To hide a TV when not in use in a media wall, plan the cover before you build: a sliding panel needs clear wall beside the TV roughly equal to the opening width, standard pocket doors need side pockets about as deep as each door is wide (around 30 inches for a 65-inch TV), and a motorized art cover adds 75–95 lb that your mount or lift must carry. Pick the method your wall can physically accept, not the one in the photo.
Most "hide your TV" galleries show the finished reveal and skip the hardware math. In builder forums, many of these projects end with the client dropping the idea once they hear the depth or the price. Below are the beliefs that cause the most rework, checked against manufacturer specs and real builder discussions.
"Pocket doors only need a few inches of depth"
Doors that slide back into the sides of the recess will barely change the media wall.
A pocket door slides back into the cabinet side, so the pocket has to be about as deep as the door is wide. A 2025 Samsung 65-inch QN90F measures 56.9 inches wide without its stand. Cover it with a pair of doors and each leaf is roughly 30 inches wide, so each side pocket needs about 30 inches of depth plus hardware. In a WoodWeb thread about a 54 x 54-inch TV unit, cabinetmakers concluded the cabinet would end up "greater than 30 inches in depth". One noted that the largest standard slide gave only 21-3/4 inches of travel, so the doors stood about 8 inches proud even when they were "open."
Premium hardware doesn't solve the geometry. Hawa's Concepta family is rated for doors 300–900 mm wide (about 12–35 inches) and up to 50 kg. A pocket-door cabinet guide adds that you should expect about 4-1/2 inches less travel than the slide length.
Pro tip: Ask about bi-fold doors on pocket hardware. A builder in the same WoodWeb thread used center-hinged bi-folds, and folding each 30-inch leaf roughly halves the pocket depth.
"A sliding panel just needs a track above the TV"
Hang a barn-door track, add a nice panel and you're done.
The track is the easy part. The panel has to park somewhere. Rustica's barn-door sizing guide says to check for clear wall beside the opening that fits the entire panel, plus stops and soft-close hardware. It uses 2 inches of overlap per side and starts track planning at about twice the panel width. Covering a 57-inch-wide 65-inch TV that way takes a 61-inch panel, roughly 61 inches of blank wall beside the screen and a track around 10 feet long. Splitting it into two bi-parting panels doesn't shrink the total, because each half still needs its own landing zone.
The panel also has to clear the TV's depth plus the mount. On a Grand Design RV owners' forum, one member's sliding door wouldn't clear the TV mount until he packed the rail off the wall with a 1-inch block. The cleaner media-wall version is the one Sunset featured: a 38 x 48-inch panel running in tracks set into the columns that frame the TV niche.
Rule of thumb: Measure the opening width W. If you don't have at least W of uninterrupted wall on one side (or W/2 on both sides for a split panel), a horizontal slider is out. Look at a vertical art lift or a bi-fold instead.
"An art cover is just a canvas, so any mount can hold it"
A printed canvas over the TV weighs next to nothing.
Framed art covers that move with the TV are heavy. Frame My TV lists its TV art cover at about 60 lb for a 40-inch TV, 75 lb for 55 inches, 85 lb for 65 inches and 95 lb for 75 inches, plus 10–15 lb of bracket adapter hardware. On top of a 53-lb 65-inch TV, that's roughly 150 lb on one arm. The company warns that if the TV plus frame exceeds the lift's rating, the lift may not raise the TV back up. The pull-down mantel mounts it lists are rated 115–125 lb.
Important: Add the TV weight, the cover weight and any adapter plate before choosing a mount, pull-down lift or art lift. Then check that total against the mount rating and the backing it's screwed into. An overloaded drop-down mount over a fireplace fails in exactly the spot where people stand. See our guide on mounting a TV on a media wall so it won't sag.
"The TV is off when it's covered, so ventilation doesn't matter"
Heat only matters while the TV is running, and then the cover is open anyway.
Covers don't always follow the plan. Samsung's manuals tell owners to keep about 10 cm (4 inches) between the TV and surrounding objects. Older Samsung manuals specifically warn against placing a set in a confined space such as a bookcase or built-in cabinet without proper ventilation, because trapped heat can damage the TV or cause a fire. The Sunset project above handled this by backing the sliding panel with perforated metal screening so heat from the electronics could escape even when it was closed.
Important: Never run the TV for long periods with a solid panel or doors shut tight against it. Give the recess an air path in at the bottom and out at the top. If an electric fire sits below, follow the fire maker's clearances; our media wall electric fire heat rules cover the numbers. Any new outlet or motor circuit inside the wall is a job for a licensed electrician.
"Swing doors are the simple answer"
Two cabinet doors on hinges hide the TV and cost almost nothing.
They're cheap, but builders on the Thermwood forum point out that open swing doors sit in the side view angle. Anyone seated off-axis watches the edge of a door. On Sawmill Creek, a cabinetmaker put it bluntly: "The big issue is what to do with the doors while you're watching." Another builder in the same thread suggested Blum Aventos lift-up bi-fold fronts, which fold up and out of the sightline. Check the height and power-factor limits for your door weight first. Core77's roundup of concealment products notes that a four-panel bi-fold needs less side clearance than a two-panel one.
| Method | Space it steals | Extra weight on mount | Main weak spot | Reported price evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sliding panel (horizontal) | Wall width about equal to the opening beside TV | None | Needs blank wall; must clear TV depth | Hardware is cheap; build cost is the panel |
| Standard pocket doors | Side pockets about as deep as each leaf is wide (30 in+ for 65 in TV) | None | Media wall becomes a deep cabinet | $600–$900 for premium hardware in a 2004 WoodWeb thread |
| Bi-fold on pocket hardware | About half the pocket depth of a standard pocket door | None | More hinges to align; heavier slides | Similar hardware, more labor |
| Swing or lift-up doors | Door swing in front of or above the TV | None | Doors in the side view while watching | Lowest hardware cost |
| Motorized art cover or lift | Space above, below or beside for the art to travel | 75–95 lb framed covers (65–75 in) | Lift rating, motor service | $1,495 to $12,350 list (Media Decor range) |
"Motorized concealment is a few-hundred-dollar add-on"
It's basically a smart blind in front of the TV.
