My home theater project... (Updated 3/17/06)

Since moving into my current house 14+ years ago, there has been this room that I always thought would make a good family theater...
The room has been a sitting room, a bedroom, a junk collection room, etc. Everything else but what I had envisioned it could be.

That ends now!


I want to turn this 12x20 blah excuse for a room into something to be enjoyed...
And for those who know my taste in decorating...
(yes I decorate, so what? you wanna fight about it?)
It should be something to behold when I'm done. I'm thinking gaudy, but tasteful.
Purple velvet curtains... gold braid rope tie backs... columns...
But I digress, I have work to do.
I am not purchasing the equipment first because I know I'll never get the room done if I have the toys already bought!
So...
I'm getting the room done first, then buying the toys. Speaking of the equipment.
Sacrifices must be made. Yes friends, in order to afford the equipment I want/need, I will be sacrificing one of my beloved motorcycles... a 2002 Yamaha Roadstar.
Because of this great sacrifice, you know I need to create a room befitting this.

Watch for updates here as I am documenting this for a home theater website as well...


PART I - getting started

Where to begin...
The picture above shows that I've done some work. Removed pictures, furniture and the carpet has been pulled up. I've decided to totally redo the woodwork, so all the trim has been removed.

Now that the room is ready, I need to think about how the lighting should be done. I am hoping some hidden rope light around the perimeter will do the trick for some light. So I moved the center of the room outlet towards the edge to be able to have the rope light switchable from the two existing switches in the room...



With this out of the way, the plan would be to create a center area of the ceiling to simulate a raised ceiling there. My solution is to use a heavy embossed wallpaper(paintable) and trim it out with moulding.

The paper...


The center section...


Of course, before putting the paper up, I had to sand the texture down and size the area. After applying the paper, I treated the rest of the ceiling in tinted primer and a dark blue final color.



Onto the walls now!

Part II - Like I said... it's time to do the walls

Mind you now, the colors for the walls, ceiling and carpet had already been chosen. But I see in my mind's eye a cool way to break up solid color walls. But first, no matter what the plan will be I need to get color on the walls. I started with a gallon of tinted primer and then 3 coats of final color... And the color is...



No, not that one...

This one...



Yep, purple. Although, this pic shows a bit brighter than when looking at it in person. Remember, the plan is to break this up by adding something.
Also, since the curtains were already selected in a shade or two darker than this I wanted there to be a distinction of color between the curtains and the walls.

You can also see that I hung the rope lighting.The rope lights will be hidden from view later. I'm hoping to only need a glow from them by installing a small light soffit of some kind. The details of which I have not quite worked out yet...

The next step then was to get started on breaking up that sea of purple, it seems as though after spending so much time surrounded by this color, I'm affraid that I may start wanting to don a raspberry beret instead of my ball cap.
Ok, panels it is...
Since the ceiling panel is roughly 4' x 8' I thought I'd keep the same proportion and shape on the wall panels. Three on the long wall, two on the short. The inset of the panel is a nice yellowish gold color paper that is in a crackle faux finish. If you are a wallpaper person this pattern has no repeat! sweet... here's a pic...


Now comes the fun part. I've decided on a nice chair rail profile to use in trimming out the 5 wall panels and the ceiling panel. The trim will be stained in a dark mohoganny color.

2 days of trim work...



The long wall...







The ceiling (a bit dark, but you get the idea...)








Next step is to deal with the perimeter rope lights. I want them to be able to wash light out across the ceiling, but just a glow. Also, I don't want them to throw light downwards. I will be installing low voltage can lights to aim light down, washing light on each of the trimmed panels on the walls as well as highlight a few extra areas like the back end of the room, etc.

I had thought I would install some nice crown moulding along the top, but set down an inch or so to allow the light to wash out, but then I thought all that nice crown moulding would then be hidden by the curtain tops after hanging, so it's off to the store for ideas...

In the meantime it's time to start on the front wall where the screen will hang. "But Greg, there's a window on that wall!" yeah, yeah... details, details...
I'm on it.
Thinking ahead a bit, I DO want to hide that window, but I DON'T want to seal it off lest I move and the next guy wants to use it. Since the trim is off, I think I'll stretch a dark fabric over the opening and trim out the window to match the room... I may find and old picture or painting and put it in the opening facing outwards so anyone looking into will see a nice scene.
The front wall itself will be dressed in a backdrop curtain fabric so the screen after being hung will seem to float in air. To the sides of the screen will be swagged curtains and above the screen along the length of the entire wall matching valances, possibly trimmed in some sort of gold decorative trim... not sure of that yet... yeah large gold tassles as tiebacks... that's the ticket!

1/9/06

Since 12/30 (last update) I've been working on a light soffit to hide the perimeter rope lighting.
My solution was to mount 1x3's around the room and then attach trim to the face of the 1x3's.
The trim work is wider than the 1x3 wood creating a lip of sorts to be able to tuck the rope light string behind. Before hanging the 1x3's I added chrome reflective tape to the face of the wood to help reflect some of the light out across the ceiling better; since the dark paint scheme would basically swallow up some of the available light being thrown out.

This was also stained in the same color as the other trims.


Hmm... I've seen a similar pattern somewhere else...
It's very close to part of the ceiling paper pattern.
Good match I'd say...
Granted, it is a bit darker in color than in the pic shown here; and this is only the first coat...
A little steel wool and a second coat for all trim is do be done.

The next step then was to trim out the window (which will be hidden), the two doorways (room entry and bathroom) and the sliding glass doorway leading to the back patio.
These openings were trimmed in a fluted casing and I added corner blocks.

