Media Wall Alcove Shelves or Cupboards? Plan the Hybrid Phase by Phase

For most rooms, the answer to media wall alcove shelves or cupboards is both: closed cupboards about 16–18 inches deep at the bottom, open shelves 10–12 inches deep above. In GetMediaWall's pricing model, adding shelves to an 8–12 ft painted media wall moves the estimate from $3,000–$4,400 to about $3,450–$4,850.

Go fully closed if the alcoves will hold a cable box, a console and kids' stuff. Go fully open only if you like styling shelves and don't mind dusting them. The rest of this guide takes you through the plan in order.

Phase 1 — Inventory before you sketch

Open shelving goes wrong when it ends up as storage instead of display. You'll see this in the threads below. We read one Mumsnet thread where a homeowner asked whether to add a third set of alcove shelves. It had 17 replies from other users. Here's how they split:

• 8 recommended closed or hybrid storage: cupboards or sliding doors below, shelves above, or a closed cupboard in one alcove. One poster summed it up: they put "the crap in the cupboards and the books on display." Another chose closed because "it will hide SO much more stuff and there's less dust."
• 3 wanted open shelves in every alcove.
• 4 liked open shelves but said a third set would look cluttered.
• 2 gave conditional answers ("all shelves if the items are attractive").
• 0 recommended closing off every alcove.

A UK homeowner on AVForums had alcoves on both sides of a chimney breast with the TV in the middle. They ruled out open shelves from the start because the family's clutter would fill them. What they needed was somewhere for an amplifier and a satellite box, out of children's reach, with the remotes still working. Most real-life alcove plans run into that same problem.

Sort everything that will live beside the TV into three lists:

• Hide: cable/satellite box, AV receiver, router, consoles, chargers, controllers, discs, board games.
• Show: books you'd actually keep, a few objects, plants, framed photos.
• Reach often: remotes, headphones, whatever gets used every night.

Phase 1 checklist:

• Count the "hide" items. More than one shelf's worth means the bottom needs doors.
• Mark which hidden devices you control with an IR remote (most cable boxes and AV receivers).
• Decide who dusts the shelves, and how often.

Phase 2 — Measure the alcoves and set the zones

Measure each alcove's width at the back and at the front, plus its depth. Old walls are rarely square. Then split the height into zones:

For shelf width, the American Hardwood Information Center's guidance, citing West Virginia University testing, is to keep spans of standard 3/4-inch shelving to about 36 inches and never more than 42 inches. Its table shows how much the material matters. On a 12-inch-deep shelf spanning 36 inches, about 87 lb sags a 3/4-inch MDF shelf by 1/4 inch. Veneer-core birch plywood takes about 129 lb to sag the same amount, and red oak about 313 lb. A full shelf of hardcovers gets to MDF's limit faster than you'd think. That's why a Mumsnet carpentry thread gets the blunt advice "Don't use MDF, it'll bend."

Rule of thumb: If an alcove is wider than 36 inches, add a vertical divider or use plywood shelves with a hardwood front edge. The same source says a 1x2 hardwood apron on the front edge makes a shelf "almost 400 percent stronger." It also caps cabinet doors at 24 inches wide.

Phase 2 checklist:

• Back and front width of each alcove, plus depth at three heights.
• Base cupboard depth chosen (16–18 in), shelf depth chosen (10–12 in).
• Spans at or under 36 in, or a divider or stiffened shelf planned.
• Try the layout in the media wall configurator before calling anyone.

Phase 3 — Choose doors that let the remote through

Infrared remotes need a see-through path. In a WOODWEB cabinetmaking thread, one contributor said solid wood blocks the signal but glass or cloth passes it. Other woodworkers had good results with darker fronts. One had a cabinet with dark brown Lexan "you can't really see through," and DVD and satellite remotes still worked through it. Another fitted bronze glass for a customer and "everything works just fine." The AVForums thread above added slatted doors: IR "fairly good at getting through holes/slats" at short distances.

Not every remote is IR. Amazon moved its Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote to Bluetooth. Roku's "point-anywhere" voice remotes use Wi-Fi Direct, according to Roku community experts. Neither needs line of sight, so a streaming stick can sit behind a solid door. Cable boxes and most receivers are the devices that usually still need line of sight.

Pro tip: If you want solid doors, budget for an IR repeater: an eye on the cabinet front and emitters on each device. AVForums posters call it a cheap, easy fix. One WOODWEB contributor warned that IR blasters can be "a bit touchy" near flat-panel TVs and some room lighting, so test it before the doors go on.

For router placement inside a media wall, see Router Behind TV Wall? Wi-Fi & IR Remote Fixes.

Phase 3 checklist:

• Remote type listed for each hidden device: IR, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
• Door material picked per device, with a sample tested before ordering.
• IR repeater budgeted if any IR device sits behind solid doors.