The reported numbers say otherwise. Home Theater HiFi listed Media Decor's lineup from $1,495 for its entry Ecco moving-art model, $5,450–$5,750 for the Eclipse Art Lift (driven by a Lutron drive unit) and $7,250–$12,350 for Elite Moving Art. Its Mirage mirror cover started at $5,200. In a 2001 FineHomebuilding thread, a builder quoted $5,299 for one motorized system and joked that "the $299.00 entertainment center from Sears is about as far as most are willing to go."
Put that next to the wall itself. GetMediaWall's pricing model estimates a 12–16 ft wood-slat media wall with LED and hidden wiring at $5,400–$7,900 nationally (higher in the Bay Area). Our model puts an 8–12 ft painted built-in wall unit at $5,100–$7,500. A mid-range art lift can cost nearly as much as either. Before you commit, run your layout through the media wall configurator to see the base cost on its own.
Estimated cost: Worked example for a 65-inch TV on a 12–16 ft slat wall: $5,400–$7,900 for the wall (our model) plus $1,495 for an entry moving-art cover means a starting point near $6,900–$9,400 before any automation programming. Choose an Eclipse-style lift instead and the total climbs past $10,800.
Automation integrators are the trade that usually wires these covers into one remote. Across the 1,009 installers listed on GetMediaWall, 187 mention Lutron, 185 mention Control4, 80 mention Savant and 71 mention Crestron, based on the companies' own website claims. Only 84 state any warranty at all, with a median of 12 months. For a motor you'll run twice a day, ask what the warranty covers in writing.
"Once it's built, you'll close it every night"
The whole point is a TV-free room in the evening, so of course you'll use it.
Builders who've delivered these projects are skeptical. In a WoodWeb thread, one cabinetmaker said clients often ask for a cover, "however, in practice, the thing is always on, and always in view, so the doors/cover is not used". For thin TVs, their shop now prefers "a close fitting wood frame" instead. Of the six woodworking and home forum threads we read on concealing a TV (listed in Sources), three said standard pocket doors don't suit a wide flat screen, and three ended with price as the deal-breaker. Only one owner, a Singletrack forum member with a ceiling lift for a 55-inch TV, reported a motorized system working trouble-free.
Best for: Covers make sense when the TV wall doubles as a dining-room or formal living-room focal point and the TV is genuinely off most evenings. If it's on daily, an art-mode TV costs far less. See our comparison of Frame TV surface vs flush recess builds.
The takeaways
- Measure first: opening width W sets everything. A slider needs about W of free wall, and standard pocket doors need pockets about W/2 deep for a pair.
- Bi-folds are the depth fix. Folding the leaves roughly halves the pocket depth. Four-panel designs need the least side clearance.
- Weigh the art. Framed covers add 60–95 lb, so check the total against your mount or lift rating and the wall backing.
- Keep an air path. Leave about 4 inches of clearance, a vented panel back, and never run the TV behind closed solid doors.
- Price the cover separately. Reported list prices run from $1,495 to over $12,000, sometimes rivaling the wall itself.
- Be honest about habits. If the TV is on every day, a framed recess may be the better buy.
When the plan is settled, compare local media wall installers and ask each one how they'd handle depth, venting and the motor warranty. Or see our media wall installation service overview.
Sources
- WoodWeb: Designing for Large Pocket Doors — 30-inch-plus depth, 21-3/4-inch slide travel, about 8 inches of protrusion, $600–$900 hardware, bi-fold on pocket hardware
- WoodWeb: TV Concealment Door Ideas — "the thing is always on" quote; close-fitting frame alternative
- FineHomebuilding forum: Hiding the TV — $5,299 motorized system and $299 cabinet quotes
- Sawmill Creek: On-wall TV cabinet — "what to do with the doors while you're watching"; pocket doors don't work; Blum Aventos suggestion
- Thermwood forum: TV cabinet design discussion — swing doors in side view; pocket doors ruled out for wide TVs
- Singletrack forum: Motorised TV lifters — owner reports a trouble-free 55-inch ceiling lift; cost concerns
- Hotel Designs: HAWA Concepta 25/30/50 — 300–900 mm door width, 50 kg door weight
- Stonehaven Life: Shelves in pocket door cabinets — about 4-1/2 inches less travel than slide length; inset doors, recessed pulls
- Frame My TV: Over-fireplace drop-down TV mount — art cover weights by TV size, lift capacity warning
- Home Theater HiFi: Media Decor concealment products — Ecco, Eclipse, Elite and Mirage list prices
- Core77: Tucking Away the TV — four-panel bi-fold needs less side clearance; art lifts need travel space
- Sunset: Movable panel family room — 38 x 48-inch panel in column tracks, perforated metal backing for heat
- Samsung UE48H6850 manual, ventilation page — 10 cm clearance around TV
- Costco: Samsung 2025 QN90F 65-inch specs — 56.94 x 32.63 x 1.06 inches without stand
- Rustica: How to measure for a barn door — clear wall for the full panel, 2-inch overlap per side, track about twice the panel width
- Grand Design RV forum: barn door rail over TV mount — 1-inch spacer block to clear the TV bracket