Ideas for Hiding a Wall-mount Ductless Mini Split HVAC Unit

Ceiling mount mini split HVAC units cost more and are more involved to install than wall mount units.  But the ceiling mount units tend to be much less visible.  So, the question today is whether there is a good solution for hiding a wall-mount ductless Mini Split HVAC unit in a wall or soffit or ceiling.

Here are some of the ideas I found quickly. There may be better or more designy ideas, but these are all better than exposed units.  My thoughts on each solution are found directly below the photo.

1.  Uncovered alcove in soffit.  Eh.  This is better than fully exposed, but not a lot.

2.  Uncovered alcove in built-ins.  Nah.  This is fine for a retrofit, but we're opening walls and ceilings, so we can do better. 

3.  Covered alcove in built-ins.  Better, but still no.  This is fine for a retrofit, but we're opening walls and ceilings, so we can do better. 

4. Uncovered unit in a non-structural wall over closets.  Yeah - maybe for the kids' rooms this makes sense.  We're likely to have some extra headroom above those closets so this is better than mounting them on the face of the wall.

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5.  Hidden in a soffit cabinet.  I guess, but only if we can't do better.  I don't care for this retrofit solution.

6.  Technically, this is just a built in - but it has the quality of a wall.  We could do something like this in the kitchen soffit on the west wall of the kitchen.

7.  Same as 6.  Nice looking, but depends on using an existing soffit or built-in space.

8.  Another one hidden in a built-in.

9.  This is nice - provided it is done in an elegant way - this one looks a little clunky-chunky.

10.  I honestly don't know what is going on here.  But I like that the unit is recessed into the wall/ceiling.