If you're a beginner maybe check out your box stores & start w/ some common cheapies first before you spend time & money on mail order. Sorry, I see you said 'again' so opps - never mind.

I LOVE MY HIDDEN VISION TV MOUNT!! It was a Christmas gift in 2011. Watching tv in bed couldn't be more comfortable. I wear eye glasses with progressive lens. It use to be very hard to watch tv in bed,but with the Hidden Vision TV Mount I can lay on my back and the tv is in a perfect location. HDTV is intense!! Very fun to watch a powerful action movie in the dark! I'm a photographer, so being able to hide the tv and use one of my landscape images is a HUGE PLUS! Never enough room for beautiful photography.

thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. oaktown and writersblock, I love the idea of a projector! I hadn't even though about that. We're calling an AV person to see if they can help us with that. louisana, you're correct, the wall between the open kitchen/family/dining does not fully separate the living room, so there will be sound transfer. Actually, one of the bedrooms does not have a wall going to the ceiling so there is a lot of noise carrying around the space. Here's how the space is laid out (pre-remodel): ineffable, I'm a TV listener too. We have Sonos speakers we've installed in the house and I could be perfectly happy just listening to Pandora and watching Downton Abbey and SNL on my iPad, but my husband would be so lost without a TV of his own. tom_nwnj, thanks for the recs -- I will check them out. Good luck with the remodel! robotropolis, thanks! I like the idea of putting all the comfy seating in the formal living room and just making the den/space next to the kitchen just a "lounge" area -- for drinking wine, playing games, etc. I think it would significantly enhance our use of the house as we don't currently use the living room. That room is bathed in light most of the day and has the best views of any room in the house -- it seems like a waste not to utilize it. linelle, we were just visiting friends recently and they had a TV (LARGE ones!) in every room, including several of the bathrooms. The owners both work in the entertainment industry, but it was slightly overkill. karenseb, thanks for the nice words. In our upcoming kitchen renovation, we plan on replacing the double ovens with a pantry as we have no pantry and limited food storage space. A tv at the end of the bar is still definitely an option if we can recess it -- we're going to have an AV person come out to measure. If all else fails a TV in the master bedroom is an option, but I'm not generally a fan of TVs in bedrooms.

It is probably a man-made product like vinyl or laminate (by the consistent size of the planks and the repeat installation pattern). The product would mimic European Oak with a white wash finish. Good luck. Your area should have tremendous amount of options because of the high-demand for this look in the fashionable places like NY and LA.