A media wall turns the whole wall into one built in piece: the TV set into it, a gas or electric fire below, storage either side and every cable out of sight. We design, supply and fit media walls in Dublin and the surrounding counties of Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. The units are made to your measurements by the same manufacturing partner that makes our kitchens, and this page sets out exactly what they are made from, how the fire opening is handled and how the price is worked out.
Who designs and fits media walls in Dublin?
The Home Upgrade Co designs, supplies and fits media walls in Dublin and the surrounding counties of Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. One team handles the design, the supply and the installation, and the fitting is done by our own fitters rather than subcontracted out, so there is one point of contact from your first message to the finished wall. The units are made to your measurements by the same manufacturing partner that makes our kitchens: 18mm MDF doors in baked lacquer on an 18mm melamine plywood carcase, with PUR edge banding. We make and fit the wood only. The opening is built to suit the gas or electric fire you choose, and the fire itself, and any gas or electrical work, are arranged by you with your own installer. Every job starts with photos, a short video and rough sizes of the room, and the 3D design and itemised quote are free with no obligation. Stephen, who coordinates our installation team, has more than ten years in kitchens, and the manufacturing partner behind our units has twenty years in the trade.
- What we do: design, supply and fit, all by one team
- Who fits it: our own fitters, not subcontracted
- Where: Dublin and the surrounding counties of Meath, Kildare and Wicklow
- Who makes it: the same manufacturing partner that makes our kitchens
- Build: 18mm baked lacquer MDF doors, 18mm melamine plywood carcase, 25mm shelves, PUR edge banding
- Fire: gas or electric, with the opening built to suit the model you choose
- Not included: the fire, the TV and its bracket, and any gas or electrical work, which you arrange with your own installer
- Price: worked out from a free 3D design and itemised quote, drawn from your own measurements
- Warranty: 2 years against defects on everything we make in wood
- Experience: over ten years fitting kitchens, and a manufacturing partner with twenty years in the trade
- Contact: WhatsApp or call 089 222 3395
What is a media wall?
A media wall is one built in wall unit that holds the TV, usually a gas or electric fire, and storage either side, finished as one piece with the cables hidden.
The unit is built forward off the wall you already have. That depth is what lets the screen sit back into the wall, gives the fire its own opening and leaves room behind for the cables to run down to a cupboard where the box, the router and the console live. Everything else follows from it: the shelf positions, the closed storage, the lighting if you want it.
Because it is fitted to one wall in one room, it is designed around that room's real dimensions, sockets and skirting line from the start, and drawn in 3D before anything is made.
Is a made to measure media wall better than a stud and plasterboard one?
For finish and storage, yes. Ours is lacquered MDF on a plywood carcase with PUR edging, made off site. A stud wall is board, skim and paint, and costs less.
Most media walls in Ireland are one of two things. The first is timber stud and plasterboard, framed, boarded, skimmed and painted in the room by a carpenter, with holes cut for the TV and the fire. The second is melamine sheet cut and hand edged on site. Both cost less than ours, and a good carpenter makes a decent job of either. The difference shows in the finish: a painted wall with openings in it, or a site applied edge you can see and feel.
Ours is made to measure furniture, built by the same manufacturing partner as our kitchens and fitted by our own team. These are the checkable differences:
| Part | Stud and plasterboard, built on site | Melamine sheet, hand edged on site | Our media walls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fronts and panels | Plasterboard, skimmed and painted | Melamine faced board | 18mm MDF in baked lacquer, sprayed and oven cured |
| Carcase | Timber stud frame | Melamine faced board | 18mm double sided melamine plywood |
| Edges | Taped and skimmed corners | Edging applied by hand on site | PUR edge banding, an almost invisible joint |
| Storage | Usually open shelving formed from board | Varies with the carpenter | Real doors on hinges, 25mm shelves |
| Where it is made | In your room | In your room | Off site, to your measurements |
PUR edge banding is glued with a moisture cured adhesive, which gives an almost invisible joint and stands up to water, heat and ageing better than the EVA glue used on ordinary edging. Baked lacquer means the MDF fronts are sprayed and then cured hard in a heated oven, which is why they hold a flat, even colour that a hand painted wall does not. Doors open and close like kitchen doors, and the piece can be taken apart and refitted.
