Small media wall ideas for tight rooms and bedrooms

1. Keep it shallow

Depth is what a small room feels most. A media wall housing a fire and a soundbar wants 150 to 250mm, and every centimetre of that comes off the floor across the whole width of the wall. In a narrow room it is the difference between walking past the coffee table and edging round it.

If you do not need a fire, you do not need the depth. A wall that only has to hide cables and carry a television and a couple of shelves can be much slimmer, and a single decorative panel behind the TV, a feature wall, adds almost nothing at all.

2. Size the television to the wall, not the showroom

A comfortable rule for a 4K television is to sit about one and a half times the screen size away. A 55-inch screen suits a sofa about 2.1 metres back; a 65-inch, about 2.5 metres.

In a small room, though, the width of the television is usually the real limit. A 65-inch screen is about 1.44 metres wide. On a 1.8-metre wall that leaves 18cm either side, which looks cramped and leaves no room for shelving. A 55-inch, about 1.22 metres wide, on the same wall leaves room to breathe.

3. Stand the fire on its end, or leave it out

A wide linear fire under the television is the classic layout, and it needs a wide wall. On a narrow one, a vertical electric fire set below a smaller screen gives you the flame without forcing the TV up the wall. That is how our compact media wall fits both into a single 800mm module.

Or leave the fire out. In a small room a large lit shelf under the television often does more: somewhere for the router, a speaker and a few things you actually like looking at.

4. Let the lighting do the work

Lit niches and a soft line of light around the television make a small room feel deeper at night, because they draw the eye to the wall rather than to how close it is. Keep it warm white and dimmable. Bright, cold LED in a small space feels like a shop fitting.

One lit shelf or two small niches is plenty. Six niches on a two-metre wall is clutter with lights in it.

5. Pick a calm finish, light or dark

The usual advice for small rooms is to go light, and a pale marble or stone finish does bounce light around. But a dark wall in a small snug can work very well: in the evening it recedes, and the room feels cosy and deliberate rather than small.

What rarely works on a small wall is a busy finish. Heavily veined marble across two metres takes over the room. Choose something quieter and let the lighting provide the interest.

6. Hide everything

Clutter shrinks a small room faster than anything else. Before the wall is designed, decide where every box lives: the TV box, the games console, the router and the soundbar. With cable routes inside the wall nothing hangs down, and a closed cupboard beats an open shelf of black boxes with blinking lights.

Media walls in bedrooms

A bedroom media wall is a different brief, and in some ways an easier one. You watch the television from bed, usually half sitting up, so it goes higher than it would in a lounge, and a tilting bracket helps. Most people leave the fire out, or choose one whose flame can run without the heater. A fan heater in a small bedroom is too much.

Keep the depth down, because the gap between the end of the bed and the wall is often the tightest walkway in the house. Put the lighting on a dimmer you can reach from bed. And think about sound: a small soundbar beats the TV's own speakers, especially at the low volume you will be listening at.

If it is the bed wall you want to change, our Caledonian bedside columns do the same job for that side of the room: lit shelves, a reading light, charging and sound, from £1,600 plus VAT a pair.

What a small media wall costs

Our compact media wall, for walls between 0.9 and 2 metres, is £1,375 plus VAT with a large lit shelf, or £1,650 plus VAT with an electric fire. Both come with one wall panel in any finish. If all you want is a finish behind the television, a one-panel feature wall is £480 plus VAT, supply only.

Common questions

How small can a media wall be?

Smaller than most people think. Our compact media wall is designed for walls between 0.9 and 2 metres wide: an 800mm module for the television with a large lit shelf or a vertical electric fire, and one wall panel.

What size TV suits a small media wall?

A comfortable rule for a 4K television is to sit about one and a half times the screen size away: a 55-inch screen suits a sofa about 2.1 metres away, a 65-inch about 2.5 metres. In a small room the width of the TV is often the tighter limit.

Can you put a media wall in a bedroom?

Yes, and it is usually a simpler job than a living room: often no fire, a television set a little higher for watching from bed, and lit shelving on a dimmer. Keep the depth down so it does not eat into the walkway around the bed.

Does a media wall make a small room look smaller?

A deep, busy one can. A shallow wall with a calm finish, a right-sized TV and soft lighting in one or two niches usually makes a small room feel more finished rather than smaller.