Arrrgh! Can't decide between HTPC and BD Mega-Changer

I am going crazy trying to decide what to do with my video options for my unfinished basement / home theater.

Here's the deal .... I am sick and tired of my kids yanking out the DVDs, wiping their sticky hands on them, and chucking the DVD cases all over the room, etc. etc.... You know the story. I just want to get the DVDs (and cases) out of the way completely so they won't ruin them and so the theater room isn't a total mess all the time (I know, probably asking too much).

The solutions I have come up with are:
1. Sticking a HTPC / Media Server of some sort in the adjacent mechanical room to store everything and figuring out a way to "pull it up" in theater room

2. Buy a Blu-Ray Changer and placing that in the built-in component cabinet in the theater room and pulling up the video that way to the HDTV or through the projector. The only Blu-Ray changers I have found that would hold lots of discs is the Sony BDP-CX7000ES or the Sony BDP-CX960 (Sorry, I'm new to AVS and can't post URLs yet to make quick views of those products)

3. Sell my kids and then I can just use a single disc DVD player without the fuss and mess.

Any suggestions and input on those options would be appreciated or any options I haven't thought of. Thank you.

Thank you all for the input on my OP. After reading your responses, I may not have to sell my kids to solve the problem.

I'll admit, I don't know a lot about the tech side of all this but am willing to spend the time I need to to learn all about it as best I can. I am comfortable with PCs but am still trying to figure out all of the abilities, etc. of HTPC.

I have never built a computer before, but my last computer (it was "only" 8 years old before upgrading) was built by a friend and was "loaded" (at least at the time it was). I have a good friend now who can help me build something now if I go the HTPC route from scratch. He is a Linux guy.

I do like the idea of HTPC, but still am not completely sure of everything they can do and if they can do what I am scheming up in my mind for my setup. I hope I can convey what I want to do...

Here is what I am hoping to do:
Unfinished basement right now and I have completed the main wiring (I did most of that by myself for the first time after being taught what to do by a contractor friend) and am ready to pull the low voltage.

I have a dedicated room for Home Theater use where I will have a 50" inch plasma wall-mounted and 5.1 surround. I am planning on prewiring for a projector and also a motorized screen that would drop in front of the plasma if I ever wanted to add that to use for movies instead of the TV. My current design plan calls for conduit dropping into built in cabinetry on the sides of the front of the room for the components. I like that idea but I would really be happy if I can figure out how to get all of the components out of the Theater Room and into the mechanical room across the hallway from the HT room so the front wall only houses the TV / Screen / Speakers. I want to be able to "control the components" and "pull up the movies" remotely from the mechanical room if possible.

Whether I can hide the components or not, I am placing my wireless router and wired ethernet hub in the mechanical room, and plan on adding a multi-zone controller and amplifier for distributed audio through a few zones in the basement and a few upstairs. This is also where I have planned on placing the HTPC if I go that route.

The other thing I am planning on doing is using my PC (which is upstairs in the main living room) to control my iTunes and possibly stream some Netflix movies to the HT room. It would be nice to also set things up to have a PVR (I can't wait to finish this basement and get rid of the stupid VCR!)

Whew. Hopefully that didn't confuse everyone too much or bore you to death. That being said .....

1. Is HTPC still the best choice for my needs?

2. What exactly are all options that a HTPC can do?

3. Can I remotely control the components and HTPC from the mechanical room to the HT and remotely pull up my ripped DVDs??

Thanks for your responses ..... remember, keep your explanations simple as I am a newbie to all this stuff (but willing to learn)..... sorry for getting slightly off topic.

Skins:

Thank you for the additional information and thread recommendations to complete my project. I will head over there and then let everyone know how it turns out and when I am ready to do the HTPC as I will likely need some further advice and help at that time.