Planning a TV Unit and Media Wall That Still Works in Five Years

A media wall works when the screen sits at the right height for where people actually sit, the cables are hidden inside the unit rather than on the wall, the equipment can breathe, and the unit is proportioned to the wall instead of to the current television. Get those four right and the design survives every screen upgrade. Get them wrong and you are living with a compromise you cannot easily undo.

How high should the television be?

Lower than most people fit it. The centre of the screen should sit close to eye level when you are seated on your normal sofa, not standing in the room.

Mounting the screen high, often above a fireplace or at standing eye level, is the single most common mistake in living rooms. It forces everyone to tilt their head up for the entire time they are watching, which becomes uncomfortable within an hour.

The correct method is to sit on your actual sofa in your actual room and have someone hold a marker at the height that feels natural. That mark, not a standard measurement, is where the centre of the screen belongs. Seat height, sofa depth and viewing distance all vary, which is why a fixed number is unhelpful.

How do you get rid of visible cables?

By routing them inside the unit during manufacture. Conduit for power and signal cable is built into the carcass before the unit is finished, so the cable runs from the screen position down into the equipment compartment without crossing any visible surface.

The alternative approaches all disappoint. Surface trunking is visible however carefully it is painted. Chasing the wall afterwards means cutting into finished plaster and repainting. And leaving the cables loose behind the unit means a visible loop that collects dust.

This is why the media wall has to be decided before electrical first fix, or at least before the wall is finished. The power point behind the screen and the point in the equipment compartment both need to exist, and they need to be in positions the unit was designed around.

Does equipment need ventilation?

Yes, and it is regularly ignored. Receivers, set top boxes, consoles and sound equipment all generate heat, and heat in a sealed cabinet shortens their life and can cause them to throttle or shut down.

Compartments holding equipment need airflow, whether through a vented back panel, a gap at the rear, or open sided shelving. A closed door on an equipment compartment is fine visually but needs ventilation designed in behind it.

Two further points. Remote controls need line of sight or a repeater if the equipment sits behind a solid door. And there should be enough depth for the equipment plus the cables plugged into the back of it, which is more than the equipment depth alone.

How big should the unit be?

Size it to the wall, not to the television. This is the decision that determines whether the design still looks right in five years.

If the unit is built tightly around the current screen, replacing that screen with a larger one, which is what everyone eventually does, leaves the composition wrong. If the unit is proportioned to the wall, the screen sits within a designed field and a larger screen simply occupies more of it.

Consider these proportions:

• The unit should relate to the wall width, ideally spanning a clear majority of it or sitting deliberately centred with balanced margins.
• Leave visual space around the screen so it does not appear crammed.
• Decide whether the unit is floor standing or floating early, because the fixing and the services differ.
• If there is a window on the same wall or opposite, plan for reflections on the screen.

Floating or floor standing?

Floating keeps the floor visible underneath, which makes the room read wider and turns cleaning underneath into a single pass. It suits smaller rooms. It requires a wall that can take the fixing, and the load has to be carried into the structure rather than into plaster alone.

Floor standing carries its own weight, so it holds more and does not depend on the wall behind it. It suits heavier storage and walls that cannot take a substantial fixing.

Choose floating if the room is tight and you want the floor to read continuously. Choose floor standing if you need real storage capacity or the wall construction is uncertain.

What about lighting?

Lighting built into the unit does two useful things. It reduces the contrast between a bright screen and a dark wall, which is easier on the eyes during evening viewing. And it lets the wall be lit softly when the screen is off, so the unit is a feature rather than a black rectangle.

Integrated lighting has to be wired during manufacture, so it is another reason to settle the design early. It should also be on its own switch, because lighting you cannot turn off independently gets used far less.

Avoid lighting that shines directly at the seating or reflects off the screen. Light washing the wall behind the screen is what you want.

How does the media wall relate to the rest of the room?

It is usually the focal point, which means the seating layout is arranged around it. Decide the two together rather than fitting the sofa afterwards.

In Pakistani homes the living room also has to absorb guests at short notice, so check that additional seating can be brought in without blocking the screen or the walkway. A layout that works for four people and fails for ten is a layout that will fail on the evenings that matter.

If the room has a false ceiling, coordinate the two. A ceiling detail that aligns with the media wall reads as designed, while one that misses it by a small margin reads as a mistake.

Having one made

Grains builds media walls and TV units at its own facility on Raiwind Road with conduit routed inside the unit during manufacture, then installs them with our own teams. We measure the room, set the screen height against where you actually sit, and show you the design in 3D before anything is cut, all at no charge. Message WhatsApp +92 320 4443864 with your wall dimensions, or see the wider range on our services page.