Ditto. One room with 8’ ceilings in a house of 9’ ceilings is odd to me. But, I have and love 10’ ceilings so I might not be the best one to ask. :) I do think you can make a room feel cozy with the type of furnishings and window treatments.

I do think a dark color is nice for a media room. Consider the cocoa brown from the bottom of your art as a good neutral. Then pop the red, orange and white around as your accent colors with throws, pillows. Does your seating recline? Can the curio find another home? I'd like to see the sofa on the red wall and the chair angled in the corner of the current TV wall. A glare free TV on the wall opposite the window might be larger. Your shades look to be close to black outs, but if not, you might add inside mounted, skinny solar shades under them. Another option is to put the curio where the TV is, sofa at window, TV on red wall and chair angled where sofa is now.

It's a great space! Have you thought about finishing the ceiling? That would certainly make it feel cozier, though I know there are lots of logistical and economic reasons that might prevent this. I'd divide the space in two and make one end into a family room/home theatre space with a big tv and comfy sofas (maybe one could be a pullout as an extra guest accommodation spot?), and keep the other end as the kids' free play area and your gym area. I'd probably get some shelving/cabinets for toy storage so the kids can use this as their space to really make a mess with toys and then have somewhere to tidy them into. In my home I need to use the basement for misc other storage (eg camping gear, tools, out of season clothes, rarely used specialty kitchen items), so if this was me I'd set up a storage area as well. As your kids grow up, a basement is a great play area and teenager zone. A perfect place for your kids to have their friends over to watch movies, hang out, eat chips, practice for a group presentation, host a rock band rehearsal, plan a sleepover... all while staying out of your main space and minimizing mess in the "nicer" areas upstairs. We have an unfinished basement and plan to dig it down and fully refinish it by the time our kids hit their teens for exactly this reason (we've got time though, I'm currently pregnant with #1). My husband and i both lived out most of our teen social lives in our own and our friends' basements, and have fond memories.

Suggest creating an on line room planner and test configurations. Hopefully you are buying pieces and not trying to make your things work, as the pieces you choose will make a big difference (also suggest keeping them light). Take advantage of upper right corner for desk. On the wall to its left, take advantage of vertical space or if adding a TV/needing a surface, see below. Look for narrow pieces to allow more space at foot of bed. Bed under window and probably only one nightstand. Hard to tell what might fit on the left side of room; if possible, add a smaller scaled chairs vs recliner and a pouff that can double time as a side table/be stored under chair and used as an ottoman. May have play around with best location.