Last year it was mounting flat screen's above fireplaces, this year the trend in media room design looks to be installing TVs into small nooks in the wall. The above, found on Apartment Therapy, is the second instance in the last week we've found of people building walls so as to accommodate televisions.
I personally like it, but it leads to a few questions regarding upgrading. If you build a nook for a specific size and then down the line decide you want to go larger, what do you do? Do you rebuild the wall to accommodate the new size? Or do you scrap the whole nook idea all together?
Is the nook design worth the commitment?
(Image: Evan Koester)

Ercol Bar Stool
Well, mine's still above the fireplace, and I didn't put it there because of style. It's just convenient, and frankly, I have no idea where else it could go. Home's too small for big media furniture.
That said, I'd love to cut into the wall and build it in. Looks sharp.
I can't believe this trend is coming back. It is a resale nightmare as far as I'm concerned. It's one thing to cut a hole in your wall to fit a deep CRT TV in order to save space and give a svelte look, but LCT TVs are only a couple inches deep. No need to put a hole in the wall just for that.
we had a set of built-ins with adjustable shelves right next to our fireplace so we have our flatscreen tucked back in there on an articulating mount. keeps the monster from taking over the room.
@Scoot: most of our clients request niches if they want their TV mounted on an articulating mount, which makes the TV protrude further from the wall, especially if it's a 54" TV (big TV = huge mount).