section heading hidden

Plan the routes before you drill anything

The single biggest mistake in a living room cinema build is mounting the television first and thinking about cables afterwards. Once the bracket is on the wall and the screen is level, your options shrink dramatically. A little planning over a cup of tea will save you a weekend of awkward fixes later.

Start by sketching the room on paper. Mark where the screen will hang, where the amplifier or soundbar lives, and where the speakers sit. Then draw the cables between them: HDMI from source to display, speaker cable to the rears, power to everything, and perhaps a network run for streaming. Seeing those lines on paper makes the routes obvious and reveals the points where you will need to cross a doorway, a chimney breast or a corner.

A few practical rules worth following:

• Keep mains power and signal cables separated by at least 100mm where you can, to reduce hum and interference.
• Leave a drawstring or pull cord inside every buried route so you can add a cable in two years without opening the wall again.
• Measure twice, cut once, and always check for pipes and cables with a detector before drilling into a wall.
• Buy cables slightly longer than you think you need, then coil the slack neatly rather than stretching them tight.

Surface trunking: the quickest tidy-up

For most living rooms, especially rented flats or period properties where you would rather not chase into plaster, surface trunking is the sensible choice. Modern trunking comes in white, magnolia, oak effect and even brushed aluminium, and the rectangular profiles look far smarter than a bundle of loose cables.

D-line style trunking, with its rounded edges and self-adhesive backing, is popular for good reason. It sticks neatly along skirting boards and up door frames, and you can paint it to match the wall. Choose a size that fits your fattest connector, not just the cable itself, because an HDMI plug is far bulkier than the wire behind it.

Run trunking along the top of the skirting where possible, then turn vertically behind a piece of furniture or a curtain. Where trunking crosses a doorway, take it up and over the frame rather than across the floor, unless you enjoy tripping hazards. For heavier runs, such as multiple speaker cables plus power, use a larger rectangular conduit and clip it every 300mm so it stays straight and true.

Wall plates and brush plates for a professional finish

If you are happy to make a few holes, wall plates transform a job from tidy to genuinely professional. Instead of a cable disappearing behind the plasterboard and reappearing somewhere vague, you fit a plate at each end so the connection looks deliberate.

The simplest option is a brush plate: a faceplate with a slot of bristles that lets cables pass through while hiding the void behind. They are ideal behind a television, where you need to pull HDMI, optical and power through in one go. Brush plates also handle changes well, since you can add or swap a cable without touching the wall.

For a permanent installation, use proper modular plates with HDMI, USB, RJ45 and speaker binding post inserts. These give a clean, fixed connection and let you use shorter, cheaper patch cables on each side. A few tips:

• Fit a double-gang box rather than single, so you have room for future additions.
• Use a low-voltage mounting bracket or “dry lining box” for plasterboard walls, and a metal back box for solid brick.
• Keep power sockets on a separate plate from signal connections, ideally 100mm apart.
• Label both ends of every cable with tape before you push them into the wall.

Flexible conduit behind the plaster

If you are decorating anyway, or building a stud wall as part of a renovation, flexible conduit is the gold standard. It is a corrugated plastic tube, usually 20mm to 32mm in diameter, that you run through the wall cavity or chase into the plaster before skimming.

The beauty of conduit is future-proofing. Technology changes quickly: the cable you need next year may not exist today, but a drawstring inside a 25mm conduit means you can pull it through in minutes. Fit a conduit from your equipment rack to the screen position, another to each rear speaker, and one to a corner where you might later want a projector.

Keep bends gentle rather than tight right angles, as sharp corners make pulling cable almost impossible. Where conduit meets a back box, use a proper gland or adaptor so the tube stays put. If you are chasing into solid walls, keep the channel deep enough for the conduit plus a little plaster, and remember that horizontal chases should be avoided on structural walls.

Speaker cable and the rear channels

Rear and surround speakers are the usual source of visible cable, partly because they sit away from the wall. There are three respectable approaches. First, run the cable under the carpet along the gripper rod, which works well if you have a decent underlay and are willing to lift a corner. Second, use flat adhesive speaker cable that can be painted over on skirting or ceiling edges. Third, take it up into the loft or floor void and drop it down behind each speaker.

Whatever route you choose, keep the cable away from mains runs and avoid coiling excess into a tight loop, which can affect performance. For ceiling speakers, conduit is again the neatest answer, and it makes adding an Atmos pair later far less painful.

Finishing touches that keep it tidy

Once the cables are hidden, a few small habits keep the room looking sharp. Use Velcro ties rather than plastic zip ties behind the cabinet, so you can adjust the loom without cutting anything. Leave a service loop of around 300mm at each end, coiled loosely and tucked out of sight. Fit a surge-protected power strip inside the cabinet rather than on the floor, and consider a small ventilation gap if you are enclosing equipment.

Finally, take a photo of the wall before you plaster or panel over it, showing exactly where the conduit and cables run. That single snapshot will save you a fortune in guesswork the day you decide to upgrade the screen or add another speaker. Good cable management is invisible when it is done well, and that is precisely the point.