Again, all trim was stained in the dark mahogany color.

Even though the window located on the front wall would be hidden behind the curtains and the projection screen, I did trim the window out and stretched a fabric over the opening to give those who wish to try and look in for whatever reason, something nice to look at.

I then hung the burgandy velvet backdrop curtains across the entire wall. This color should match well with the carpet that is to be installed sometime this week (fingers crossed).

I wanted to get an idea of how the front wall would look with the curtains I selected, so I went ahead and installed the rods for the purple velvet curtains on either side of where the screen will hang and for the valances that will hang along the top just below the soffit and across the entire wall.
Of course, I'll need to pull these back down when the carpet guys show up.
Normally, I would have installed the carpet myself, but I got a discount on the install fee... so, I'm letting someone else do it.

Here's an "in process" of the curtain hanging so you get an idea...
The purple curtain panel will be tied back by some sort of tassle.
And keep in mind, another panel will be hung forming a 90deg corner with both being tied back at the same point... repeat process for the left side of the screen.


I think you get the idea here. The backdrop shows more of a red color, but rest assured it's actually a burgandy color. This velvet fabric is a very close color match to the carpet, which is also burgandy with bits of dark blue and purple speckles...
Also, keep in mind while this does look like it's going to be a mass of fabric, the screen itself at
45"x80" will dominate this area. Yes folks, at 45"x80" this will equate to almost 96" diagonal viewing area... almost 8'!

I did download the pdf file for the screen's mounting instructions, and I may need to come up with a tricky solution to mounting the screen on this wall because of the window.

The next steps (in no particular order):
1. install the can lighting around the room
2. paint the ceiling insert panel
3. carpet install (now scheduled for 1/12)
4. hang the rods and the curtains for the balance of the room

Since the carpet now has been scheduled for 1/12 and it's now 1/10, I'd better "sh*t or get off the pot" so as to have all the messy work, staining and painting, completed by then lest I drip or spill on the new carpet... yikes!
The only exception will be the baseboard which I will install after carpet.

1/12/06...

Ok, the carpet guys were here today... looks fabulous!
I'll put a pic in here later...
I guess it's going to be a busy weekend, unless of course it's nice out, then I'm going riding!

1/25/06

Ok, I've taken a few days off since the last update (1/12). But I did manage to order the low voltage accessory lighting and I received my parts last Friday (1/20).
A little background...
When I say low voltage I mean they are powered by a transformer. Exactly like your outdoor garden lighting. In fact, other than cutting a 4" hole in your ceiling and fishing wire, the fixtures themselves attach to the wire exactly like you do for outdoor garden fixtures. Lay the cable over the 2 prongs, screw the cap down forcing the prongs into the wire making contact.
Viola!
You've got a very simple solution to adding lighting to a room.

Here's a pic to give you an idea:






















I chose to purchase the 200W transformer and to install 7 lights total; 1ea for each of the wall panels and 2 in the back of the room. Simple math, 5 of the lights are using 20W bulbs and the 2 in the back of the room are 35W each...
5 x 20 = 100 + 2 x 35 = 70... total 170W, well under the 200W of the transformer. I installed a dimmer unit for the transformer and located it next to the switch for the rope lights at the entry of the room.
In all, I think I spent a total of 4-1/2 to 5 hours installing these lights. I'm impressed with the results.
Here is the website for these units: lightspeedlighting.com


Earlier this week, I buckled down and finalized my video equipment choices. Although, I had pretty much decided long ago which projector I was using by reading reviews and such. But one of the local Theater Stores had one installed in a display room, that just cemented that choice.
But, I was having difficulty deciding on the screen type. I primarily looked at Da-Lite but with so many choices of screen material type, size and frame selections it was a bit daunting. Sometimes one can have too many choices... I did finally decide on one and placed my order.
Some smart internet shopping, and for what the local store wanted for the projector (MSRP exactly) I was able to purchase the projector, screen and ceiling mount for the projector for the same cost. Amazing...

Thanks to projectorcentral.com, LightSpeed, Getaprojector.com and Da-Lite for helping me narrow my choices and their great customer service. This means a great deal to me considering my "day job" as an electronic components buyer has me dealing with a myriad of sales reps/Vendors/Mfgrs on a daily basis... how refreshing it is to deal with good people who know what customer service stands for!
Believe me, I get more than my share of the opposite side of that coin, so I know what I'm talking about...

On to the Audio...
I have the receiver selected, the search continues for speakers.

Update 2/03/06

A lot has happened since my last update.
The screen was received and hung on the wall, I went shopping for the audio equipment and it's all in now. Though I haven't run the wiring yet. I'm just waiting the arrival of the projector now and all the A/V equipment will be done.

In addition, we decided and purchased the seating last weekend and those were picked up, unpacked and assembled.

Here's a couple of pics...
























After some tinkering, I think I've settled on this arrangement for now...




















Since the seating has higher backs than I had originally planned, I will probably construct a "deck" for the back row, so those people can see the screen a bit easier.
All six seats are leather recliners in a taupe color. I hung a vertical blind over the sliding glass door in the same color and the slats also have a leatherlike faux finish... cool.

As you can see the valances for above the screen haven't all come in yet and I still need to hang the balance of the curtains as well, but it's coming along...

I got the speakers all wired, and the cool thing was that the receiver has a test program in which you place a microphone at the optimum listening area and it checks everything for you.
Wiring, phase, speaker distance set up... very cool!

Update 2/16/06

Getting closer to getting done!
I have the projector hung and tweaked in. