Clever mum of three creates media wall and saves £2,000 – by doing the work herself

A popular trend among DIY enthusiasts is to create a ‘media wall’ lowering their televisions into the wall and placing elements around them, such as a fire or shelves.

And now one savvy mother of three has created her own version of the feature wall, opting to use a mirror as the centerpiece instead of a television.

Annette Beddoes, 64 from Stafford, did just that, telling money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk that while she’s seen people put their fireplaces and TVs together in their lounges, that wasn’t an option for her.

According to the former kitchen and bathroom help, her TV was already hanging on the shorter wall.

She explained, “Creating a media wall wasn’t an option here, because there wouldn’t be room for the fire.

BEFORE & AFTER: Annette saves a huge amount of money by creating a special wall, with a mirror as the centerpiece instead of a television

Annette Beddoes (pictured), 64 from Stafford put her impressive creative skills to good use in redecorating the room

‘I had bought a wall mounted fireplace for the main wall from Debenhams a few months earlier for £250. This was a good price as I’ve seen similar products in shops like B&Q for over £300.’

Annette, whose children are aged 41, 39 and 35, added: ‘I had never been happier with the placement of the fireplace – it just never looked right on the wall. So I decided to wrap it up like I was making a media wall.

“But instead of the TV, I decided to put a mirror there.”

She already had the mirror, which was the size of her TV. Since it was a metal frame, she knew it would sink very well into the wall.

According to Annette, “It was now time to purchase supplies. I bought the wood and drywall from Wickes. It was £37.50 for the framework and £20.40 for two pieces of drywall.

‘The next step was two pieces of wood for the sides, priced at £26. I also got two tubes of liquid nails for £8.

‘Then I went to B&Q for a roll of wallpaper which cost £22. The last was wallpaper paste, which cost £1 from Home Bargains.

‘In total the supplies and the wall fireplace cost a total of £364.90. The average cost for a media wall is at least £2300, so I saved just under £2000 by doing some DIY.’

Annette noticed that people linked their televisions and fireplaces to the special wall, but instead she put her mirror on the fire

Her technical skills as a kitchen and bathroom designer came in handy on this project.

Annette explained: ‘First I drew the design on paper and took all the dimensions of the fire and the mirror to see how far I wanted to go. Luckily the wall was big enough to handle it.

“I had done my research with the wood and drywall to make sure I got the right measurements beforehand, because I wanted to reduce the amount of sawing and minimize waste.

‘During this project there were a number of challenges that had to be overcome. For example, you need to make an identical front frame and back frame and add pieces of wood between them.

Annette used wood to make the wall frame and noted that her measurements had to be exact to make sure everything fit together perfectly

AFTER: Annette said she’s had “a lot of nice comments” on the room makeover, adding she’s “really pleased” with it

‘You then have to check whether all the joints are square and level. This took some time to get right.’

She then cut the drywall to size and prepped the concrete-textured wallpaper she found at B&Q. Then Annette finished off the sides with some wood that she painted a contrasting color using paint she already had.

Annette revealed: ‘Overall I’m really happy with this project and we’ve had a lot of nice comments on it.’

Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Annette has created a really professional looking “media wall” using a mirror rather than a television. It is good advice to measure the wood before purchasing to reduce cutting waste and wastage.

“It’s hard to believe how much money she saved compared to what the professional costs would have been!”