Alcoves either side of a chimney breast or feature wall are one of the most useful things a living room can have. Planned properly, they give a media wall balance, storage, and a built-in feel that a flat single wall rarely achieves. Planned badly, they become an afterthought — shelves too shallow to use, cupboards too deep for the space, lighting that draws attention to the wrong thing. This guide covers how to use alcoves well, from storage and proportion to lighting and common mistakes.
Contents
- Quick answer
- Why alcoves change the media wall layout
- Alcove storage: open shelving, closed cupboards, or a mix
- How deep should alcove cupboards be?
- Symmetrical vs asymmetrical alcoves
- Lighting in alcoves: what works and what to avoid
- Alcoves with and without a fireplace
- Common alcove planning mistakes
- FAQs
Quick answer
- Alcoves give a media wall natural balance — they frame the centre section and create space for storage or display without the wall feeling cluttered.
- The choice between open shelving, closed cupboards, or a mix should be led by how you use the room, not by how it looks in a photo.
- Depth matters more than most people expect — too shallow and the alcoves feel token; too deep and they project into the room.
- Lighting should be planned before the build is closed up — adding it as an afterthought almost always looks like an afterthought.
- A fireplace in the centre section changes how the alcoves should be designed — the balance, depth, and lighting level all shift when the fire becomes the focal point.
- Send a photo of the wall and the alcoves with your TV size and a note on whether you want a fire, shelving, or cupboards — that gives a clear basis for specific advice.
Why alcoves change the media wall layout
Most media wall designs work with a single flat surface — the TV, perhaps a fireplace, a clean front. When alcoves are present, the design becomes about a wider wall altogether. That is an advantage, not a complication.
Alcoves give the build a natural structure. The centre section already has visual weight; the alcoves either side become the frame. When they are used well, they make the centre feel more deliberate and give the whole wall a more considered, built-in appearance.
The proportions do need thinking through carefully. An alcove that is too narrow for the shelves or cupboards planned into it looks forced. One left empty or only loosely fitted looks like a gap rather than a feature. The best alcove designs are ones where the available width and depth are treated honestly, not assumed.
Alcove storage: open shelving, closed cupboards, or a mix
This decision changes how the finished media wall feels day to day more than almost any other.
Open shelving
Open shelves give the wall a lighter, more relaxed feel. They work best when the items on display are kept considered — books, plants, ceramics. The honest trade-off is that they require ongoing attention; everyday clutter ends up visible unless there is somewhere to put it. For rooms used heavily by the whole family, open shelving works better when paired with at least some enclosed storage below.
Closed cupboards
Cupboards give the wall a cleaner appearance and are more practical for everyday use. Devices, consoles, cables, and general clutter disappear behind a door. The wall looks tidy regardless of what is happening in the room around it. For a full view of what storage formats work and when, the media wall storage solutions guide covers the options in detail.
A mix of both
Base-level cupboards handle practical storage. Open shelves above create a display area. The division between the two can be set at whatever height suits the room and the ceiling. This is the most common approach in a well-planned build — it gives the wall both usefulness and visual variety without tipping into either extreme.
How deep should alcove cupboards be?
Depth is the practical question most often underestimated in alcove planning. It affects how useful the storage is, how much the wall projects into the room, and how the build looks from the front.
Too shallow
Alcove units that are too shallow cannot hold much of practical value. If the depth is less than around 200mm, the shelves are really only suitable for small display items. If practical storage was the intention, those shelves will disappoint in use.
Too deep
Units deeper than the room can accommodate start to project visually and physically into the space. In a smaller room, this can make the wall feel as though it is advancing towards you. Deep cupboard doors can also create clearance issues if furniture sits close to the wall.
A practical range
Most well-planned alcove units sit between 250mm and 400mm deep, depending on what they need to hold and how the room’s proportions allow. The right figure for a specific room should come from the actual items being stored, not from a default number taken from a guide.
Symmetrical vs asymmetrical alcoves
Not every media wall with alcoves needs to be perfectly symmetrical. Some of the best results come from alcoves that are intentionally different from each other — one side shelving, the other a full-height cupboard run. What matters is that the difference feels deliberate rather than accidental.
When symmetry works well
Matching heights, matching storage, and matching lighting give a wall a formal, considered quality. This works particularly well in rooms where the rest of the décor is clean and structured. It is also the most straightforward approach to brief and build.
When asymmetry makes more sense
- The alcoves are genuinely different in width, making forced symmetry look awkward
- One side needs more storage than the other — for example, it is near a door or has a different functional requirement
- A deliberately asymmetric design suits a more relaxed or modern room aesthetic
In period properties, chimney breasts are often not perfectly centred on the wall, which means the alcoves will naturally differ. It is usually better to design around the actual proportions than to force an artificial match. For more on how chimney breasts specifically affect the overall layout, the guide on media wall on a chimney breast covers the design considerations in full.
