Media walls and fitted living-room furniture in Leicestershire

One wall that does the work of three pieces of furniture

A media wall is a fitted unit built around your television and, if you want one, an electric fire. The screen sits in a recess with its leads hidden, the fire is set into the panel beneath it, the boxes and consoles live behind doors, and, if you choose it, LED lighting washes the shelves and the wall behind the screen. It replaces the TV stand, the bookcase and the tangle of cables with one piece of furniture made to the width and height of your room and scribed to the millimetre where it meets the walls and ceiling.

We design and fit media walls, alcove units, under-stairs cupboards and hallway storage from our base in Sileby, across Leicestershire and into Nottingham, Derby and Warwickshire. Aaran measures the room, draws the design in 3D while he is with you, and fits it himself.

Media walls

Planning one? Start with our media wall checklist: the TV, the fire, lighting, sockets and storage to decide before the design visit.

Built around the television and the fire

The recess is sized to your television. Cut-outs behind the screen and through the shelves take the power, aerial and HDMI leads down to the cupboard where the box lives, so you can change a cable without taking anything apart. If a fire is going in, it is set into the wall at the height you want, with the clearance it needs, and the panels around it are made to its exact size.

Lighting

Dimmable LED lighting is available in the shelves, behind the television and beneath the unit, in warm or neutral white. On a dimmer it goes from bright enough to read by to a soft glow behind the screen in the evening.

Storage and shelves

Cupboards below for the consoles, the controllers and the games, with the leads run through to the television. Drawers for the remotes and the chargers. Open shelves above, lit or unlit, for the things you want to see. Every door and drawer is soft-close, and the carcase is 18mm with a solid 18mm back and top, so the unit stays square and the doors stay true.

Feature panels

Behind the television, acoustic slat panels in oak and walnut tones give the wall some warmth and take the echo out of the room. Stockholm fluted doors on the cupboards below carry the same lines. The Ratcliffe on the Wreake media wall in the gallery below is in Cashmere shaker doors and has an electric fire set into the unit, tall cupboards at each end and lighting behind the television and in the open shelves.

Alcove units either side of a chimney breast

Not sure whether you want wardrobes or units in your alcoves? Our guide to alcove wardrobes or alcove units walks through it.

Older houses across Leicester, Loughborough and the villages come with a chimney breast and two alcoves, and the two are almost never the same width or truly square. Each unit is made to its own alcove: cupboards below at a height that suits the mantel, shelves or cupboards above, and every filler and end panel scribed to the plaster so the unit meets the wall cleanly. The chimney breast itself can carry the television and the fire as a media wall, with the alcoves doing the storage. See the Porcelain white alcove units in Nottingham and the Cashmere alcove units with a bar area in Mountsorrel. For wardrobes in bedroom alcoves, see fitted wardrobes for alcoves and chimney breasts.

Under the stairs

The space under the stairs is usually a deep cupboard with a bare bulb and everything lost at the back. The doors and drawers are made to follow the slope of the stairs, so the tall end takes coats and the vacuum cleaner and the low end becomes drawers for shoes and bags. The doors can match the rest of the hall or sit plain in a colour close to your woodwork so they all but disappear.

Hallway storage

A hall needs somewhere for coats, shoes, school bags, the dog lead and the post, and a hallway rarely has the width for freestanding furniture. A fitted run gives you a bench with drawers beneath for shoes, hooks or a tall cupboard for coats, a slim cupboard for the vacuum cleaner and the ironing board, and a shelf at the right height for keys and letters.

Finishes

Any door style on our finishes page can be used in a living room or hall. Harrington 4-Panel, Chester and Regency suit a period room with a chimney breast. Contemporary Shaker and Shaker No Grooves sit happily in most houses. Aurora and Capri give a plain modern front, Stockholm and Oslo a fluted one, Manhattan builds the handle into the door, and aluminium-framed sliding doors with board, mirror or glass panels, including smoked or reeded glass, make a good front for a hallway cupboard. We have no showroom, so we bring the samples to you and you choose in your own light.

What is included

One price, in writing, valid for 30 days. It covers the design, every panel, plinth, cornice, handle and interior, the cut-outs for the television and the fire, delivery and the fitting, including the scribing to your walls and ceiling. Lighting and a 36mm worktop are priced in if you choose them. Nothing is added at the end. Our price guide explains what moves a job between the £, ££ and £££ tiers.

Book a free design visit

Tell us the television and fire you have in mind, and Aaran will draw the wall around them at the design visit. From your go-ahead to fitting day is usually 6 to 8 weeks. You’re under no obligation. Book a free design visit or see more of our work on the projects page.