Carol-very good use of space for different activities. We aren't finishing our basement right away but I am bookmarking his thread for later. Our 'family room' down there is 17x33 I think. Definitely room for multi-purposing. IKEA hack - ugh no. I do not have near the time necessary to plan and carry out that undertaking. :(. We ended up buying 2 cabinets vanity height and depth for $1,000 bucks. The rest we are winging. There have been strong disagreements about the built ins so we will see what we end up with. They will be more basic than my inspiration for sure. At this point I am very thankful for my arches. If that is what I end up with then I am happy. Have you seen Dutty's kitchen IKEA hack? Simply amazing! Your plan looks great! LL is an awesome visualizer. :)

Hi teeda. A couple of years ago we got a projector for our basement and we love it!! We got it on woot.com and they come up for sale quite often there if you check daily. (They sell one item a day) We didn't even put up a screen because the movies look great on our wall, which is painted a soft yellow. It's by INFOCUS and was only about $500 and the picture goes from the floor to the ceiling, and about ten feet wide - it's great! I also got an inexpensive sound system and had it wired before they installed the drywall, so it's got fantastic surround sound. I don't know why more people don't do this - it is a fraction of the price of a TV and it is sooo much fun. We also sometimes run cables from our TV to the projector and watch sporting events - super bowl, final 4, etc. They often have very expensive projectors on woot but ours, the INFOCUS Screenplay 4800 has a wonderful picture and I don't think I would ever go for a more expensive one because this one works so well. I guarantee you will love having a projector - especially with little natural light it would work well for you. We also got a large sectional, put the projector, dvd player and sound system on a bookshelf behind the sectional, with the projector on the highest part of the bookshelf. Good luck! BTW you can also get INFOCUS projectors at Radio Shack I think but woot has great prices when they offer them.

Golly-by-gosh! You sure brought up quite a comparison for me to comment on! Yes, what the salesman told you was true, but a little bit more 10 years ago... LCD displays have improved dramatically. The viewing angle is hardly applicable since who is going to watch a television 160 degrees from center? Yes, blacks are better, but it's a relative contrast ratio when actually viewing video. Many people in broadcast and video editing prefer older CRT displays because of their ability to better display blacks and help them match up video scenes and get better edits. But NO televisions produce black - just turn the TV off... is the screen really black? No, it's only the perceived black to white ratio. While Sony has had a history of very well designed and built products for years, I believe, they have had more than their share of problems in recent years. Panasonic has a very good reputation in design and engineering over the years, and I personally now tend to have a little more faith in them. So, the difference here is now that the Panasonic plasmas will use up to three times the electrical power (roughly 450 watts versus around 150 watts for a 55 inch), weigh about twice as much (could be a concern if wall mounting), and plasmas have problems with reflections and sometimes remote controls (due to them generating IR light energy). But if those were my ONLY two choices, I'd have to go with the Panasonic - but neither would really be one of my first choices. Look at other major brands such as Sharp, Toshiba, and Vizio. Also compare remote control functions and feel, on-screen menu intuitiveness, and sound quality.

Thanks for the feedback everyone; you make good points. We will also have a TV down in our rec room in basement which is great for our two teenage sons and our 12 year old too (not as easy to supervise as you have lebwhite). We will put their X-box downstairs as well. The TV on the main level will be our second TV. Our daughter just turned 6, so we don't want her watching what the boys do most of the time (although she does get exposed to big boy TV). My husband and I very rarely watch TV (I am too addicted to GW for that LOL) and he is always working. We don't even have cable, and just rent movies on the occasion. I would say the four kids do screen time in one form or another more than I care to admit. As porkandham suggested, I will be sorry not to have the fireplace in the same room as the TV, but we are to have radiant heat, so it will be cozy everywhere! The fireplace will be used, but is also wanted for design reasons. Also, I agree that it would be nice to watch TV in the large great room, but something has to give (i.e. find a new spot) as I am not finding an easy solution to squeezing the fireplace, TV, display shelves and window seat all into the great room. Suero, thanks for the sample furniture layout that would work if we use the playroom as a TV away room. When you suggested two chairs perpendicular to the couch, were you thinking having those chairs on the side of the big window, or nearer to the entrance of the room? If we do put the TV in this smaller room, would you recommend french doors and hall door to keep the TV sound from traveling throughout house. I know the author of Not so Big House is keen on this kind of closed in away room, visable but not heard from main room especially the kitchen (see Fun2Bhere your idea is in line with a famous architect you are not the only one who sees the benefits of a separate TV room). Also I really wonder what to do about the proposed railing between the foyer and TV away room. Should we keep it as a half wall, even though the railing will make the foyer seem larger?