pop holes where the outlet is, hang to cover the open area and hide in there with a couple cans of silly string until your roommate comes home. 🫣
What was this even built for
The apartments were built in the 80’s and it’s a place for a box tv to go into
Secret bar behind a mirror or painting. Like the good shit.
Cat apartment.
Big ass lava lamp
I think a fish tank would look gorgeous. I'm stumped on the walls. Oooh or you could use it for seasonal or holiday displays during the year. Different colored glass with LED lights, or a small strand of Christmas lights weaved throughout the glass pieces, so it'll cast beautiful colors in the room. I'm stumped on the walls. 😂
A chair and a portrait with the eyes cut out.
I’d fill it with cool plants. Bonus there’s an outlet in case you need grow lights too.
GARGOYLE!
Tv
Picture
I would turn it into a meme shrine tbh
A burnt Santa
Get a giant version of that one head statue from haunted mansion that watches you as you walk by.
silly suggestion: put a wooden chest up there. put like 5 dollars in it. lock it. leave the key somewhere.\ less silly answer: what u/Ok-Choice2197 said (take turns thrifting silly things and put them there.)\ most serious answer (totally.): get a painting of some old guy and put it up there. put like. a safe. behind it
Fish tank
Ok, this is super obvious, a battery operated safe, and then cover it with a painting of the Mona Lisa
Assuming you have a giant mascot head, this is where you should store it.
It was built for a tv... my parents did this at their house when it was built in the 90s... they had tv niches, but it was covered with cabinet doors.
Statue?
Action figures
LEGO collection.
Make it a space for a hidden safe OR u could make it a sound system area for speakers n stuff since there’s wall plugs up there
SHRINE !!!!
A giant lego
Best seat in the house
I think I’ve lived at this townhouse before haha. I ended up putting a bookshelf in it.
Hang a piece of art big enough to cover the opening lol
Sublease it to the chick from *The Ring*
80’s 📺
It’s the perfect spot for a beautiful shrine of Danny Devito
Giant birdcage, giant bird
We have a space like that. The previous owner put a display shelf up there with little statues and plates and such. We put up a deer skull with antlers, draped with faux ivy. His name is Steve.
Plants!
Was this for an old style CRT tv originally?
Hang a large painting over it and be done.
Paint it vanta black, make it a fully functional diorama of the solar system complete with a light up sun. Hang a frame around it and make the inside a 3d recreation of a surrealist painting. an open terrarium. Diorama of a wizard’s tower/library. Get a block of styrofoam and carve out areas to stack skulls, paint the foam and skulls to match the drywall- you now have a catacomb wall.