Concealed TV Cabinets: How to Hide the Television
Living & Working
A concealed TV cabinet is a piece of joinery built to hide the television when it’s not in use. Be it behind cabinet doors, within a media wall, or inside a wardrobe made for the purpose, done properly, the room reads as furniture first. Having been designing and manufacturing since 1994, the same three things come down to whether the design succeeds: ventilation, cable routing, and doors engineered to move as well in ten years as they did on day one.
Why Hide the TV at all?
Quite simply, because a dark screen is the loudest thing in a quiet room.
Most living rooms serve more than one purpose: somewhere to read, entertain and unwind. Yet a large television, even when switched off, can become the room's most prominent feature. In period homes, the case is stronger still: a television has no answer to a Georgian chimneypiece, nor the detailed wall panelling. So, the kindest thing to do is to let it disappear.
Concealment is not about pretending you don’t watch the TV. It’s 2026! Instead, it's about choosing when the room is a cinema and having the option to hide it away depending on the occasion.
Behind Cabinet Doors
The classic answer, and still the best in most rooms: a cabinet whose doors close over the screen entirely.
The craft is in where the doors go when open: hinged doors need clear walls to swing to; pocket doors slide back into the cabinet itself, and sliding doors speak for themselves.
In this architectural home below, the living room has been designed as one continuous space, allowing architecture, furniture and technology to exist as one.
Retractable fumed oak panelling allows performance to sit within the design, ensuring that when closed, the fumed oak becomes a piece of artwork in its own right.
TVs in the bedroom
In bedrooms, the TV divides opinion like nothing else we make, and the pop-up TV or a TV integrated within the wardrobe provides a diplomatic answer; allowing it to appear to one household member and vanish for the other.
Below, a mirrored media wall hides the TV within wardrobe cabinetry.
Inspired by a set from our client’s favourite film, the design balances practicality with graceful design, acting as a fully functional mirror.
Alternatively, Don’t Hide it at all
Sometimes the right answer is to keep it all on show.
If you watch TV every evening, doors you never close are worse than no doors at all; they can add cost, swallow depth and stand open collecting judgement. Our designs are entirely tailored to our client’s lifestyle, remaining transparent throughout the entire design process, because a cabinet that fights how you live is a poor use of good joinery.
Showcase it in a Media Wall
Shelving, cabinetry and display can be built around the TV until it becomes one element among many rather than the point of the room.
We’ve seen a sharp rise in the interest in media walls in the past year, and the reason is practical as much as it is visual.
The same joinery that frames the screen swallows the boxes, the consoles, the router and the decades of black plastic that otherwise lives on show. Our media unit here, from a project in Richmond was designed exactly this way: the screen is present, but the joinery is in charge, and the wall reads as a piece of architecture rather than an entertainment system alone.
What decides whether it works?
Three things, all invisible in the photographs:
Ventilation: televisions and their boxes create heat, so a cabinet designed for one is ventilated from the very first drawing, not drilled as an afterthought.
Cabling and boxes: the set-top box, console and sound bar need homes, signal and reachable switches. We plan where the technology lives before we draw a single door, including the socket positions that make the difference between tidy and trailing.
And
The doors themselves: a pocket door carrying real weight, opened daily for a decade, is an engineering job with rated hardware and tested geometry. This is why all of our fitters are fully Chamber PAYE, working with our joinery and mechanisms every day, ensuring that design is only enhanced by precise engineering.
Every Chamber Furniture project begins with a conversation.
If you are considering a bespoke project that seamlessly unites craftsmanship, heritage, and your unique vision, get in touch today. Our team would be delighted to discuss how we can bring your ideas to life with precision and artistry.
Questions about this topic