I think any size will feel like it's touching the ceiling and thus oversized. I'd remove some of the lower dividers from the bookshelves on one side or the other and put the TV there.

Then you can put a couple of prints over the mantel which will looks more proportional. And you won't need chiropraxy after watching your TV! :)

Don't put a TV over your fireplace - it gets way too hot for the TV to handle, and your neck will hate you for the strain.

Like acm said, take some shelves out, then you can hide any electronics in the cupboards below.

Agree with others - it will be too high mounted over the fireplace. Place it in the cabinets and find a nice piece of art for the fireplace wall.

I'm a TV cameraman, don't put it that high. It's not comfortable to watch except from extremely far back. I like the suggestion of putting it lower on one side or the other. Slightly above eye level is usually ideal. Figure out what you will be sitting on to watch it, then measure how high your head is off of the floor. If different levels (barstools and couch) just average between them. Picture will look better and you will be more comfortable.

I agree with the height issue. The ideal viewing location is for your natural sitting eye level to be focused on the top of the bottom 1/3 of your TV.

That being said that is not always an option. Seeing that you already have cut outs for power and cables, here are some ways of making that location work great!

First ALWAYS go with the larger size TV. Use a Tilt Mount rather than a flat. This takes a lot of that strain off your neck. Chief has a really cool automated tilt mount that automatically goes down when power to TV is turned on, then retracts flat when TV is turned off.

You can get really fancy with Future Automation. They make motorized mounts that will come out drop down to the viewing height then retract back to the stored position when done.

As for heat I have installed dozens of TVs above fire places with no issues whatsoever. Having a mantel will definitely help with that.

With a quick search I found a motorized Tilt mount on Houzz for $177. Have not used it personally but here is the link.

https://www.houzz.com/products/level-mount-37-85-motorized-tilt-flat-panel-mount-prvw-vr~66444123

Place looks great! Would like to see finished photos when you have them!

Sometimes it is nice to get real opinions about something that maybe was not thought of. I too agree no matter size the T.V is it will be too high and off to the side makes perfect sense

I've had a tv over my fireplace for 2-1/2 years and love it there. Everyone always mentions about neck strain, and we've never had a problem with that!

There are "pull-down" TV wall mounts that are specifically made for mounting a TV over a fireplace. They extend the TV out past the mantel and then down. Just Google "Fireplace TV Mount" and you'll find various options.

I’m a pain physician and a DO (essentially trained in chiropractic manipulation). This ideal viewing angle issue is probably a myth UNLESS the room is small. If it’s a 10 ft room that angle is much different than 14 ft. For someone with disc issues, I’d argue higher is better. For those with arthritis, id argue lower than neutral is better. YMMV, it’s all suppositional voodoo.

I've had a tv over my fireplace for 5 years. My neck is fine. My back doesn't hurt. And I love viewing the fireplace and tv at the same time. I will always always always have a tv over my fireplace. I've never understood the reasoning behind the tv height issue. As for the size you should go with? I'd go with the 65 inch. Having a little more space top & bottom around the tv will make a big difference when looking at the whole design of your wall. And the smaller size won't make any difference when watching tv. It's not like you are going from a 65 inch to a 32 inch. Your room looks great BTW!

Thank you so much everyone for your input. It helped me make a decision about whether or not to put the tv over the fireplace or not.

Can someone tell me what size tv I should get with a 66.5” wide and 45” high space?

I have a 78" wall with a fireplace where I plan to put a TV (ceiling is 18ft). Planning to mount a 75" TV (65.4" wide), giving 6.3" of 'white space' on each side. Will match the horizontal 'white space' with equivalent vertical white space on the bottom. The 85" TV was just too wide, would only give 2" on each side :)

I do think it matters slightly based on how far away you are sitting. The farther away you are the less that the height is an issue. However if you are closer then you do have to look up more or at a different angle - make sure the tv has good picture quality from all angles - its just like being in a movie theater.

I would also do the 65" tv

The room looks very nice!

Sorry for reviving an old post, but are these 9 foot ceilings? I'm working on a similar fireplace and trying to decide what sort of space we have. We haven't built out the fireplace or niches yet, so trying to work through all of that along with the proper size TV niche to put in.

Here's a pull-down mount link below - agree with the others about stiff neck issues. The caveats about heat should be considered too - there's direct-vent (a top-vent, has a bunch on names like CoolSmart) that might mitigate. My OLED TV specs 104 degrres max operating temp. Please post what you learn, I'm sorting this out too with 8' ceilings. Even an insert on the floor seems to want about a 38" height to bottom of TV with direct-vent.

mantel mount

I have a tv over my fireplace at about the height of yours. As long as you are sitting back and not right up on the tv, it’s perfectly fine. I love mine. My neck is not strained like so many others suggested.

I love the way a TV mounted over the fireplace looks. To me, it doesn’t look nearly as good to the right or the left. I love what you did here!!!

I bet the majority of TV watching you are going to be doing is while you are cooking in that beautiful kitchen. We have TV mounted over fireplace at our Beachhouse and it is outstanding. No neck strain at all. Major improvement to the look of our living room

Kathy, Would you be able to share your ceiling height, hearth height and mantel dimensions? We are building a new house and have 9’ ceilings. We want a raised hearth and also to mount our tv over the fireplace. I am really struggling with the dimensions because I don’t want our 51”x30” tv to be too high. I love the look of yours! Anything you can share would be so helpful!

It's easy to approximately figure out how much space you will be left with, but 1st you need to know the height of the fireplace heart which can be from 0-12" depends how high you want it to be... what size fireplace are you getting, the height of it... and you have to account for code-compliant clearance above + the combustibles you plan to have, i.e trim, wood surround, shelf or mantel, etc

Known all the factors you will know the remaining wall height you left with and you can plan what size of TV you can put up there.

Good luck