DH and I are working with the Ikea Besta Planner to design a media wall for our small, open concept living room.

The "media wall" is 14' long, the room depth is 11', 8' ceilings that vault to 12'. It is open on two sides (no wall opposite fireplace and no wall beyond the wall with window only).

I'm struggling with a good design concept for the Besta system. I'm hoping to repaint the room something dark and moody, something like Glidden French Gray; Besta would be Brown-black.

So here's a general room photo, after flooring but no furniture. The couch sits against the wall to the right of the fireplace and media wall is opposite (not pictured).

Here is an attempt at designing the media wall. We want a system that incorporates the vintage studio monitors (tan blocks) and the sub (smaller black block) plus we need storage for board games, books, toys, etc. I don't want it to go to the ceiling due to how the ceiling vaults.

dh wants the speakers closer to the corners, but the gist of the design was to create a sort of cubby for the sub and balance it with storage units on the other side; studio monitors with storage above. I also want to add some ambient lighting to the unit, but not modern more eclectic. Not sure where to place lighting.

Besta is not beautiful furniture; for us it's practical so I'm hoping to create an interesting design and add some places to display as well as provide hidden storage and a cohesive, unobtrusive place for all the media.

Any thoughts as to what I can do to improve the Besta design layout?