Custom TV Entertainment Center with Shiplap & Electric Fireplace — Pecan Park, Jacksonville FL

The Project

This custom TV entertainment center came together in a Pecan Park home in Jacksonville, Florida — a newer neighborhood on the city's Northside where open-concept floor plans and vaulted ceilings are practically the standard. The homeowner wanted a focal wall that could do it all: house a large flat-screen TV, frame a wide electric fireplace she already owned, and bring some real character to a living room that felt unfinished without it. The result is a fully built-in shiplap feature wall with painted millwork, crown molding, a natural wood mantel shelf, and a raised fireplace platform — the kind of piece that looks like it was always meant to be there.

As you can see in the before photo above, the wall was a clean slate — smooth drywall, standard baseboard, two outlets, and absolutely nothing else. Plenty of potential, but zero personality. That was about to change.

The Challenge

Here's where things got interesting. The living room in this Pecan Park home has a dramatic vaulted ceiling that climbs on an angle over the feature wall. That kind of ceiling looks beautiful, but it creates a real design puzzle: if you center a built-in on the wall itself, it often reads as visually off-center once you factor in the slope of the ceiling above it. The homeowner felt this tension right away and wasn't sure how to move forward — we went back and forth on designs for a bit before landing on the right approach.

The breakthrough came when we showed her a previous project we had completed with a similar vaulted-ceiling challenge. The key insight was designing the entertainment center as a self-contained, framed unit — one that reads as its own architectural element rather than trying to span wall-to-wall. By giving it bold crown molding at the top and strong vertical borders on both sides, the eye accepts the piece on its own terms and doesn't fight with the ceiling rake above it. Once she saw that reference project, she was immediately on board, and we moved forward with confidence.

The other wrinkle: the homeowner supplied her own three-sided electric fireplace insert and TV. That meant our framing and finish dimensions had to be built precisely around units we didn't source ourselves — always a detail that requires careful measuring up front to avoid surprises during install.

The Build

We started, as we always do, by building a solid structural frame directly off the wall. The framing photo below shows the lumber skeleton taking shape — a rectangular platform at the base to receive the fireplace insert, and a tall vertical frame above it sized to the TV mount and shiplap panel field. You can also see the electrical rough-in: the homeowner's electrician relocated outlets and ran the TV power feed inside the wall so there would be zero exposed cords in the finished product.

With the frame locked in, we began skinning the face with horizontal shiplap boards. Shiplap is a natural fit for this style of entertainment center — the clean lines and subtle shadow gaps give the wall texture and depth without competing with the TV or the fireplace flame effect. We ran the shiplap consistently across the upper panel field, the side columns, and the lower fireplace surround to unify the whole piece visually.

The during photo above shows the shiplap fully applied and the first coat of white paint blocking in — you can already see how the piece is coming together. The crown molding cap at the top is fitted and coped, giving the unit that furniture-grade, built-in quality. The lower platform, which cradles the three-sided fireplace insert, is framed with a raised panel base and its own shiplap wrap, tying it back to the upper section. Nail holes are filled, seams are caulked, and everything is ready for finish coats.

One detail worth calling out: the natural wood mantel shelf sitting between the TV zone and the fireplace zone. Rather than painting everything the same bright white, we left that shelf in its natural finish — a warm, light-toned wood that breaks up the white millwork and adds just enough contrast to keep the whole piece from feeling flat. It also gives the homeowner a practical landing spot for décor, remotes, or whatever the room needs at any given moment.

The Result

The finished entertainment center transformed this Pecan Park living room completely. What was once a plain, slightly awkward vaulted wall is now the undisputed focal point of the home.

Looking at the after photos, a few things stand out immediately. The crown molding at the top of the unit draws the eye up and frames the vaulted ceiling rather than fighting it. The shiplap field behind the TV gives the screen a clean, textured backdrop that looks intentional whether the TV is on or off. The natural wood mantel shelf floats perfectly between the upper and lower zones, and the wide electric fireplace below glows with that warm amber flame effect — the kind of ambiance you just can't fake with a bare wall.

From the side angle, you can appreciate how well the unit sits in the room. The vertical column borders create clean edges, and the raised fireplace base — with its own shiplap-wrapped panel — grounds the whole piece to the floor. Nothing feels stuck on or temporary. It reads as a permanent architectural feature of the home, which is exactly what a great built-in should feel like.

The wider room view tells the full story. The vaulted ceiling that once made this wall feel tricky to design around now actually enhances the drama of the unit — all that open space above it gives the crown molding and the overall height of the piece room to breathe. Duval County homes don't always have the luxury of tall ceilings like this, so it's satisfying when we can design something that actually takes advantage of what's there rather than hiding from it.

Ready for Your Own Custom Entertainment Center in Pecan Park?

If you're sitting in a Pecan Park living room staring at a blank wall — or a TV on a stand that was never supposed to be permanent — this is what's possible. AVP Construction JAX designs and builds custom TV entertainment centers throughout Jacksonville and Duval County, tailored to your room's specific dimensions, ceiling height, and style. We can work around vaulted ceilings, off-center walls, customer-supplied fireplaces and TVs, or whatever curveball your floor plan throws at us.

We also handle custom accent walls and millwork if you're looking to add character to other rooms in the house. Whatever the project, we'll work through the design with you the same way we did here — back and forth until it's right — before a single board gets cut.

Reach out to AVP Construction JAX today to talk through your project. We serve Pecan Park, Jacksonville, and the surrounding areas — and we'd love to show you what your wall could become.