Slat Wall Cladding & Custom TV Unit Project At Apartment 1204, Business Bay, Dubai

The living room was bright but bare. One long white wall carried the television and nothing else. The tile floor and the tall glass windows bounced sound around the room, so voices echoed.

A bedroom door also sat in the middle of that same wall. It broke the wall into two odd halves. The client wanted the wall to read as one piece, with the door quietly tucked into it.

Three finishes were shortlisted on site. We held each sample against the wall at different times of day. Smoked oak went too grey under the ceiling lights. Walnut pulled the room darker than the client liked.

Natural oak won. It sits close to the beige floor tone and the existing door colour. Behind the slats we used black acoustic felt, so the black recedes, the oak comes forward, and the wall gains depth without gaining weight.

A slat wall only looks sharp if the base is flat. Ours was not. A level test showed a dip of almost 6 mm near the door, so we battened the whole wall first and packed out the low spots.

Next came the wiring. We cut a channel behind the television position and pulled the power and HDMI runs down to the cabinet zone. A solid plywood block went in behind the TV point to take the bracket load. All of it disappeared once the panels went on.

This was the part that needed patience. Each panel beside the door was measured, cut and trial-fitted by hand before fixing. We then wrapped the door leaf and the frame in a matching oak finish, so the door now sits inside the slat rhythm instead of interrupting it.

Full-height panels were used across the rest of the wall, which means no horizontal joins anywhere. Slim trims closed the ceiling line and both corners.

Day two was joinery. We installed a wall-hung cabinet in a soft beige fluted finish, running almost the full width of the panelled wall. Three push-open drawers, no handles.

The flutes run vertically, following the same direction as the slats above them, so the two elements read as one design rather than two. Nothing touches the floor, which keeps the tiles clear and makes the room feel wider.