The short version
A Bloomfield Hills homeowner was renovating a family room and had one requirement above all others: nothing was to be visible.
A Samsung Frame TV handles the display so the wall reads as art when nothing is playing, a Sonos Arc and subwoofer handle the sound, and the Arc sits inside a Leon Speaker Tone Case wrapped in light grey fabric so it sits with the wall instead of on it.
Every source lives in a custom in wall back box. There is not a cable in the room. Call 248-804-8011.
At a Glance
Town
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Project Type
Family room AV, part of an interior renovation
Timeline
Coordinated with the renovation
Systems
Display, soundbar and subwoofer, hidden sources, app control
What the Client Wanted
The brief was one sentence long. Clean aesthetics above all else.
The family room was being renovated and the technology was going to be part of the design or it was not going in. No visible wiring, no black rectangle dominating the wall, no soundbar sitting on a console announcing itself, and no cable box with a blinking light.
The Challenge: Consumer Electronics Are Designed to Be Seen
Everything in this category is designed to look like technology. Displays are glossy black, soundbars are extruded plastic, and sources are boxes that need ventilation and line of sight for a remote.
Hiding them is not a matter of pushing them into a cabinet, because a closed cabinet kills the remote and cooks the equipment. It has to be solved in the wall, during the renovation, before the finishes go on. Which meant the AV decisions had to be made on the cabinetmaker’s schedule, not after it.
The Build: Three Decisions, No Compromises
The display is a Samsung Frame TV, chosen because it is the one screen that earns its wall when it is off. In art mode it reads as a framed piece rather than a dark rectangle, which is exactly what a renovated family room wants.
Sound is a Sonos Arc with a matching subwoofer. Rather than leave the Arc as a visible bar, The Sound Vision worked with Leon Speaker to house it in a Tone Case, a fabric wrapped enclosure in light grey that mounts flush beneath the screen. The result reads as part of the wall, not equipment.
The sources, an Apple TV and the Frame TV One Connect box, went into a custom in wall back box, coordinated with Sculpture Cabinetry during the renovation so the opening was framed before the wall closed. Nothing is on a shelf and nothing needs a line of sight. Everything runs from the Sonos app on a phone.
The Result: A Room That Does Not Look Wired
There is not a visible cable in the space. The display is art until someone turns it on, the sound comes from a fabric panel that looks like part of the wall, and the equipment lives in the wall.
This is a smaller project than most of the work on this site, and it is here on purpose. Not every job is a fifteen zone estate. A single room done properly, where the technology serves the design instead of fighting it, is worth doing well.
What would a room like this cost?
The calculator covers what you want covered and how far you want to take it, and gives you a range in about two minutes.
Open the Home Technology Budget Calculator Looking at something different? Try the Home Theater Budget Tool.System Overview
| Room or Element | What Is In It | Brands |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Frame TV mounted flush, art mode when off | Samsung Frame TV |
| Sound | Soundbar and subwoofer, app controlled | Sonos Arc and Sonos Sub |
| Soundbar enclosure | Light grey fabric wrapped case mounted beneath the screen | Leon Speaker Tone Case |
| Sources | Streaming box and One Connect box in a custom in wall back box | Apple TV, Samsung One Connect |
| Control | Phone and tablet control, no visible remote gear | Sonos app |
Project Details
The Project
- Location: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- Room: family room, part of an interior renovation
- Requirement: no visible wiring or visible technology
- Back box framed before the wall closed
The Team
- System integration: The Sound Vision
- Cabinetry: Sculpture Cabinetry
- Enclosure: Leon Speaker
Equipment Specified
- Samsung Frame TV
- Sonos Arc soundbar
- Sonos subwoofer
- Leon Speaker Tone Case enclosure
- Custom in wall back box for sources
- Apple TV and Samsung One Connect box
- Sonos app control
The Room
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a Frame TV installation cost in Bloomfield Hills?
A properly integrated single room like this one runs roughly $5,000 to $10,000, which covers the display, the sound system, a custom enclosure, the in wall back box and the coordination with the trades doing the renovation. A wall mount and a soundbar on a console is a fraction of that and looks like it. The difference in the number is almost entirely the work that makes the equipment disappear. The budget calculator will put a range on your own room.
Is a Frame TV worth it over a normal television?
It depends entirely on where the screen lives. In a bedroom or a basement, no, and you should buy a better panel for the money. In a family room, dining room or anywhere the screen sits in a sightline you look at all day, yes, because a Frame TV in art mode stops being a dark rectangle when it is off. The picture is good rather than exceptional, and you are paying for what it does the twenty hours a day it is not on.
Can a soundbar be hidden and still sound right?
Yes, if the enclosure is designed for it rather than improvised. A soundbar shoved into a closed cabinet will sound dull and will overheat. The Leon Tone Case used here is built around the Sonos Arc specifically, with acoustically transparent fabric where the drivers fire and the right internal volume, so it reads as part of the wall and measures like an open soundbar. Building a cabinet around a soundbar without that engineering is how good equipment ends up sounding bad.
Where do the streaming box and the TV connection box go if nothing is visible?
Into a custom in wall back box, framed into the wall during construction or renovation. It keeps the equipment ventilated, reachable for service, and completely out of sight, and it removes the need for line of sight to a remote because control moves to the app or to an IP based system. This is the part that has to be decided before the drywall goes on, which is why the AV conversation belongs on the cabinetmaker’s schedule and not after it.
Do you take on single room projects?
Yes. Most of the work on this site is whole home, but a single room done properly is a real project and we treat it as one. The requirements are the same: coordinate with the trades early, put the infrastructure in the wall before it closes, and make the technology serve the design. A room like this typically takes a few days of our time spread across the renovation schedule.
Want the technology to disappear?
Not every project is a whole house. Some are one room, done properly, so nothing shows. Those are worth doing too.
Talk to a person
248-804-8011
Monday to Friday, 9 to 6. You reach the people who design and install the work, not a call center.
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