That is the difference the extra money buys, and it is the honest answer to why we cost more than a carpenter working in board. If the board route is what you want, say so and we will tell you straight rather than quote against it.
What is a media wall from us made from?
Doors and wall panels are 18mm MDF in baked lacquer, carcases 18mm double sided melamine plywood, shelves 25mm, backs 9mm, PUR edging and DTC hinges.
That is the specification taken straight off our media wall quotes rather than written for the website.
| Part | Specification |
|---|---|
| Doors and wall panels | 18mm MDF, baked lacquer finish |
| Carcase | 18mm double sided melamine plywood |
| Shelves | 25mm |
| Backs | 9mm |
| Hinges | DTC |
| Edging | PUR edge banding |
| Fire opening | Built to suit the gas or electric fire you choose |
| Warranty on everything we make in wood | 2 years against defects |
The honest downside of a lacquered front is that a hard knock can chip an edge, and the repair is a respray rather than a wipe.
One thing worth saying plainly, because the 3D drawings can flatter it: a walnut or oak look on the shelves is woodgrain melamine on plywood, not solid timber. It is durable and it is what the price is built on, but it is not a solid timber shelf and we will not let you find that out on fitting day.
Media wall with fireplace: can it take a gas or electric fire?
Yes. The opening is built to suit the gas or electric fire you choose. We make the wood only; the fire and its fitting are yours to arrange.
Every inset fire, gas or electric, ships with installation instructions that set out the opening it needs, the clearances above and around it, and any ventilation. The media wall is drawn around those before anything is made. We ask what fire you have or are planning, and what is already on the wall, so we can quote and build around it. So the useful order of events is: choose the fire, or tell us the model you are looking at, and the wall is built to suit it. On one Dublin media wall the opening was W1280 x D400 x H564mm, set for a 1280mm wide inset electric fire.
Electric fire in a media wall
An electric fire is the simplest choice for a media wall with a fireplace, because it needs no flue, no chimney and no gas supply. The insert sits in its opening with the clearances its instructions demand kept free, and nothing is shelved or stored inside those clearances. If the fire or any lighting needs a new circuit or socket inside the wall, that is electrical work for a Registered Electrical Contractor. We do not do or arrange electrical work, so that is your own electrician; tell us where the supply is or will be and the units are built around it.
Gas fire in a media wall
A gas fire can go into a media wall too, whether it is an inset, glass fronted or hole in the wall gas fire. It needs more planning than an electric one. A gas fire has to have a way to clear its fumes: a balanced flue out through an outside wall, a conventional flue up an existing chimney, or a flueless model with its own ventilation rules. Which of those your room can take decides where the fire can go, so it is settled before the wall is designed.
Any work on a gas fire, its supply or its flue in your home must be done by a Registered Gas Installer, who issues a certificate when the work is done. We do not supply gas fires and we do not arrange the gas work, so the fire and the installer are yours to choose. Our part is the wood: the media wall is built around the fire manufacturer's opening size and clearances, so your installer can fit and commission it to those instructions.
Gas or electric: which suits a media wall better?
An electric fire is simpler to build in and can go on almost any wall. A gas fire gives a real flame and real heat, but it depends on a flue route or ventilation and on a gas supply, so it suits fewer walls. Running costs depend on the fire's rated output and on your own gas and electricity unit rates, so compare the two models you are looking at rather than gas and electric in general.
What about an open fire or a stove?
An open solid fuel fire or a stove has flue, air supply and heat requirements that our units are not built to sit around. If one is on the wall you want to build on, it needs a qualified installer for that appliance first. In many rooms the simpler answer is to have the existing fire dealt with properly, then fit a media wall with a gas or electric fire in it.
Where should the TV and the fire sit?
The screen at eye level from where you actually sit, and the fire far enough below it that the heat clearances and the sightlines both work.
The most common mistake is stacking them too close together. A fire throws heat upward, and many gas and electric fires state a minimum distance to a TV or shelf above them in their instructions. Even where a short gap is allowed it can look cramped. Setting the spacing properly at design stage is free; changing it after the units are made is not.
We draw the whole wall in 3D before anything is built, which is the point at which those decisions are easy to change.
What are the best media wall ideas for a modern living room?
Popular media wall ideas are shelving either side of the TV, hidden cables, soft lighting, closed storage below the screen, a linear fire and slat panel detailing.
