The tv is new so it's pretty light. The cheetah mount, however, weighs 32 lbs.

We are going to use 3/4" cabinet grade plywood to span the window opening.. from the fireplace on the left to the right window blind. Attach the plywood to all available studs using wood screws (decking screws?) I think the plywood will be cut almost as tall as the tv itself, giving us plenty of stud screws.

We will then mount the mount itself using 1/4 x 3 toggle bolts where there aren't any studs (right side of mount) and 3 x 3/8 lag bolts where there are studs. (left side-directly to the left of that left window.)

Basically, the left side of the mount will be mounted to the plywood -and- studs and the right, just to plywood.

Does this sound ok? Any advice appreciated!

So, unless you built it yourselves and know what's behind the knotty pine and sheet rock, I think you are going to find a 16" header over those windows.

Beside the obvious question of "why do want it offset so much, rather than center it over the fireplace?", you still need to run an electrical outlet and then A/V cables through the wall to your video equipment. It just doesn't seem like it's going to be an easy installation here.

Also, I'm not sure which model Cheetah Mount you are using but that weight seems unusual.

Please post some more specifics and I'll be more than happy to offer whatever help I can.

Mounting over the fireplace isn't an option. The couch is too close for comfort, necks would crack.

As for the cords, we plan on just covering them-we aren't going to add new receptacles.

I should add that the black mini-blind is broken. I cut something when I was installing them and it doesn't raise or lower. The tilt wand works. Covering the window with the tv doesn't bother us.

You mentioned sheetrock... there isn't any! I'm 99% sure the tongue-groove pine is installed right over the insulation.

I'd be surprised, but not completely, if there wasn't sheet rock under the T&G. Even though it is typically required for fire code reasons, local codes vary, but it also provides draft and sound insulation as well.

Anyhow, if I understand you correctly, the mount will be above the two "black mini-blind windows" and below the large upper window. So, that area will not have studs but a large header that distributes the load.

You should need to do the plywood type thing, but just lag bolt the mount into the header. Check it out with a stud sensor first.

Probably go with 4, 3 1/2 inch long bolts purchased separately. For some reason, almost every mount I've come across includes the absolute cheapest lag bolts from China that almost always seem to snap off while tightening.

Surface mount molding is available, usually a white cream color that you could run straight down between the windows, for the cables. I needed to run some for a different installation but painted it flat black and it looked really nice on the knotty pine.

Just think... pretty soon you'll be able to use that neat TV stand again for it's intended purpose!

We hope we can place the plywood over the studs around the left window (and the left side of the right window) and then attach the mount to that.

Thank you for your time!

If you're not sure what I mean, Google around a little for something like, "building a header over a window opening".

Please let us know what you find and how it works out.

Sorry I wasted my time...

I did take your advice and purchased additional lags and toggles; I will not use the ones included in the packaging. The company couldn't even label the parts correctly and they gave wrong dimensions for pre-drilling. Plus, I read in the product reviews at amazon.com that some people had lag bolts snap on them.

Thank you for your time, I will post a pic next week when I'm finished.

I hung the mount anyway, as I described above. I removed some of the pine trim to locate stud placement---that thing isn't going anywhere!

The new TV has been mounted and a friend of a friend that installs flat panels looked at it and said it's fine. I first attached 1/2 inch plywood to the window studs. I then used 2 lag bolts on the left side, going through the plywood and into the studs.. 4 toggle bolts were used to attach the rest of the mount to the plywood.

Below are some pictures... I've included a pic of the security lock we found online. One end is attached to the mount and the other to the wall using a metal hasp-thingy that is attached with one-way screws. We also glued all non-moving screws with craft glue. It can be picked off but it would take a while. I would rather have the TV broken into pieces than taken out the door again!

Doesn't look too tacky!

The window blind still opens and closes using the wand:

2, 3 inch lag bolts

Note the brass padlock on the left side:

back of television showing security cable:

we also engraved our information on everything valuable in the house.