I finished ~ 1,000 sqft of my basement about 2 years ago, and took a fair amount of information and inspiration from this site. I have a home theater area, a pool table, kids play area (including cabin under the stairs) and office/exercise room. I recently purchased a row of 3 home theater chairs from Serge's powerbuy, which got me motivated to build a riser and bar top for added seating in my home theater section. I'll post the progress to date, hopefully someone can make use of the information.

The riser is 8' x 5', constructed with 2x6 - 12" OC, topped with 3/4" plywood, glued and screwed. I stuffed the cavities with 6" of Ultratouch insulation.

Here is the frame.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_1990.jpg

Now stuffed with insulation.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_1991.jpg

Plywood covering - lot's'o'glue.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_1997.jpg

Frame for bar top, finished height will be ~ 42".
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2003.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2001.jpg

I used 1/2 birch plywood to finish the bar top and riser.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2004.jpg

This is a shot with 1 coat of stain.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2009.jpg

I put the slate tiles down today. I laid all of the full tiles, going to either rent a tile cutter, or take the tiles in to the big orange for the $1 / cut service.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2010.jpg

This shot is taken from half way up the stairs.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2014.jpg

The build took me about 3 solid days construction. I figure I have about another 1.5 days left for laying the cut tiles and trimming everything out. I'm going to install a rope light around the underside of the bar top. I have a black leather couch for the riser, which you can see in the picture above. I considered getting a second row of 3 ht chairs, but my room narrows to 12' at the stairs (near the riser) so it would not have fit. The 8' riser is roomy enough for the couch and a small end-table. I'm happy with the progress so far, and welcome your comments. Anyone have a good source for 30" bar stools? Cheers!

That is EXACTLY what I'm in the middle of.. EXACTLY. However , I'm at the stage of how to finish the tile.
Will you be using a tile to bullnose the end or are you thinking of a wooden trim?

Keep the pics coming.
Looks great.

I used the 1/2" birch plywood on the riser and left a 3/8" gap between the plywood and the bottom of the slate. I also left a 3/8" reveal with the slate all around the riser (the slate overhangs the riser base by 3/8" on all 3 sides). I was considering cutting ~ 2" strips of slate for a bullnose, but I think it has a nice finished look as it is. Once I grout, I can decide whether or not to add the 2" bullnose. For the bar top, I cut the top 1 1/2" smaller than my finished top (the slate is 15 3/4" x 15 3/4" so my top is 14 1/4" wide. This leaves me with a 3/4" reveal all the way around, and I'll cut 2" strips from the slate for a bullnose to fill in this gap.

I can take some close up pictures once I finish tiling and grouting if you're interested.

I can take some close up pictures once I finish tiling and grouting if you're interested.
definitely post some finished pics. my bar is the last thing to do in my basement and i'd like to see how yours came out with the tile meeting the wood trim.

I put the couch on the riser yesterday to accommodate the New Year's Day sliding party crowd we had at the house. We watched the outdoor NHL game in the afternoon, and the back-row had a perfect view. With my chairs in the first recline position (ie foot rest up, but no additional recline), the back row had a clear view above. Even in the full upright position, the back row can comfortably see between the front chairs, as there is a fairly large gap between front seat backrests. I was not 100% sure that the 7" riser height would suffice, but it seems perfect. The kids prefer the back row, with 5 or 6 pilled onto the couch while we watched Cars and Monsters Inc.

Below are a few shots of the almost completed projected, I still have to mount the rope light around the rise. The room feels much more like a HT room now that I have the Coaster seats and a second row. I had a large sectional prior to purchasing the Coasters and I've never been happy with it.
The haze seen on the tile in the photos has been buffed out.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2019.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2015.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2020.jpg

Here's a close up of the bullnose detail. I cut 2" strips from the 16x16 slate and glued them to the 2 layers of 3/4" plywood.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2022.jpg

This one is a close up of the riser edge. I overhung the slate by 3/4", this leaves me enough room to tuck the 3/8" rope light.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2021.jpg

The final couple of shots are with the couch on the riser, the difference between the black leather between the couch and the HT chair is not as apparent as in the pictures.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2025.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2023.jpg

I am doing something similiar with a bar separating 2 rooms. I don't know if I'm going to do a riser yet, though.
My bar is 42 inches high, and my seats are 33 inches high.

Looks great.

Bill

If you want to dress the cut edges of tiles, you can use clear polyurethane on the edge and most of the time, it will turn it the color of the face of the tile, assuming it is a colored material all the way through and not ceramic.

The seating you have are they the studio collection, are they soft leather ans comfortable??

Thanks for the tip. The pictures above were before I sealed the tile, and so lighter than the final product. I had never heard of using poly on the tile edges, and once I sealed them (which darkened the edges) I put a coat of polyurethane, and it worked very well. The flash on the pictures below make the edges seem lighter than they are, thanks again for the tip... looks great.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2054.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/el_giovato/100_2055.jpg

Yes, they are the Studio Series. They are comfortable, and I'd rate them as medium grade leather, not high-end. The seats are much more comfortable than my previous sectional, but a little more firm than I'd have hoped for. It takes a bit of shifting around, but once you find the sweet spot, it's a comfy place to spend a few hours watching movies or sporting events.