Most media wall ideas are variations on a few elements, mixed to suit the room and how you use it:
- Shelving either side. Open shelves or cupboards flanking the TV balance the wall and give books and objects a home. A media wall with a fireplace and shelves keeps the shelves out of the fire's clearances. If the shelving is the part you care about most, our alcove units and built in bookcases page goes into more detail.
- A linear fire under the screen. A wide, low fire set into the wall below the TV is a common way to combine the two, gas or electric.
- Hidden cable routing. A route inside the unit runs from the screen down to a cupboard where the box, router and console live, so nothing hangs below the TV.
- Lighting. Low level strips behind shelf lips or above the fire opening, on a dimmer, lift the wall without glare on the screen.
- Closed storage below. A low run of doors or drawers under the TV hides remotes, controllers and clutter, with ventilation for anything that runs warm.
- Slat panels. Vertical slats behind or beside the screen add texture and shadow. Our wall panelling page covers slat and shaker panelling on their own.
- Colour. One colour across the doors, panels and wall is what makes a media wall look built in rather than added on. Two tone, with lacquered doors and a woodgrain shelf, is the other common choice.
- No fire at all. A media wall without a fireplace turns that opening into a long low cupboard or open shelf for a soundbar.
Small media wall ideas work on the same principles at a smaller scale. In a small room, a shallower build around the TV only, or a fitted TV unit with a slim shelf run above it, gives the look without taking the depth a full width media wall needs. A corner media wall can work where the seating faces the corner, and the 3D design is where you find out whether it does in your room.
Can the TV and the fire both be recessed?
Yes. The unit is built forward off the existing wall, which creates the depth to sit the screen flush and to set the fire into its own opening.
That is the whole point of building forward rather than hanging furniture on the wall you already have. A 400mm deep unit is enough to take an inset electric fire and to run the cables behind the screen down to a cupboard.
The screen sits in a recess with a solid fixing behind it and a cable route planned before the units are made. The fire sits in its opening with the clearances its own instructions demand kept free.
How much does a media wall cost?
We do not publish a media wall price. Each one is priced from a free 3D design and itemised quote drawn from your own measurements, with the fire not included.
A media wall is sized off one wall in one room, so a figure for somebody else's wall tells you very little about yours. What moves the number is the width of the wall, whether a fire opening is in it, how much of the storage is closed doors rather than open shelving, and how the cables and any ventilation are handled. You get one complete itemised quote with every line priced, and nothing is ordered or charged until you say yes.
We make and fit the wood only. On the quotes we issue, the fire, the television and its bracket, any electrical or gas work and decorating the rest of the room are not included. We put those exclusions in the covering message rather than in a footnote, because an exclusion should never be something you find out later.
Can a media wall be fitted in a room you already live in?
Yes. A media wall goes into an ordinary sitting room you are living in, with no building work beyond the wall itself and no need to move out.
Nearly every media wall we are asked about is a room that is already finished and in daily use. The wall is measured as it really is, including any lean in it, and the units are made off site, so the disruption is the fitting itself rather than weeks of work in your sitting room.
The things that need checking before anything is agreed are the same every time: what is inside the wall you want to build off, where the existing sockets and aerial points are, and what fire you have or are planning, with its supply or flue, so the quote is built around it. All of that comes from your photos, video and sizes, and it is drawn in 3D so you can see the finished wall in your own room before you commit to it.
How long does a media wall take?
The free 3D design and itemised quote come first, from your photos, video and sizes. Manufacturing and fitting dates are confirmed in writing with your quote.
As an example of the front end, one Dublin enquiry arrived on 4 September 2026, the full media wall was drawn in 3D by 14 September, and the complete itemised quote followed the next day. Nothing was ordered and nothing was charged in between.
After sign off the units are made to your measurements. The number of days on site for the fit itself is also confirmed in writing with your quote, because it depends on the width of the wall.
Is a TV wall unit the same as a media wall?
A TV wall unit is the furniture that fills the TV wall. A media wall is that unit built forward off the wall, usually with a fire in it.
In practice people use the two terms for the same thing, and the quote for one of our Dublin media walls is headed TV wall. If what you picture is the whole wall as one built in piece, with the screen recessed and the cables gone, you are on the right page whichever name you used to get here.
