Three meters wide, two meters high, 47 centimeters deep. That is the measurement of one of the complete living room wall units from our range. A piece of furniture of this size occupies an entire wall and stays there longer than the sofa in front of it. Yet, the decision is often made in front of a display piece that is in a completely different room than yours.
What defines a modern wall unit
A modern wall unit is a modular system that is tailored to a specific wall. The same building blocks recur in all programs. A lowboard is the flat, wide element under the television, a highboard adds height next to it, and a sideboard remains low. Hanging elements do not touch the floor at all. The carcase refers to the furniture body itself, i.e., the housing consisting of sides, bottom, and top, in which drawers and doors are fitted. In addition, for Hartmann—whose Vara wall unit series we carry—there are floor-standing elements, display cabinets, wall panels, and shelf units.
We carry wall units from RMW and Sudbrock, as well as from Hartmann, Venjakob, and Voglauer. From RMW, we have series such as Celesta, Cremona, Lotus, and Levino in our showroom, and from Sudbrock, the Focus shelving system. Added to this are Runa and Vara, V-Plus 3000 and Andiamo Home, Vmontanara, and Valpin. On the overview of our carried brands, you can see which other manufacturers we have in-house.
The dimensions determine everything else
It all starts with the wall and everything that is in the way in front of, next to, or above it. For the combination proposals of the Vara series, Hartmann consistently specifies a height of 207 centimeters, plus widths between 283 and 339 centimeters and depths of 39 to 44 centimeters. A single floor-standing element measures 33 centimeters in width. In such increments, it is possible to fill a wall that is not a smooth surface.
For a terraced house in Feudenheim, the living room wall measured on the ruler was sufficient for the desired combination. However, the door to the hallway opens into the room, and the area it swings over is missing on the right side. It was planned in two parts: a tall element on the left, a lowboard across under the television, and free wall space in between.
Any measurements you bring with you will help us in our consultation.
- Note down the room dimensions, i.e., length, width, and ceiling height.
- Record where windows, doors, radiators, and power outlets are located.
- Measure how wide the access to the apartment is, including the stairwell and door.
For the initial conversation, a photo of the room and a rough floor plan are sufficient. At home, a test with painter's tape helps. Tape the width and height onto the wall and leave the strips up for a few days. Two meters seven. On paper, that doesn't sound like much; on your own wall, it is a lot.
Storage space, and how much of it is really needed
Storage space is created by closed elements, and each one takes up wall surface. A highboard from our range measures 182 centimeters in width, 119 in height, and just under 40 in depth. A piece of furniture in its own right.
What we hear most often in our showroom is the wish for more storage space. At the planning table, we then ask the more uncomfortable question: What exactly should go inside? Binders, toys, the good china, the parents' photo albums. Only this list determines the ratio of open to closed surfaces.
A couple from Lampertheim moved from a house into an apartment. The old wall unit had accommodated everything that couldn't find a place elsewhere for years. In the new apartment, well over half of it fit on the wall. Sorting was done before the purchase.
Open shelf areas look light and require order. Display cabinets show off what is inside. Closed fronts swallow the rest.
Wood, white, or both
The color of the fronts changes how large the room looks; the material determines how the wall will look in a few years. White fronts recede visually and make a small living room look calmer; wood brings warmth into a room with lots of glass and light-colored walls.
Solid wood is a natural, working material. It absorbs moisture and releases it again, causing the grain and tone to change slightly over the years. With wood-based materials, however, it is worth taking a look at emissions—the Blue Angel for furniture eco-label stands for this. That is part of the material. A uniform room climate and a location at a distance from the radiator are important. Oiled surfaces are treated differently than lacquered ones. If a new piece of furniture still smells noticeably after four weeks, the Stiftung Warentest advises taking it seriously.
A customer's living room in Worms-Horchheim faces north. They requested a front in dark wood to match the dining table. We placed the same series in a lighter composition next to it, with wood only on the closed elements. The room then decided for itself.
A wall unit that picks up on the lines of the apartment—i.e., floor color, doors, and frames—looks the calmest. How far this idea can be taken is described in our article A Home, a Style. It goes further than any individual front.
The television and the wall behind it
The television defines the center of the wall unit, and the distance to the sofa determines how large it can be. In their guide to the correct TV viewing distance, electronics retailer MediaMarkt provides a rule of thumb for 4K and UHD devices: Screen diagonal in centimeters multiplied by 1.5 equals the viewing distance in centimeters. For 55 inches, i.e., 140 centimeters diagonal, that is 210 centimeters.
A family from Viernheim wanted to switch to a significantly larger device. The sofa stands close to the opposite wall and can hardly be moved because of the passageway. At 55 inches, that was the limit. A larger diagonal would have primarily created restlessness.
Hanging elements transfer the weight to the wall, and that is where it gets technical. The drywall manufacturer Rigips specifies a maximum console load of 40 kilograms per meter of wall for a single-layer gypsum plasterboard wall under 18 millimeters; for double-layer boarding from 18 millimeters, it is 70 kilograms. Two wall plugs need distance from each other, otherwise, according to Rigips, only half the load capacity per plug counts.
For the stability of living room and kitchen cabinets, there is a separate standard, DIN EN 14749, which regulates, among other things, the tipping behavior. Before drilling the first hole, check the wall for electrical and water lines. A floating sideboard sits well between knee and hip height.
Light and cables
Light and cable management are decided before assembly because, afterwards, no one can comfortably reach either. For the V-Plus 3000 program, Venjakob offers integrated LED lighting that highlights vases, glasses, and books. Hartmann works with indirect lighting for the Vara series, which makes glass shelves appear to be floating. Lighting is an additional option and is calculated separately, even in our store.
For cables, Hartmann offers optional cable outlets, cable ducts, and equipment shelves. A cable duct is a channel in the furniture through which cables run vertically downwards and disappear. An equipment shelf accommodates receivers or game consoles.
And then there is the power outlet. It is almost never where the TV element needs it, which is why we ask about its location during the consultation. How to accommodate technology in a piece of furniture without the room looking like it, is shown in our article on furniture with integrated sound. The principle applies equally to a wall unit.
When a wall unit is the wrong answer
In some living rooms, a wall unit works against the room. Sometimes we advise against it. A small room noticeably loses breathing room due to a closed front nearly 40 centimeters deep. A lowboard with two wall shelves above it carries the same technology and leaves the wall open. If a well-chosen table is added in front of the sofa, the living room is often already complete, and many underestimate how strongly such side and coffee tables carry a room.
An old building in Sandhofen with high ceilings shows the other extreme. A wall unit of 207 centimeters ends there far below the stucco molding, and the strip above it looks unfinished. In such cases, we plan two separate pieces of furniture with space in between, or we go for more height.
And sometimes a wall unit simply comes too early. A combination planned for a specific wall rarely finds the same wall in the next apartment. Before an foreseeable move, a free-standing sideboard is the calmer decision.
Custom-made or from the program
The surcharge for a customized wall unit pays off where the room deviates from a rectangle. For many of our programs, shelving units can be adjusted in width, height, depth, and layout, often also in the wood type, and exactly what is possible depends on the manufacturer and is part of the consultation.
This is why there is an "at least" price on items for modular furniture. It shows the basic version; the final price depends on your configuration.
The fastest solution, however, is already in-house. Display pieces are furniture that stood in our exhibition in Mannheim or Worms; they are as good as new, with slight signs of use, and significantly reduced. Each piece exists exactly once, in the color, size, and version shown. What is currently available is listed under our display pieces, and this list changes constantly.
You can recognize a fair offer by the handling, assembly, and service. The price alone says little about this, which is why it is worth looking at reviews and recommendations. A second point of reference is the Golden M from the German Furniture Quality Assurance Association, a certification mark for safety and low emissions that houses of the Association of the German Furniture Industry can carry.
Frequently asked questions about wall units
How wide should a modern wall unit be?
The width depends on the free wall area, which is almost always smaller than the wall itself. Hartmann combines the Vara series in widths between 283 and 339 centimeters; a complete living room combination from our range measures around 300 centimeters.
What is the right distance between the TV and the sofa?
For 4K and UHD devices, multiply the screen diagonal in centimeters by 1.5. For 55 inches, that is 140 times 1.5, resulting in a 210-centimeter viewing distance. According to MediaMarkt, a factor of 2.5 applies to older Full-HD devices, and a factor of 1.2 for a 40-degree viewing angle.
What does a modern wall unit cost?
Size, material, and features determine the price. Two examples from our range, as of September 2026: A complete living room combination is 4,198 euros, a single highboard from the same series is 2,998 euros without lighting.
Will a wall unit hold on a drywall?
Up to a fixed limit. According to Rigips, a single-layer gypsum plasterboard wall under 18 millimeters supports a maximum of 40 kilograms per meter of wall; for double-layer boarding from 18 millimeters, it is 70 kilograms. Heavy hanging elements require certified fastening; if in doubt, we plan for floor-standing units.
Planning appointment at the Mannheim-Käfertal furniture store
Measure your living room, take a photo, and roughly sketch the floor plan. In our furniture store at Turbinenstraße 30-32 in Mannheim-Käfertal, our wall units are showcased on more than 5,000 square meters of exhibition space, along with everything for living, sleeping, and dining. Our consulting team will go through the wall with you, from the module to the cable duct. You can arrange a planning appointment via our store in Mannheim, open from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 7 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm.
