You already know which wall the couch faces. That wall should hold the television, and maybe a fireplace, and it should look finished when someone walks in from the kitchen. In many Kansas City houses it does not. The TV sits on a stand. A cord drops to an outlet near the floor. If there is a fireplace, it sits off to the side as its own object. The wall still looks like a list of things you bought.
A custom media wall puts those pieces on one surface. The television is mounted in the wall. Wood slats cover the field around it. An electric fireplace can sit in the same build, usually as a long unit under or beside the screen. Cables are hidden when the wall allows it.
I am Dan. I run SmartHome Connect LLC in Lenexa. I have spent more than 15 years installing televisions and the gear around them, and the company has done this work since 2018. Homeowners can check 178 Google reviews at 4.9.
A media wall is not a one-hour TV mount
If the wall is a standard hollow wall and you only need the set hung, that is a TV mount. On a standard wall, TV mounting starts at $150. The bracket is included. I hide the wires when the wall allows it. Most single TV installs take about an hour. A soundbar adds time. Adding power, when the outlet is in the wrong place, takes longer than that hour.
A media wall uses the same goal and then keeps going. Slat layout, fireplace opening, and every cord path have to be set before the first board goes up. Skip that and the couch shows the mistakes: a cord feeding the fireplace across the floor, a soundbar with no place to mount, or a TV pushed off the slats by the plug behind it.
If the full wall is what you want, start with custom media wall installation. This post is how I plan the job with you. It is not a price list. I quote the work after I see the room.
The problem is the wall, not another piece of furniture
A stand uses floor you wanted clear. Cords pull the eye off the picture. A new fireplace and a new TV can still leave the room unfinished if they do not share a layout.
You also do not want to hit the wrong stud, cut a board short, or seal in a device you cannot reach. And you do not want the screen so high that a movie hurts your neck. I hear that in Overland Park great rooms and in Olathe basements. Your part is the TV size, whether the fireplace belongs on this wall, and where you sit. My part is the mount, the panels, the power, and the wires when hiding them is possible.
Cut the wood slats to the TV, not the other way around
Wood slats are vertical boards with a gap between them. They frame the television and add a layer in front of the drywall. That layer is often what lets the set sit back instead of sticking out past the wood.
I need the TV size and the mount before any board is cut. A fixed mount keeps the screen close. A tilt or full-motion mount needs room for the arm, or the slats hit the hardware. A thick plug does the same thing: it shoves the panel forward. On a hollow interior wall I can usually recess the outlet. If I cannot open the wall, you hear the other path before wood is ordered.
Boards have to stop cleanly at the floor, the ceiling, and any door, window, or duct. A Shawnee basement with a low bulkhead is not the cut list of a two-story Lenexa family room. I measure your wall. Slats show a crooked line faster than paint does, so the layout is marked and checked for level first. A small error at the ceiling is obvious beside the edge of a TV.
The electric fireplace is part of the same layout
In this project the electric fireplace is a built-in. It needs an opening in the slats, its own power, and a height that still leaves the TV watchable. It is not a unit you plug in after the wood is finished. Napoleon lists sizes and clearances for its wall-mount electric fireplaces.
That is not the same job as a TV over a masonry wood fireplace. Those fireboxes, still common in Prairie Village and parts of Kansas City, Missouri, send heat up the wall, and the mantel is often already high. An electric unit is built to sit in the wall. The heat stays lower, near the opening. It is still heat. I do not cover the TV vents with a slat, a shelf, or the fireplace housing. If you want the screen over a working masonry firebox, say so on the first call. That may be a mount and a heat check, not a slat wall.
Set the height from the seat. On a normal sofa your eyes sit a little above the cushion. A long, low fireplace can leave room for the TV near that line. If both pieces only fit by pushing the screen toward the ceiling, I say so before anything is built.
TV power and fireplace power are one visit, not two afterthoughts. Adding power takes longer than a one-hour mount. If a soundbar goes under the set, I need that before the gap is cut. The bar needs a mount, a cable to the TV or receiver, and clearance so it does not block the fireplace or the bottom of the screen.
Wires stay hidden only when the wall allows it
I hide wires when the wall allows it. Brick, stone, and an outside wall I cannot open will not match an open stud bay, and I will tell you that on site.
Newer houses in Lenexa, Olathe, Shawnee, and much of Overland Park are often wood framing behind drywall, including basements. Power and HDMI can run in that cavity, with the plug behind the panel. Leave a way to reach a new device later without tearing the slats off.
Plaster in Prairie Village, Leawood, and Kansas City, Kansas changes the route. Brick or stone in Kansas City, Missouri does too. Lawrence and Lee’s Summit are often mixed: open framing in one basement, a finished wall that should stay closed in another house. When the cavity is not usable, a painted raceway or a short surface run can be the clean option. You should agree to that before the boards go up.
A soundbar, a console, and a cable box each add a cable. One TV on a clear wall is often about an hour because the list is short. This wall has more of them. I label the runs while they are still visible.
Bring these facts to the first look
You do not need a drawing.
- City and room. A Lenexa living room, an Overland Park great room, a Lee’s Summit basement, and a Lawrence family room are not the same wall because the TV size matches.
- TV size, and whether the set is already home.
- Electric fireplace or not, and the length if you want one.
- Soundbar or not.
- Drywall, plaster, brick, stone, or an outside wall, if you know. A photo of the outlets is enough to start.
- A photo from the couch.
We mark TV height, the fireplace opening if there is one, and where power lands. You approve that. I do not change the height after the wood is cut.
Hours are Monday through Saturday, 8 AM to 8 PM, and Sunday, 12 PM to 5 PM. Call then, or text. If I am on a ladder I answer when I am down.
What finished means from the couch
The TV is level, at a height you can watch from your seat. The slats follow the lines we measured. If a fireplace is in the job, it sits in its opening and has its own power, not a cord on the floor. Wires are in the wall where that was possible. Any cord left out is on a path you already accepted. A soundbar you asked for is mounted and connected.
A slat wall with the TV leaned in front, a fireplace still waiting for a plug, or a screen you can watch only while standing is not done.
If you only need the set on a flat wall, book the mount. If you want slats, fireplace, and TV as one wall, that is the media wall.
Get a Free Quote
Call or text (913) 674-9723. Tell me the city, the TV size, and whether you want an electric fireplace. A photo from the couch helps. I will tell you what that wall can hold and what it cannot.