There is a real distinction worth knowing. If you do not want the wall built forward, and what you actually want is a run of cupboards and shelving made to your alcoves with the television mounted above it, that is a built in TV unit and it is shallower and simpler, covered on our built in and wall mounted TV units page. A lighter option again is a feature wall behind a wall mounted TV, finished in wall panelling or slats, which still needs a route for the cables. We draw whichever of the three suits your room in 3D so you can compare them in your own house.
Does a media wall lose you floor space?
Yes, a little. The unit projects forward from the existing wall, so the room gets slightly shorter in that direction once it is built.
It is worth knowing before you commit, and it is one of the things the 3D design makes obvious. A typical depth is around 400mm. In most sitting rooms that loss is modest and the gain in storage more than covers it, because the cupboards hold what was previously on the floor.
In a genuinely small room, a built in TV unit with alcove storage often makes more sense than a full media wall. We will say so if that is the case.
What lighting works in a media wall?
Low level indirect lighting behind shelves or under the fire, on its own switch or dimmer, so the wall glows without glare on the screen.
The aim is to lift the wall out of shadow when the TV is on, not to light the room. Strip lighting tucked behind a shelf lip or above the fire opening does that without glare on the screen. If you want it, say so at design stage so the units allow for it. The lights and the wiring are for your own electrician, not us.
Where do you fit media walls in Ireland?
We design and fit media walls in Dublin and the surrounding counties of Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, working from photos of your room rather than a showroom visit.
There is no showroom to visit and no appointment to wait for a slot in. You send photos, a video and sizes, the wall is drawn in 3D against your own dimensions, and once you agree the quote we measure on site before anything is made. That matters more on a media wall than on almost anything else we make, because the whole piece is sized off one wall in one room.
If you are outside those four counties, tell us where you are and we will say yes or no straight away rather than leave you waiting.
How it works
Send us photos, a short video and rough sizes of the space and tell us what you want, including the fire if you have chosen one. Our designers draw the whole wall in 3D so you see the finished piece in your own room, with the fire opening and the shelf positions where they will actually be, and you get one complete itemised quote. Nothing is ordered and nothing is charged until you say yes.
Who are our media walls for?
Everything we build is premium and made to the highest spec: made to measure, designed in 3D in your own room and fitted by our own team, and it is priced to that standard. Quality at this level is not a budget purchase, and we would rather say so here than after you have waited for a quote. If you are working to a tight budget, we are honestly not the right fit.
One team for this and the rest of the job
The same team that designs this has it made and fits it. There is no handover to a separate installer at any point: the wall is drawn in 3D from your room, and our own fitters put it in. We also do kitchens, fitted wardrobes, internal doors and windows, so if more than one thing needs doing it is one contractor, one schedule and one point of contact rather than four. See the rest of our fitted furniture.
Frequently asked questions
Who designs and fits media walls in Dublin?
The Home Upgrade Co designs, supplies and fits media walls in Dublin and the surrounding counties of Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. One team handles the design, the supply and the installation, and the fitting is done by our own fitters rather than subcontracted out, so there is one point of contact from your first message to the finished wall. The units are made to your measurements by the same manufacturing partner that makes our kitchens: 18mm MDF doors in baked lacquer on an 18mm melamine plywood carcase, with PUR edge banding. We make and fit the wood only. The opening is built to suit the gas or electric fire you choose, and the fire itself, and any gas or electrical work, are arranged by you with your own installer. Every job starts with photos, a short video and rough sizes of the room, and the 3D design and itemised quote are free with no obligation. Stephen, who coordinates our installation team, has more than ten years in kitchens, and the manufacturing partner behind our units has twenty years in the trade.
Is the fire included in a media wall price?
No. We do not supply fires, and the television and its bracket are not included either. Tell us the fire you have or plan to fit, and the opening is built to suit it.
Do I need an electrician or a gas installer for a media wall?
Usually, yes, and you arrange them. New wiring is for a Registered Electrical Contractor and any gas fire for a Registered Gas Installer; we only make and fit the wood.
Can a media wall go on any wall?
Almost always, though the wall needs checking for services and the room needs the depth to give up. A gas fire also needs a flue route or ventilation, which rules some walls out.
What decides the price of a media wall?
The width of the wall, whether a fire opening is in it, how much is closed storage rather than open shelving, and how the cables and vents are handled.