Materials & Finishes for Custom Media Walls
Explore the materials, finishes, and construction details we use to build custom media walls, fireplace features, and built-in entertainment centers. See how each option looks in completed projects, compare its benefits, and find the right combination for your space, style, and budget.
Materials used in real projects
Close-up finishes and completed installations
Practical guidance for choosing the right option
EXPLORE THE OPTIONS
Explore Materials by Category
A custom media wall brings together decorative surfaces, cabinetry materials, carefully selected finishes, lighting, and integrated equipment. Explore the categories below to understand the available options and see how each one can be used in your project.
Natural Wood & Wood Finishes
Poplar, pine, and oak elements finished with custom stains, protective coatings, and clear finishes selected to complement your interior.
Paint & Color Finishes
Professional Sherwin-Williams finishes for drywall, shiplap, and architectural surfaces, along with premium Benjamin Moore coatings for custom cabinetry and built-ins.
Stone & Brick Finishes
Explore our most popular Ledger Stone, distinctive Rough Cut Stone, and Chicago-style brick finishes for fireplace walls and architectural features.
Decorative Wall Panels
Wood slats, acoustic panels, stone-look surfaces, wood-look finishes, and panels made with natural or engineered veneer.
Explore Decorative Panels →
Cabinetry Materials
Learn how painted MDF and plywood compare with prefinished melamine panels used in custom cabinets, shelving, and built-in entertainment centers.
Explore Cabinetry Materials →
Lighting & Electric Fireplaces
Compare continuous LED lighting, round accent lights, our standard 60-inch electric fireplace, and premium fireplace options from Touchstone.
Explore Integrated Features →
Send us a photo of your wall and tell us which finishes you like. We’ll recommend a material combination for your project.
NATURAL MATERIALS
Natural Wood & Wood Finishes
Natural wood brings warmth, texture, and visual contrast to a media wall. We use it to create elements that feel architectural, tactile, and unique to each project.
Our primary wood options are poplar, pine, and oak. Each species has its own grain pattern, natural color, and response to stain. The right choice depends on the desired appearance, application, design style, and project budget.
Our Wood Options
Poplar
Poplar typically has a smooth surface and a subtle grain pattern. Its understated appearance works well for clean, contemporary details where the shape and finish of the element are more important than a strongly pronounced wood grain.
Because poplar can absorb stain differently across the surface, the selected stain should always be tested on an actual sample before the final finish is approved.
Appearance: Smooth and subtle
Best suited for: Clean profiles and understated wood accents
Finish options: Custom stain, clear protective finish, or paint
Pine
Pine has a warmer and more expressive natural character. Its visible grain, color variation, and occasional knots can create a relaxed, traditional, rustic, or transitional appearance.
Stain can emphasize the natural pattern of pine, but the finished color may vary between different areas of the same piece.
Appearance: Warm with visible natural character
Best suited for: Mantels, shelves, and decorative wood accents
Finish options: Custom stain and protective clear finish
Oak
Oak has a distinctive, highly visible grain that gives the finished element a substantial and refined appearance. It is a strong choice when natural wood is intended to become an important feature of the design rather than a subtle accent.
Different stain colors can enhance the grain while coordinating the wood with flooring, furniture, cabinetry, and other finishes in the room.
Appearance: Defined grain with an elevated architectural look
Best suited for: Feature elements, mantels, shelves, slats, and premium wood accents
Finish options: Custom stain and protective clear finish
Custom Stain Colors
A stain changes the tone of the wood while allowing its natural grain to remain visible. Depending on the project, the stain can be selected to coordinate with an existing floor, cabinet, table, door, or other interior element.
Available looks may range from light natural tones to warm honey, medium brown, walnut-inspired, gray-brown, and darker finishes.
The same stain can look different on poplar, pine, and oak. For this reason, we recommend approving the final color on a sample of the actual wood species selected for the project.
Protective Finishes
After staining, the wood receives a protective clear finish appropriate for its application. This final coating helps protect the surface and determines its finished appearance and sheen.
The coating system may vary depending on whether the wood is used for a mantel, shelf, decorative panel, countertop, or another architectural element.
Where We Use Natural Wood
Natural wood is typically incorporated as a carefully selected accent rather than used across the entire media wall. It adds warmth, texture, and contrast to painted cabinetry, stone, brick, and other architectural finishes.
Depending on the design, we use natural wood for fireplace mantels, built-in countertops, floating shelves, hearth ledges, benches, and coordinating architectural details. Each element can be customized by wood species, stain color, dimensions, and protective finish.
Built-In Countertops
A stained wood countertop adds warmth and contrast to painted cabinetry while creating a durable display surface across built-in cabinets and shelving.
