A recessed TV installation looks effortless when it is done, a screen sitting into the wall as if it grew there, but it is decided months earlier, when the walls are still open. These photos follow one oak frame new build from July to December 2025, from first fix cables to a TV set into a recess above the fireplace.
July: cables before plaster
In July nothing was finished: the ceilings were boarded, the floor was covered and loose cables dropped from overhead, although the fireplace and the space for the screen above it were already built. Down at the base of an oak frame wall, coiled cables sat next to the copper pipes. This is when a TV installation is won or lost, because no cable can be added easily once the plaster is on.
October: the recess is ready
Once the brick and flint fireplace had its oak mantel, the recess was fitted out: a slim black wall bracket, boxes for the connections, a double socket and, beside the bracket, a small black Crestron unit. The label identifies it as a DM-NVX-350, which Crestron describes as a 4K network AV endpoint that encodes or decodes video over a Gigabit network. In practice, the equipment that plays the picture can sit in a rack in another room, and the TV is fed over the network.
The screen in its recess
The TV was fitted on 6 October. Sitting in the recess, it hides its bracket and connections and lines up with the face of the wall rather than jutting out. By mid December the room around it was complete, with a vaulted ceiling clad in pine, a pair of wheel chandeliers and small round speakers fixed to the timber frame.
Planning a recessed TV installation
- Choose the TV size before first fix, because the recess is built around it.
- Allow depth for the bracket, the connections and some air.
- Run network cable and power to every screen position.
- Decide where the source equipment will live, so a network video box can do the rest.
Crestron's DM-NVX-350 documentation lists what the box behind this TV can do. Our Crestron, home automation and home cinema pages explain how the pieces fit together, and our process shows how we work from first fix to handover.
The build in photos
More finished rooms are in our Gallery.
Building or renovating?
Tell us where the TVs will go while the walls are still open, and we will plan the cables, the recesses and the equipment. Get in touch, or ring 01 906 9326 in Dublin or 021 202 8107 in Cork.
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