I would be torn. I like the first one because you can close off the tv. But the second & third choices seem to fit the size of the room better.
I'm not much help. Interested to see the responses!

In terms of the look of the couch, I think Media Center 2 goes more closely to it. Look at the shape of the feet and the feet of your couch-- it has the same kind of curves, where the other options are angular.

And PS-- I really like the shape of your couch!

-Jenn

I love being able to hide the living room TV behind pocket doors. Different story in the keeping room which is basically part of the kitchen area. Kitchen has white painted cabinets and a red-stained cherry hutch. I bought a pumpkin/gold painted Asian chest from Pier 1 to use as a TV stand in the keeping room.

I'd be afraid the two piece armoire would consume your small space. Since it's a TV room the other two options make more sense.

This is not what you asked but, consider how close to the 50" TV are you going to be sitting. There are guidelines regarding viewing distance and picture quality on plasma & LCD. Too close or too big, results in a grainy picture. I suggest, before you select the cabinet, pick out the TV that will best suit the space and viewing distance.
In a TV room, I would (and did) leave the TV uncovered.

I like #1 because I do like the closed door option. We recently purchased a 58" plasma and hard a hard time finding one big enough that had doors. We found most of them were open. The unit we purchased was from "Hooker". Make sure you measure the inside dimensions of the unit and the outside dimensions of your tv. 50" is the diagonal measure.

I really am unclear about how you would position a couch and loveseat in that room and still have a huge tv that everyone would be able to watch comfortably. Mago wisely raised the issue, too. Assuming the wall you show is the 9' dimension, that means the right angled wall is 12 feet. If you put the couch on the opposite 9 foot wall (which may not work well for tables and lamps depending on the length of the couch), then the loveseat will go on the 12 foot wall, and people sitting at the one end of that will be as close as perhaps 4 ft from the screen. NOT a good thing with that large a TV.

As for the cabinetry, I wouldn't do a huge piece like the first one in that small space with all that other furniture. Keep it simple and low.

thrift_shop_romantic thanks for your compliment on our couch. It took us awhile to find it. I see what you mean about the feet on #2. Most of the media centers are boxy and as you can see we didn't picked any of those.

I agree with robin2007, natal and judiegal, being able to close the doors and hide the tv gives the room a more clean look. But I'm just afraid the piece is too big.

magothyrivergirl, thanks for your suggestion. DH looked into the distance requirements. He said we were ok. I better double check :)

So back to the media center - decisions, decisions......

If it were in a living room, being able to close the doors would be a bigger deal. But it's going to be in a media room. You expect to find a TV in a media room. Realistically, how often do you think you'd close the doors?

I'd vote for #3, if the wood blends with your other woods. I like the style with your sofa and I think you'd be happier with the more proportional size.

Our family room sofa and chairs have the same shaped arms and feet as your new sofa. Our media cabinet looks very similar to your last photo.

We have a 50" in our family room. As for viewing, the plasma screens are flat and so you can see what's on the screen from the sides without any distortion. Nice advantage. We had our wall reinforced and cables run inside so that we can hang ours, but we've been happy with it sitting on the media cabinet.

The first thing my DH did when we moved in this house was rush out and buy a big TV! When DHs agree and are enthusiastic about our decorating projects, there's always a TV (or swimming pool or car or boat....) involved! LOL

I think you and your DH will love your new room! Congrats!
Cameron

We battled the same issue too recently, and we have a small house that is open to the family room, kitchen, and dining room. We finally decided on getting a 46" TV and hid the wires and bought a smaller media center to store the equipment. Here are some pictures of our 46" LCD TV which is visiable at most angles in the house. (We first bought a 42" TV and it was just too small, the 46" is better, for us anyway.)

I love your furniture and whatever piece you choose will look great! Good luck~

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/558121405UcSHQC

cactuskatie,

What a great post! I have the same concerns you mentioned, except that our TV will go in the great room, which is not a media room only, and doesn't have the space constraints.

I completely agree with the points that have already been mentioned:

(1) If the room is a media room, then it would be fine to have the television in a piece of open furniture, versus an armoire. Hiding the television away is more of a concern in other rooms.

(2) The pieces of furniture you posted are beautiful.

(3) Given the size of the room, you may wish to purchase a bit smaller TV, so check the guidelines for viewing distance, etc. The same is true of the furniture, if it is too much in a small space. The armoire would likely be too large in the room and leave you with less versatility in arranging the furniture now and in the future.

*********************
The furniture pieces you posted are just beautiful. Can you please please share the source? We are looking for something like the armoire in #1 because the room we'll have the TV in is not for media purposes only. So we'd like to be able to tuck away the television in a piece of traditional looking furniture. However it has been a total challenge finding anything that #1 houses a large 50" television, and #2 is traditional looking like the rest of our house, versus modern/contemporary.

Jan