Media Walls

How Much Does a Media Wall Cost in 2026?

Published April 2026 · 6 min read · By KCL Interiors

You've seen the picture on Pinterest. The fire glowing. The TV floating. No cables. No clutter. Just a clean, finished wall that makes the whole room feel like someone actually planned it. Then you think: what would that cost me?

We've built over 200 media walls across Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset. We know what they cost because we quote them, build them and finish them ourselves. Every week. So here are real prices from real projects. Not "prices vary" waffle.

The Short Answer

Most media walls we build cost between £1,500 and £6,000. A basic TV recess sits at the bottom. A full wall with an electric fire, LED lighting, alcoves and shelving sits at the top. Some full-room jobs go beyond that.

If you want one number to plan around: £3,000 to £4,000. That's where roughly 6 out of 10 of our clients land. It gets you a proper media wall with a fire recess, clean edges and a plaster finish so smooth you could press your cheek against it. Most people don't. But you could.

What Actually Affects the Price

A small alcove behind a 55-inch TV is a two-day job. A floor-to-ceiling feature wall across an entire lounge is a week. Same trade, very different price. Here's what moves the number.

Size and wall coverage. A 2-metre section is quick. A 4-metre wall spanning your whole living room takes double the board, double the stud, and a lot more time on the plaster finish. Ceiling height matters too. The Victorian terraces around Westbourne and Boscombe often sit at 2.7 metres or more, which means taller frames and more material per square metre.

Fire integration. Every electric fire has different recess dimensions and clearance rules. We frame to the exact millimetre of your chosen insert, because a 5mm gap on one side and a 12mm gap on the other looks like someone guessed. Gas fires cost more again because of the flue work and Gas Safe requirements.

Lighting. LED strips inside alcoves look effortless once they're done. Getting them there is not. Each channel gets routed into the framework, plastered around and finished flush. This is the detail that separates a wall that looks built-in from one that looks bolted on.

Alcoves and shelving. Each alcove is its own mini structure. More alcoves, more framework, more time. And every shelf has to be dead level and strong enough to hold whatever you put on it. Books, speakers, a three-year-old's Lego collection. We build for all of it.

Materials. We use British Gypsum plasterboard on every job. It costs more than the cheap stuff. We use it anyway, because it takes a better finish and it doesn't sag after two winters. The metal stud, fixings, jointing compound and multi-finish plaster all add up. We don't swap any of them out to shave the quote.

Access and prep work. Ground-floor lounge on a new-build estate in Ferndown? Easy. Third-floor flat near Lansdowne with a narrow stairwell and no lift? That adds half a day just getting boards through the door. Time is money, and awkward access eats both.

Typical Media Wall Costs in Bournemouth

These come straight from projects we've quoted and built in 2025 and 2026 across Bournemouth, Poole and the surrounding area. Your job will be different. But this gets you in the right ballpark.

The mid-range is our most popular by a long way. It's the one where people walk into the room afterwards and say "that looks like it was always there." We've built dozens across Canford Cliffs, Parkstone and Westbourne. Every single client has said the same thing: the room feels completely different. Not bigger. Not fancier. Just finished.

The full room transformation is for people who want the whole space to match. We've done these in larger properties around Sandbanks and Lilliput where the media wall wraps around the room and ties into a coffered or stepped ceiling with hidden downlights. It takes longer. It costs more. And the result is something you will never find in a showroom, because it was built to fit your room and nothing else.

What's Included in Our Price

When we quote a media wall project, one team does everything from design to finished plaster. We don't sub out the boarding. We don't sub out the skim. The people who frame it are the people who plaster it.

Here's what's in the price:

• Home visit to measure the wall and talk through your design
• Metal stud framework, built to your exact dimensions
• British Gypsum plasterboard — cut, fixed and jointed
• Fire recess framing (if you're having one)
• LED lighting channels and cable routing
• Full skim plaster finish, ready for paint
• All materials, fixings and waste removal

That last line matters. Some quotes look cheaper until you find out materials are extra. Or they leave you with a pile of offcuts and plaster dust to bag up yourself. We leave the room clean. Hoovered. Ready for your decorator to walk straight in.

What's NOT Included (and Why)

A few things sit outside our quote. There's a reason for each one, and we'd rather be straight with you now than surprise you later.

Decoration and painting. We finish the wall to a smooth, paint-ready surface. Run your hand across it. You won't find a ripple. But we're plasterers, not painters. Most clients already have a decorator they like, and we'd rather give you a perfect base than pretend we're something we're not.

Electrical first fix. New sockets, a spur for the fire, hardwired lighting circuits — that's a qualified electrician's job. We coordinate with them so the wiring goes in at the right stage. The timing matters. Get it wrong and you're chasing cables behind finished plasterboard. We make sure that doesn't happen.

The fire unit itself. Electric fires range from £300 to £3,000+ depending on brand, size and whether the flames fool your guests or look like a screen saver. We build the recess around whichever model you pick. We leave the buying to you so you get the exact fire you want at the best price you can find.

TV mounting bracket. Brackets run from £20 to £150. We reinforce the wall behind where the TV sits — 18mm plywood bonded to the studs, so it holds the weight of whatever you throw at it. The bracket and final mount is usually something clients sort, or their TV installer handles on the day.

How to Get an Accurate Quote

We don't quote over the phone. We tried it early on. The numbers were always wrong and it wasted everyone's time, because a photo never tells you what the wall is made of or where the sockets are.

Instead, we come to you. Free. We measure the wall, check the space, and talk through what you want. Bring your Pinterest saves, your Instagram screenshots, whatever you've got. Most visits take about 30 minutes. Within a few days, you get a written quote with a full breakdown. Every line itemised. No hidden extras.

Quotes are valid for 30 days. No follow-up calls. No pressure. If you want to sit on it, compare us to other quotes, or wait until next year, that's fine. We're not going anywhere.

One tip: if you've already picked a fire, tell us before the visit. We can factor in the exact recess size and clearance rules from the start, which saves a revision later.

Is a Media Wall Worth the Money?

We're not the cheapest option in Dorset. We know that. But we've never had a client ask us to come back and fix something. In 200+ builds, not once. That's the trade-off, and it's one we're comfortable with.

Think about your living room right now. TV on a bracket. Cables trailing down the wall. Maybe a cable tidy half-hiding them. It works. But it feels unfinished. A media wall changes that. The TV sits flush. Every cable disappears. The fire gives the room a centre — something your eye goes to the moment you walk in the door.

We've built them in compact two-bed terraces in Winton where the lounge felt twice the size afterwards. We've done floor-to-ceiling walls in open-plan kitchens in Broadstone that tied the whole space together. Different homes. Same reaction: "Why didn't we do this years ago?"

There's a money side too. Estate agents in Bournemouth and Poole now list media walls as a feature in property details. It's one of the few home improvements that adds value on paper and makes you enjoy the room more every day you live there.

And because we build from metal stud and plasterboard — not MDF, not timber — these walls are solid. They don't flex. They don't creak when the heating kicks in. They take a plaster finish that looks like the wall has been there since the house was built. That's the difference between a media wall that's been fitted and one that's been built. It's a difference you can feel when you knock on it.

If you've been thinking about it, call us on 07934 026 878 or book a visit. Even if you're months away from starting, at least you'll know the real number. We'd rather help you plan it right than watch you rush into something with the wrong builder.

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