Just talking to talk. I'll never be as detailed as certain other members whose home theaters I'll never come close to.

My dad met with a designer, and they're talking about finishing the whole basement at one go. My dad's going to get the loan to pay for it, and my rent will basically be paying off the loan for the next three years. This will mean a major increase in my rent, at least for those three years, but if it gets me the living space I want, and soon, I'll bite the bullet. But if my rent is going up, I want to fit as much of what I want done into this remodel as possible.

Sooo... since it's not going to be a gradual thing, and I need to map out what I want done with haste, I'm simply trying to pool some of the ideas I've come across for the designer/construction company to look over, and see what can be achieved.

The basement's ceiling is one problem. Since the ground floor will be a separate rental space (after my parents eventually move out), doing nothing for sound isolation probably isn't a great idea. My dad is set on suspended ceiling throughout the basement for the ease of getting to wiring, which I can also see the benefit of, as often as I may want to change gear and cabling for my home theater. However, the basement is already short, and this makes it even shorter, around 79" high with the suspended ceiling in place. It would probably have to be even lower if thicker-than-standard ceiling tiles were used. Is anyone familiar with sound isolation options for suspended ceilings? Since the upstairs is going to go through an overhaul at some point, too, do you think it would be easier to try for soundproofing from above, perhaps with lots of this?: Sound Barriers. We would still want to caulk everything we could from below, right?

For sound treatment, not isolation, do you think bass traps are worth attempting when you see that concrete ledge that runs along the front and right walls of the home theater area? The front two corners could be done, and some material could definitely be stuffed into the right rear corner, but the kitchen area in the rear left obviously wouldn't allow for one. If you still think it would be worthwhile, then what kind of bass traps would you go for? Something premade, like MegaTraps by RealTraps? Or should I have them make me something here? I'm not sure how much further I'd want to go with sound treatment.

They may be designing the media closet, but I'll definitely provide input based on Murph's suggestions.

I'm also hoping to make the custom shelving along the ledge (for music, movies, books) part of the remodel. I just think I'd benefit from having as much as I can made part of the initial design, since they'll probably have a better idea of how to tie it all together visually better than I would by trying to tack it on later. Oh, and the support beam will kind of be out in the middle a bit since the wall that it's close to now is moving further to the left, which I mentioned in the post with the pics.

Final dimensions for the basic rectangle (kitchen area alters that corner) will be very close to 18' by 28.5'. As I said, ceiling height will be 79". From ceiling to top of the concrete ledge (after being topped with something) is around 28".

My dad has been taking my power needs seriously. He installed 20 amp spec grade receptacles all the way around. I may end up with a 30 amp receptacle in the media closet if I get the UPS I want.

As I said, a lot of this is simply me rambling, but of course I welcome any feedback you may have!