Remember the living room, the dining room, the den, and yes, the home theater? Those rooms all seemed to have a specific purpose. The trend in home design has gotten away from that. No, we're not saying houses don't have those rooms anymore. But the trend toward more casual lifestyles has also led to a tendency to more open concept homes, where kitchens may well be the ultimate multi-purpose room, and other rooms pull double or triple duty as well.

In our media-filled world, another trend is to have audio and video entertainment practically everywhere in the home. Your office computer or laptop handily doubles as an entertainment device. Whole home audio setups can put music in every room, and outdoors too. Flat-panel TVs and wireless connections have made it so that you can have one on a wall anywhere - including the kitchen.  So we can have our content anywhere and everywhere, but we may be doing more than listening or watching in all of those places - we may be multitasking; cooking, doing homework, returning email and messages, and connecting to our work remotely.

There was a time when things like watching TV or listening to music, were more focused affairs. And a trend is afoot to return to more concentrated enjoyment of content, especially with music. But our homes with their open design and multipurpose rooms tend to limit that. The answer many are turning to is the listening room.

Just what is a listening room? It can be any room in your home where you can comfortably sit - without distraction - and listen to your favorite music. Scientific studies abound about the benefits of music, but you probably don't need the science to know how good music can make you feel - especially when you are relaxed and focused on listening.

If you think that a listening room sounds like an idea whose time has come in your Eden Prairie home - and you want to know more, just read on. We're going to tell you how to transform your music experience with a listening room and great speakers from Bowers and Wilkins (B&W).