Just made some major additions to the home electronics front this holiday season. I had planned on putting this off till I had a plan for the overall house computer/AV "network" but when I never heard back from IQ Systems in Longview, which is the only automated home contractor I can find around here, I decided it was time to start figuring this out myself. First step was new TVs.
New Den TV
I picked up a 50" Sony 50" KDS-50A2000 rear projection for the den, replacing the 11 year old 46" rear projection monster. I also got a cheap TV stand (since the opening in the house was made for the larger rear projection we have had for a decade) to prop it up. I didn't think to measure that, and it turned out to be about six inches too tall, so Jamie's dad got a hacksaw out and we literally chopped six inches off it - although the way it went back together you really can't tell. We are still just running a coax satellite signal to it, plus component from the DVD, so we're not near taking advantage of the 1080p picture it can show, but that will come later. (It still doesn't compare to the terrific picture the InFocus X1 projector in the movie room generates - not really sure why). Getting the TV replaced became a priority during football season since the replaced blue gun on the old Sony was causing the Cowboys' uniforms to bleed blue, making games (especially on Fox' terrible signal) almost unwatchable. Of course the Cowboys then proceeded to lose every game since we got the new TV, but they still looked a lot better doing it.
The setup went pretty well, and I was able to get the Sony remote to replace the DVD/VCR remote, so we still only have two remotes (the DirecTV was already programmed to work with a Sony TV, and so didn't need any reprogramming, fortunately).
New Study TV
When we moved into the house I got a 17" 4:3 HDTV for the study, thinking that since we had a home theater I really didn't need much of a TV in the study. Boy was that wrong. The home theater works great for movies, but isn't so great for short-term watching (recorded shows from TV, DVD extras, etc.) because you need a large block of time and somebody else watching the kids, which I don't often have (plus getting everything working right takes a while). A 17" TV in the study was just so tiny from the couch where I watch it that I really couldn't see what was going on - and with the likelihood that we're getting some type of time-delay system for the study to allow more watching in there, the problem was just going to get worse. So I went ahead and got what I initially wanted, which was a 32" Sony flat panel, in this case the KDL-V32XBR2, which is the largest thing that will fit comfortably in the bookcase set aside for it. 
Again, the picture is pretty good, even with the satellite signal on coax, and DVDs on component. From the couch viewing position (where this picture was taken) it's plenty large enough, seems to fit a little better than the silver 17" (which is now moving to the breakfast nook wall when I can figure out the cabling). It's not in the correct audio location (which would be over the fireplace, where I do have connections for it) but it is close enough for the B-level watching I need to do here. In addition, much of the watching here is using stereo, not surround, and the relevant speaker is right next to it (my handy Boston Acoustics bookshelfs I have had I don't know how long - since my roommate in college Bryan Dickerson liked the brand). The A/V components below it are still a rat's nest of wires, and the real issue remains that the shelves are not deep enough (at 12") for the receiver, but I'm working on that (see below).
Study subwoofer
The study is intended to be the primary place for listening to music, and was wired for 6.1 sound. Since the front and surround speakers are in bookcases, I can fudge their location to accommodate an off-center TV if I want. The center and surround speakers are old Pioneers that are probably pretty poor, but the real problem has been that I don't have a subwoofer, which pretty much kills my incentive to watch movies (I sometimes like to really "listen" to movies as I putter around in the study). Why no sub? Because, as noted above, the shelf is only 12" deep - I couldn't find one that would fit. But when I was buying the TVs at Circuit City, I happened to mention the problem and the salesman showed me a narrow-profile sub by MTX Audio, the Lolita (where the hell do you get that name for a sub?) Forget the streamlined picture above - to fit this thing sits on its side with its belly facing the room, and a white subwoofer cable draped across it (which you can see in the picture). It looks like an early-stage Guild Navigator from David Lynch's Dune.
But I don't care - it works, it fits, and I can come up with a screen from speaker grill fabric from Radio Shack later. Grayson and I fired it up for the first time watching Star Trek: Nemesis two weeks ago, and just about bounced Jamie out of bed upstairs. The only problem with it is that it gets no signal when the signal is coming directly from the SACD player through the five inputs, so it doesn't work for high-quality audio but then again I really don't need that much sub for that kind of listening. And maybe I can figure out a workaround later.
Universal remote
But the biggest problem with everything is that each room has three to four remotes, and the Sony "universal" I got two years ago doesn't even know the commands for the Sony equipment, much less everything else. Again, the salesman suggested a Harmony remote, since they program over the Internet using a USB cable, so I tried that with a Harmony 670 remote. Although it isn't exactly one-step programming, I was able to set up the study to where everything works using this remote. I can click one button to watch TV and all the right things come on (and that handles my listening to Audiovisions on XM via DirecTV, whih is the one button I really needed) and another to watch a DVD (although I need to fix the problem it has with not switching the input to the DVD player for the audio). But I was also able to set it up to do the same thing in the home theater, although that still has a few more bugs. The important thing there is that with the backlighting on the remote, it really does replace the three I had to use up there in the dark).
Now here's the critical part. As I said, the study's remaining problem is that the receiver is too big for the shelf and really needs to be in the wiring closet behind it. And the home theater's problem is that only a contortionist could get an IR remote to where the projector and the AV components in the component cabinet could read it, especially stumbling around in a pitch-black room with half a dozen theater chairs in various stages of reclining. But Harmony has a RF extender that allows one remote (regrettably not the 670 - the model that's $250) to control equipment in closets across the house. I have to get the programming dead on to do that because the receiver settings will no longer be visible in the study, where they need to be more flexible, but that will fix both of my remaining problems, if I can do it.
Anyway, home electronics nirvana is now four steps closer, and I have a way to get two steps closer than that now. I still wish I had a professional that could do this for me (I still have to figure out room-sharing with the TiVo) but on my own I am slowly figuring this out. It's not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is making life out here in the woods noticeably more convenient and enjoyable.