Floating Wall Shelf Ideas for AV Components with a Wall-Mounted TV

A floating wall shelf is one of the simplest upgrades you can make to a wall-mounted TV setup. Instead of a bulky media stand taking up floor space, your cable box, streaming devices, and game consoles sit on a slim shelf mounted directly beneath (or above) the screen — keeping the whole installation clean, minimal, and out of reach of curious kids or pets.

Below we cover the two main types of floating wall shelves for AV components, how to tell a proper component shelf from a generic one, and what to look for if you’re shopping for a floating media console instead. If you’d rather have it done right the first time, our TV wall mount installation service includes floating shelf mounting and cable concealment as part of a single, professionally finished install.

Benefits of a Floating Wall Shelf for AV Components

• Saves floor space — especially valuable in small condos and apartments where a traditional media stand simply doesn’t fit the room.
• Frees up the floor entirely by moving your cable box, streaming device, and receiver onto the wall instead of a stand or cabinet.
• Keeps components out of reach of children and pets, protecting expensive AV equipment from curious little hands and paws.

Floating Media Wall Shelf Types

There are two common styles of floating shelf used for AV components under a wall-mounted TV:

• Component wall shelf with black tempered glass
• Floating media console (wall-mountable cabinet)

What’s the Difference Between a Component Wall Shelf and a Regular Wall Shelf?

Component Wall Shelf

1. The shelf depth (front to back) is enough to accommodate the depth of most AV components.
2. Component wall shelves have a built-in wire management channel in the mounting bracket itself.
3. Wires can pass through the built-in wire management channel vertically up to your TV.
4. The wire management channel has a cable pass-through opening at the top and bottom.

Regular Wall Shelf

1. Regular wall shelves don’t have enough depth (front to back) for most AV components — a cable box or game console such as a PS5 or Xbox won’t fit and will overhang quite a bit.
2. They don’t have any sort of wire management system whatsoever.
3. If cables need to pass through the shelf, it has to be drilled through manually.

Component Wall Shelf with Black Tempered Glass & Wire Management Bracket

A component wall shelf with black tempered glass comes with a black metal bracket that looks like a spine and serves two purposes:

1. It’s a mounting bracket for the wall shelf.
2. It’s also a wire management channel for cables running up to the TV, such as HDMI cables.

Because of this, it should be installed closely underneath or above the TV so wires can run neatly from the AV components to the TV.

Floating Media Console Buying Guide

It’s very important to understand the mounting mechanism when shopping for a floating media console (a wall-mountable cabinet or furniture piece). The console itself is fairly heavy to begin with, and you’ll be using it to hold AV components such as a cable box, gaming console, or soundbar — plus whatever else you place on top for decoration.

Because of that added weight, it’s crucial to choose a floating media console with a mounting bracket that can securely hold both the console itself and everything placed inside or on top of it.

As an example, you can purchase this floating media console on Amazon with a rail-type mounting bracket.

“Rail” Type Mounting Bracket Is Highly Recommended

A rail-type mounting bracket lets you mount onto multiple studs for maximum holding capacity.

Important: Avoid a floating media console that comes with just two small brackets designed to hold only the left and right sides of the shelf — there’s very little chance they’ll line up with the studs in your wall.

A floating media console with doors lets you hide unsightly items such as a power bar or surge protector and excess cords from your components, keeping things neat and tidy when the doors are shut.

You can even install the “power in-let” portion of a bridge-style power kit inside the floating media cabinet if you need a power outlet behind your wall-mounted TV — read more in our guide to what a bridge-style power kit is and why you should use it.

Professional Installation for Floating Shelves & Wall-Mounted TVs in Toronto & the GTA

Finding studs, choosing the right bracket, and running cables cleanly behind the wall all matter more than they seem — a floating shelf mounted into drywall alone, or wires left dangling in plain sight, undoes the clean look you’re going for. Our installers locate and mount into studs (or use rated wall anchors where studs don’t line up), and route cables either through the wall or through an on-wall raceway so nothing is left exposed.

A floating shelf is often just one piece of a larger TV wall mount installation, and it pairs especially well with a full home theater design and installation or a custom home theater build. If you’re renovating or building new, our pre-wiring services can rough-in conduit and outlets behind the wall in advance, so your shelf and components are wire-free from day one.