Custom Fireplace & TV Wall Build-Out in Jacksonville Beach, FL

The Project

This living room in Jacksonville Beach, Florida had good bones — light wood-look floors, linen drapes, plenty of natural light from large windows on both sides — but the focal wall was completely empty. A flat-screen TV floated in the middle of a plain white surface with cables dangling visibly down to a cluster of cords and power strips along the baseboard. The homeowner, Sydney, knew the space deserved something better: a real built-out fireplace wall with a clean, architectural finish and a hand-built rustic mantle to add warmth and character.

In the before photo you can see exactly what she was working with — a TV wall-mounted mid-air, cords trailing down the drywall, no hearth, no structure, nothing to anchor the room. It's a common setup in newer Jacksonville Beach builds, but it leaves living rooms feeling unfinished. Our job was to transform that flat wall into a full custom feature — framed build-out, integrated linear electric fireplace, flush TV niche, and a one-of-a-kind rustic mantle — all wrapped in a seamless painted finish.

The Challenge

The main design challenge here was proportion and balance. The wall sat between two generous windows, so the build-out had to be sized carefully — wide enough to feel intentional and substantial, but not so deep or wide that it crowded the window trim on either side. Getting that symmetry right from the start meant precise layout work before a single board was fastened. The other consideration was integrating the electric fireplace insert cleanly into the frame so the finished surround would look like it had always belonged there — no visible gaps, no raw edges, just a crisp black liner flush with the surrounding drywall.

The Build

We started by laying out the full stud frame directly against the existing wall. As you can see in the framing photo below, the structure is built from dimensional lumber — vertical and horizontal members spaced to support the weight of the TV above, the fireplace insert below, and eventually the drywall and mantle shelf. The fireplace insert was set into the frame during this phase so we could confirm rough opening dimensions before anything was sheathed.

With the skeleton complete, we moved into sheathing the frame with drywall. The photo below shows the build-out mid-skinning — the upper portion already closed in, the lower fireplace bay still open so we could make final adjustments to the insert position and run any needed wiring for both the TV and the fireplace before buttoning everything up. Getting all of that done in the right order is what keeps the finished wall looking completely clean.

Once the drywall was taped, mudded, and sanded smooth, we installed the TV and fired up the electric fireplace insert to confirm everything sat perfectly flush. The photo below shows the wall at that nearly-finished stage — the insert glowing with realistic flame effect, the TV recessed into its niche above, and the surface smooth and ready for paint. You can also see the hand-built rustic wood mantle taking its place between the two — that raw, heavily grained beam shelf is the detail that ties the whole piece together, giving the otherwise crisp white wall a grounded, organic counterpoint.

The mantle itself was built by hand with a chunky, heavily textured wood beam — the kind of piece that looks like it was pulled from an old structure and given new life. The deep grain, natural cracks, and irregular surface give it real character that a stock mantle shelf simply can't replicate. Paired with the sleek linear fireplace below and the wide-screen TV above, it hits that balance between modern and rustic that's hard to pull off but looks effortless when it works.

The Result

The finished Jacksonville Beach living room is a genuinely different space. What was once a bare, forgettable wall is now the clear centerpiece of the room — a floor-to-ceiling custom TV entertainment wall with a working electric fireplace, a statement rustic mantle, and a TV integrated so cleanly it looks like the wall was designed around it from day one.

From the front-on view you get the full composition: the TV sitting perfectly level in its niche, the ambi-lit screen glowing with color, the rustic beam mantle floating just below it, and the linear fireplace stretching wide across the lower face of the build-out. The white drywall finish is smooth and continuous — no visible seams, no raw edges, nothing to give away the fact that this entire feature was built from scratch in a matter of days.

The side-angle view shows how well the build-out reads within the full room context. It fills the wall between the windows without crowding them — the proportions feel deliberate and calm. Dressed with a pair of curved black chairs and a chunky wood coffee table, this Jacksonville Beach living room now has the kind of focal point that makes the whole space feel designed rather than assembled.

The straight-on room view is our favorite — two chairs flanking the fireplace wall symmetrically, the big ceiling fan overhead, warm light from the electric insert playing off the room in the evening. It's exactly what Sydney had in mind when she reached out to us.

Sydney's words say it well — the crew was great to work with and the fireplace build-out came out exactly as she'd hoped. That's the standard we hold ourselves to on every custom entertainment wall we build in Duval County — clean execution, honest craftsmanship, and a finished product the homeowner is genuinely proud of.

Ready for Your Own Custom Fireplace Wall in Jacksonville Beach?

If you're living with a bare, underwhelming TV wall in your Jacksonville Beach home and you're ready for something that actually reflects your style, we'd love to talk. AVP Construction JAX specializes in custom built-out fireplace walls, TV entertainment centers, and feature walls throughout Jacksonville Beach and the surrounding Jacksonville, Florida area. We build everything from the stud frame up — custom to your space, your taste, and your budget.

Reach out to AVP Construction JAX INC today and let's talk about what we can build for you.