Phase 4 — Plan heat and power inside the cupboard

Closing a door traps heat. The AVForums thread's main warning was to "ensure there is adequate air flow so devices do not overheat." Plan an open back or a cable cut-out at the bottom and a vent at the top, so warm air can rise out. Consoles need the most room. Our game console cabinet ventilation guide covers vent sizes and fans.

Important: A new outlet inside an alcove cupboard, or behind the TV, is permanent electrical work. In most US jurisdictions it's a job for a licensed electrician, and it may need a permit. Don't run extension cords through the wall or feed a cupboard from a power strip hidden behind drywall. Read what the NEC allows behind a TV before you finalize the outlet locations.

Plan a route for HDMI and speaker cable between the alcove and the TV before drywall or panels go up. In-wall cable concealment is far cheaper at the framing stage than afterward.

Phase 4 checklist:

• Low intake and high exhaust planned for every enclosed bay.
• Outlet locations marked and an electrician booked.
• Conduit or a cable path from the alcove to the TV.

Decision points

Rule of thumb: If more than one shelf's worth of things belongs in the "hide" list, put cupboards at the bottom of both alcoves. Fill open shelves with stuff that has nowhere else to go and the wall will look cluttered within weeks.

Rule of thumb: If toddlers or a dog that knocks things over share the room, close the bottom of both alcoves. The AVForums homeowner's first constraint was keeping devices out of children's reach.

Rule of thumb: Choose glass doors only if you want to display things and don't want to dust them. Glass keeps dust off but hides nothing behind it.

Rule of thumb: If you only like the look of open shelves, use them in one alcove and close the other. Two Mumsnet replies suggested a version of this, and it keeps both the wall and the room balanced.

What it costs: one worked example

Here's a 10 ft painted media wall with two alcoves, priced with GetMediaWall's pricing model (estimates, not invoices):

Estimated cost: Painted 8–12 ft media wall, national: $3,000–$4,400. Add open alcove shelves: +$450 in the model. Total: about $3,450–$4,850. A full-height painted 8–12 ft built-in wall unit with cupboards runs $5,100–$7,500. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the painted wall alone runs $3,900–$5,700.

Our model has no separate line for cupboard doors. A hybrid usually lands between those two figures, depending on how many doors and how much joinery it has. For a sense of scale on the UK side, one Mumsnet homeowner paid a carpenter £1,100 per alcove for painted MDF units back in 2015.

Directory data supports getting quotes from more than one company. Of the 25 custom built-in companies listed on GetMediaWall, only 3 publish a starting price, and the median of those claims is $8,400. Of 1,009 listed installers, 134 say they have a showroom where you can see door finishes in person, and 84 state a warranty. The median warranty they claim is 12 months. Ask each company to put door style, ventilation and who handles the electrical work in writing. You can compare local installers or get matched for free quotes.

Your full pre-build checklist

1. Inventory sorted into hide / show / reach lists.
2. Alcove widths (front and back) and depths recorded.
3. Base cupboards 16–18 in deep, shelves 10–12 in deep.
4. Shelf spans 36 in or less, or dividers or stiffened plywood shelves.
5. Remote type listed for every hidden device.
6. Door material chosen and a sample tested with your actual remotes.
7. IR repeater or RF remote budgeted for solid doors.
8. Intake and exhaust vents on every enclosed bay.
9. Outlets placed by a licensed electrician, permit checked.
10. Cable path from the alcove to the TV before the walls close.
11. At least two written quotes that spell out doors, vents and electrical.

For more storage ideas that keep the doors invisible, see Media Wall Hidden Storage: Push-to-Open Doors, Panels & Router Cubbies. If you're still deciding on the overall format, read Media Wall vs Built-Ins vs Entertainment Center.

Sources

• Mumsnet — "Should we put shelves in the alcove?" — the 17-reply tally, "less dust" and "crap in the cupboards" quotes
• Mumsnet — "Alcove shelves opinions" — "Don't use MDF, it'll bend"; £1,100 per side carpenter cost
• AVForums — "Hiding devices" — alcove AV gear out of kids' reach, slatted doors, IR extenders, airflow warning
• WOODWEB — Glass Doors and Remote Controls — remotes working through dark Lexan and bronze glass
• WOODWEB — Making Remote Controls Work Through Cabinet Doors — IR needs glass or cloth; IR repeaters; blasters "a bit touchy"
• American Hardwood Information Center — How to Build a Recessed Wall Unit — 36 in span guidance, WVU deflection table, front apron strength, 24 in door width
• Block Renovation — Ideas for Built-In Bookcases — 10–12 in shelf depth, 16–18 in lower cabinet depth
• AFTVnews — Fire TV 3 includes a new Bluetooth-based Alexa Voice Remote — Fire TV remote uses Bluetooth
• Roku Community — remote discussion — point-anywhere voice remotes use Wi-Fi, not IR

Keep reading

• Media Wall Hidden Storage: Push-to-Open Doors, Panels & Router Cubbies
• Game Console Enclosed Cabinet Overheating: Media Wall Vents That Work
• Router Behind TV Wall? Wi-Fi & IR Remote Fix Costs for Media Walls