Lighting in alcoves: what works and what to avoid
Lighting can make alcoves feel finished and considered, or it can undermine the whole design. The difference usually comes down to restraint and planning.
What tends to work well
Recessed downlights fitted into the top of an alcove unit wash light downward across shelves or cupboard doors, giving the alcove depth and presence in the evening without harsh shadows. LED strips fitted to the underside of each shelf create a layered effect — best on open shelving with display objects, and most effective when the strip itself is concealed from the main seating position.
All of these options need to be wired in before the build is closed up. The LED lighting options for media walls guide covers the full range of approaches and how to decide between them.
What to avoid
- Lighting that is too bright — alcoves should feel settled and warm, not like display cases
- Mixing warm and cool white light sources in the same alcove
- Adding lighting as an afterthought once the build is complete — surface-mounted strips rarely look intentional
- Over-lighting the alcoves while leaving the centre section comparatively dark
Alcoves with and without a fireplace
Whether the centre section includes a fireplace has a significant effect on how the alcoves should be designed.
With a fireplace
A fire already provides warmth, movement, and focal contrast. The alcoves either side do not need to add much additional visual work — their role is to frame the centre and provide storage without competing with what is already happening in the middle of the wall.
In practice, this means keeping the alcove design relatively settled. Busy open shelving or strong lighting can pull the eye away from the fire and the TV. Base cupboards with quieter open shelving above, and restrained lighting, tends to keep the alcoves in their supporting role where they belong.
Without a fireplace
When the centre section is a TV-only wall, the alcoves can carry more design interest. Considered open shelving, stronger lighting, or a feature treatment on the back panel all become more viable because the wall is not already providing a visual effect in the centre. In a no-fire design, well-planned alcoves are often what gives the wall its character and makes it feel complete rather than just functional.
Common alcove planning mistakes
Deciding on the design before confirming the dimensions
A design that looks balanced in a sketch can feel cramped or over-scaled once real measurements are applied. Always confirm actual alcove widths and depths before settling on a storage format.
Treating the alcoves independently from the centre section
The alcoves and the media wall centre form one design. Lighting, proportion, storage height, and colour need to work across the whole wall. Decisions made in isolation for each area tend to produce a wall that looks assembled rather than designed.
Leaving electrical planning until after the build starts
Wiring for alcove lighting and additional sockets is part of first-fix electrical work, before the structure is boarded. Trying to add it afterwards results in surface-mounted solutions that look like an afterthought. The planning sockets and wiring guide explains exactly what needs to be decided and when.
Specifying shelf depths without reference to what will be stored
A shelf that is 150mm deep looks neat but holds very little. A shelf that is 400mm deep holds more but may not suit the available alcove width. The right depth comes from actual items, not from what looks proportionate in a design drawing.
Leaving alcove design until the rest of the wall is finalised
The alcoves are not a finishing detail. They affect the overall width, proportion, electrical requirements, and visual balance of the entire media wall. They should be part of the planning conversation from the start, not added in at the end when options are narrower.
FAQs
Do I need alcoves to have a good media wall?
No. Alcoves give natural framing and storage options that a flat wall does not, but a well-designed TV-only wall without alcoves can look just as clean and considered. They are a feature to use well, not a requirement.
How wide do alcoves need to be for cupboards to work well?
Very narrow alcoves — less than around 400mm — become difficult to use as practical cupboard storage because the door and interior depth compete. Narrower alcoves often work better as open shelving or a simple display area. The right approach depends on the actual dimensions in your room.
Should alcoves be the same colour as the rest of the media wall?
Usually yes, for a clean and consistent result. Some designs use a contrasting colour on the back panel of open alcoves to add depth — this can look very effective when planned carefully. Matching the surrounding wall or centre section colour tends to give the most settled result overall.
Can I add lighting to alcoves after the media wall is built?
It is possible, but the options are more limited and the result is usually less clean. Surface-mounted or plug-in strips can be added retrospectively but are harder to conceal. Wired-in downlights or recessed LEDs installed at the first-fix stage look significantly better.
What is the best way to get advice on my specific alcoves?
Send a photo of the full wall — including both alcoves — alongside your TV size and a note on whether you want a fireplace, open shelving, or cupboards. That gives a much clearer basis for specific advice than a general description.
Plan the alcoves before the build starts
Alcoves are one of the most useful things a media wall can have. When they are planned well — the right depth, the right storage format, considered lighting, and proportions that suit the room — they give the whole wall a quality that is hard to achieve on a simpler flat wall.
When they are left as a detail to sort later, they end up underused, awkward, or needing changes that are more disruptive once the build is complete.
If you want to see how a TV media wall installation with alcoves would work in your room, the most useful starting point is a photo of the wall with both alcoves visible, your TV size, and a note on whether you want a fireplace, cupboards, open shelving, or a combination.
Or call 07477 405111 / email dan@mediawallmaster.co.uk