Hearth Ledges & Benches
Natural wood can be used as a continuous ledge or bench around a fireplace, creating a clean transition between the fireplace, stone finish, and surrounding room.
Mantels & Coordinating Details
A wood mantel can be coordinated with a matching hearth ledge, countertop, shelving, or other details to visually connect the different parts of the design.
Paint & Color Finishes
Paint is more than the final color. The coating system must also be selected for the material, application, desired appearance, and level of everyday use.
We use different professional finishes for architectural wall surfaces and custom cabinetry. This allows each element of the media wall to receive a finish appropriate for its function.
Wall & Architectural Finishes
For drywall, shiplap, trim, and other painted architectural surfaces, we primarily use professional coatings from Sherwin-Williams.
These finishes provide a wide range of color and sheen options. The surface can be coordinated with the existing room color for a seamless appearance or finished in a contrasting color to make the media wall a distinct architectural feature.
Common Applications
Drywall media wall surfaces
Shiplap
Fireplace build-outs
Decorative trim and molding
Painted wall panels
Architectural niches and details
Cabinetry & Built-In Finishes
Custom cabinets, doors, drawer fronts, shelving, and built-in furniture require a different type of coating than standard wall surfaces.
For these elements, we use professional Benjamin Moore finishes selected for cabinetry, built-ins, and custom millwork. These coatings create a smoother, more refined, furniture-like appearance suitable for surfaces that are viewed closely and used regularly.
Common Applications
Custom built-in cabinets
Cabinet doors and drawer fronts
Floating cabinets
Painted shelving
Entertainment centers
Custom millwork and furniture details
Custom Color Selection
Paint colors can be selected to coordinate with walls, flooring, furniture, stone, wood, and other finishes in the room.
A media wall does not always need to match the surrounding walls. Depending on the design, we may recommend:
Matching the existing wall color
Using a lighter or darker shade of the same color
Creating contrast with a distinct accent color
Coordinating the cabinetry with another element in the room
Using different colors for the wall surface and built-in cabinets
Choosing the Right Sheen
The sheen affects how the color looks, how much light the surface reflects, and how visible the surface texture becomes.
Depending on the product and application, available options may include matte, eggshell, satin, and semi-gloss finishes. Architectural surfaces generally benefit from a softer appearance, while cabinetry may require a smoother finish appropriate for furniture and frequently handled surfaces.
We recommend the final sheen based on the material, location, lighting, and intended use.
Stone & Brick Finishes
Stone and brick add texture, depth, and architectural character to a media wall. These materials can be used to create a strong fireplace focal point, introduce contrast, or connect a new media wall with the existing style of the home.
Our primary options include Ledger Stone, Rough Cut Stone, and Chicago-style brick. Each finish has a different scale, texture, pattern, and overall visual character.
Ledger Stone
Our Most Popular Stone Finish
Ledger Stone is the most frequently selected stone finish for our media wall and fireplace projects. Its layered horizontal profile creates natural depth and shadow while maintaining a clean architectural appearance.
It works well in modern, transitional, rustic, and contemporary interiors. Depending on the selected color and surrounding materials, Ledger Stone can appear light and subtle or dark and dramatic.
Common Applications
Full-height fireplace walls
Electric fireplace surrounds
TV and fireplace feature walls
Stone accent sections
Fireplace bases and architectural columns
Combinations with wood mantels and built-in cabinetry
Rough Cut Stone
Rough Cut Stone has a bolder, more substantial appearance. Its larger faces, irregular edges, and pronounced texture create the character of traditional hand-laid masonry.
This option works especially well when the stone is intended to become the dominant architectural material in the room. It can be paired with a natural wood mantel, hearth ledge, painted built-ins, or a more minimal surrounding design.
Common Applications
Floor-to-ceiling fireplace features
Large fireplace surrounds
Tall and high-ceiling media walls
Traditional and transitional interiors
Architectural accent walls
Explore the Stone Fireplace Media Wall
See how a RoughCut stone finish can be incorporated into a complete fireplace media wall with an integrated electric fireplace, wood mantel, concealed wiring, and customized architectural proportions.
Chicago-Style Brick
Chicago-style brick introduces an aged, architectural character inspired by traditional urban brickwork. Its variation in tone and texture creates a surface that feels established rather than perfectly uniform.
Brick can give a media wall an industrial, rustic, traditional, or transitional appearance depending on its color, joint treatment, mantel, and surrounding finishes.
Common Applications
Fireplace surrounds
Full-height brick fireplace walls
TV and fireplace features
Brick accent sections
Projects with natural wood mantels
Traditional or industrial-inspired interiors
Explore the Brick Fireplace Media Wall
See how Old Chicago-style brick can be used in a complete media wall with a modern electric fireplace, custom wood mantel, concealed TV wiring, and a layout adapted to the room.