Decorating Predicaments, Advice Please?

I have been working my tail bone off with our entertainment layer. I like to think it's a layer like batman's layer. We have these wonderful inspirations {see this post}. I have 2 main things that drive  me batty and then 1 thing I  need serious advice on.
Batty Things:
I have 2 major things I want to do in our basement, paint and get some heavy curtains. These are two things Jared is completely down for. He hates curtains, does anyone else have a husband like that? We have blinds, but I want some really dramatic curtains to block out the light, we actually have tons of light in our basement. Plus I think that they help to make walls look, well  not so plain. Especially if you can find ones to go with your decorating theme, ya know. I want something like this, isn't that so cute?

The painting isn't a huge deal, but right now we have the same paint scheme throughout our entire house. I like it, but I thought for the basement I wanted a dark soothing gray or even a navy blue. I am still trying to see if that would look good. In my head it looks awesome, but once again Jared isn't too hip on this idea. 
How do you get around different decorating styles?
Lastly I  need some major advice our breaker box is out in the entertainment layer, like plain as day and HUGE! It's 15"x27". I hate it so much. I need ideas on what to do to cover it. I thought about the canvas with hinges over it, so it's hidden. but that large of a canvas is SO expensive!
[I linked the photo from the original blog there's a tutorial there]

What do I do?!