Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Wandsworth · London
TV and media units in Balham, Wandsworth
In Balham, we design TV and media units around the room you actually have. Your TV unit is designed at a visit to your home and made at our workshop.
- A TV stand that doesn’t fit the wall
- Speakers muffled behind doors
- Clutter around the TV
TV and media units in Balham
TV and media units for homes in Balham
Speakers need their own thought. A soundbar can sit on a shelf below the screen, while larger speakers suit open shelves at the sides. Speakers work best in the open rather than behind closed doors, so we plan open spaces for them. We make TV and media units from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and the usual reasons to get in touch are empty alcoves beside the TV and speakers muffled behind doors.
In streets where so much of the housing went up before 1919, as it did around Balham, the living room is often two rooms knocked through, with a chimney breast in each half. That can mean one pair of alcoves for shelving and the other for low cupboards, with the screen on a chimney breast between. Some internal walls in houses of that age are lath and plaster, so fixings are chosen to suit what’s behind the paint.
You get the quote in writing, so you can read it at your own pace. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Where
- Balham (SW12, SW17, SW4)
- Borough
- Wandsworth
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
The problems TV and media units solve
Some want the TV to sit better in a period room. A built-in unit around the chimney breast lets it sit more quietly, rather than the focus of it.
TV and media units can help with:
- Cables trailing across the wall
- Speakers muffled behind doors
- Bought furniture that does not suit the room
- Set-top boxes stacked on a stand
If your children go to Ravenstone Primary School or a school nearby, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- How they deal with uneven walls and floors
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- A quote in writing that sets out the job
- How the doors are hung and adjusted
Also near Balham
Could you do it yourself?
It is worth being honest about cost: off-the-shelf furniture typically costs less up front. Bespoke earns its place where the room is awkward, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s typically a gap left over at the top or at one end. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can use the full height and width.
Common questions about TV and media units
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Balham station?
Yes. We cover all of Wandsworth and the rest of London. You can get in touch through our contact form to arrange a design visit.
My house in Balham is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
Yes, that is normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. We also work around skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
It can be done with some care: leaving ventilation behind and inside helps stop condensation. Damp treatment is not something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
How is the price worked out?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it. The price comes in a written quote after the design visit.
Will the cables be hidden?
We plan cable routes through the unit from the start. Where the cables meet the wall depends on where the sockets are.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
We need someone to let us in. It’s good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
Bespoke TV and media units or ready-made?
Screen sizes change, and a stand chosen for today’s set may not suit the next. We can plan the opening with a bigger screen in mind. Ready-made pieces are proportioned for newer homes and can look lost in an older one, whereas fitted pieces can pick up the room’s height and mouldings, with panels and details to suit the house.
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. Spray painting and hand painting are different processes, which affects the cost. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Balham
- Scribed to uneven walls
- We work across all London boroughs
- Made for your room, not a standard size
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
Built-in living-room furniture in Balham
In the streets around Balham, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 64%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 9%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. Within a mile of the centre of Balham, 13 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. On TfL’s red routes, the rules on stopping and loading are strict. Where a home in Balham is on or beside a main road, it helps to mention that at the design visit. It lets us plan the stop before fitting day.
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Church of St Mary, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. If you live in a period home close to Church of St Mary, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for TV and media units.
Balham is part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, about 2 miles north-west of Clapham Junction. From period terraces to newer flats in Balham, we measure the room as it is and design around it. We list Balham among 15 places we cover in Wandsworth.
Every address in SW12, SW17 and SW4 is within our area for TV and media units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. If your home is on a street like Lynn Road, Weir Road and Byrne Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for TV and media units. We also cover Grange Mills (1 mile north-east), Hyde farm estate (1 mile east), Clapham Park (1 mile north-east), Streatham Park (1 mile south-east) and Tooting Bec (1 mile south-west). Other parts of Wandsworth we cover include Clapham Junction (2 miles north-west), Battersea (2 miles north-west), Putney (3 miles north-west), Wandsworth (2 miles north-west), Southfields (2 miles west) and Summerstown (2 miles south-west).
Around Balham
Around Balham, we cover homes near Chestnut Grove Academy, Oak Lodge School and The Bedford pub and the streets around them. Balham has its own railway station: Balham station. Nearby you’ll also find Southside Wandsworth (1.9 miles north-west) and London Sewing Machine Museum (0.6 miles south-west).
How fitting day works
In older rooms, the furniture typically has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it sits neatly against the room. How long the fitting takes depends on the length of the TV wall and what it needs to hold, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Original hallway tiles and old floorboards are worth protecting, so they’re covered before anything comes in. Fixings into older walls are made carefully, as lath and plaster can crack if treated roughly. Decorating around the furniture afterwards is for your decorator.
- You get in touch about a built-in TV unit, and where the sockets are now.
- We visit to measure, note the sockets and agree where everything will go. Any new sockets are a job for your electrician.
- You receive a quote setting out the layout and the paint finish.
- The unit is made in our workshop, with cable routes and vents built in.
- We fit it in your home, scribed to the walls and ready for your equipment.
Before we arrive
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
Arranging a design visit
To get a quote for TV and media units in Balham, send us a few details through our contact form. Let us know the room and the rough idea. We’ll arrange a design visit, then send a quote in writing.
Advice
What we do not do
Damp treatment and building work are for other specialists, so these points are worth knowing:
- Taking out a fireplace or chimney breast
- Any electrical work (your electrician handles that, and Part P covers some of it)
- Configuring the TV and sound system
Not sure whether your space suits TV and media units? You can tell us about the room on our contact form and we will tell you. How it works.
What goes into it
- Birch plywood
- Cable routes
- Ventilated cabinets
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish