commenting to follow because I'm thinking of getting one of these. so far I hate all of the prefab designs.

I also have considered other ideas where the TV is always out but the backside is hidden with a decorative panel or bookcase. Google "TV Room Divider" for inspiration. so in your situation, you could add on to or replace the pony wall and convert it into something like this:

or something taller like these below. in your situation, the bottom half would have a solid back so it still functions as a pony wall. but the top half could be open and airy to let light through:

one addition to the ideas above, but much simpler: simply make the entire pony wall taller, and place the tv at the height you need.

Thank you so much for all of the inspiration photos and design ideas. I really appreciate it! Our pony wall is tricky because the other side is our entry way, which is a few steps down. We are toying with the idea of raising the pony wall, so that it's higher than the TV (as in your last photo). But we're concerned that raising the wall about 12 inches (which is what we'd have to do) would reduce the openness and light of the space. It's a definite alternative to the cabinet though. Thank you again!!

I don't think raising the wall 12" will majorly impact the light or feeling in the room. to be sure, you could try putting up a 12" cardboard strip and live with it for a while to see. even better, get a roll of white paper to cover it up. It'll help you visualize better if you don't just see brown cardboard.

if you submit pics of this side of the room as a whole, we might be able to give you more concise feedback.

Great idea. I will definitely pick up some foam board and tack it up to get a sense of the room if we added a foot of drywall on the wall. Thank you for the suggestion.

Here are two pictures (sorry I couldn't figure out how to make an attachment)... it's a long story for why I was thinking to put the TV on the pony wall. If I put it on the opposite wall and orient the furniture toward the TV, the couch seems to close off the room (see pic). This is a little space but it is open to the rest of the house. When looking at this room, you immediately see the back of a sofa and this not only looks a bit strange, but it closes off the room and blocks the view out of the window. That's why I thought perhaps putting the TV in a lift cabinet against the pony wall may be a solution. This way, we could have the couch face the front of the room, leaving the room more open. I thought it would look more "friendly" to have the couch facing the room rather than the back of the back facing the opening.

On the flip side, this may be a weird thing to do...I'd love to hear any other ideas. It'd be really helpful as I think I've moved the furniture around the room one to many times to think clearly ;)

THANKS!

Here is a TV mounted in a pony wall

Perhaps you are mounting your TV too high.

Hi, Thank you for the pictures of TVs mounted in pony walls. That gives me hope! Our wall is 34 inches hight, and the TV is 26 inches high (a 55 inch tv). We are thinking we should probably mount it over a low console table or something so that it's not resting right above the floor. If we did that, it would be higher than the pony wall.

Why does it need to be mounted over anything? Perhaps you are too young to remember when TVs were in consoles that sat on the floor.

A tension pole is also possible.

very cool house! with those soaring ceilings and giant windows, raising your pony wall 12" should not make a difference in the feel of the room at all. I think you could raise it even more than that w/o being impacted.

I really like the suggestions of having the tv part being recessed, that way you can't see behind it as you're approaching the room. it would be so easy to add to the job list if the wall was being raised. factor in TV size and whether or not you want to go bigger one day.

I agree with you on the couch position. my living room is kind of similar to yours. when I tried my couch on the left, it just felt so wrong. with rooms like that, you really want to be seeing the windows and the beautiful room as you come up the steps, not the back of the couch.

I can’t thank you enough for your vote of confidence to keep the couch facing the room so that the room stays open and bright. It would be a lot easier to just orient the room the other way and mount the TV on the wall and call it a day...but I know it would not feel right. I’m going to go and buy some foam board today to tack up on the pony wall to get a sense of what it’d look like to raise the wall. Great ideas about recessing the TV too so it’s not visible from the side. Thank you so much again!!

I have a TV lift in my bedroom. The cabinet was custom made and I have had no operational issues. I like that the TV is not visible when not in use.

BeverlyFLADeziner, thanks for the great suggestions. Love the idea to recess into the wall. And no, I grew up watching TV on the floor!! That’s why we thought what’s the big deal with mounting a TV really low...but then we discovered our feet we were in the way of viewing when they were propped up on the coffee table. Lol. Thank you again!

What a good idea! I wouldn’t have thought to look on Craigslist for the tv lift cabinet. Thank you for the suggestion!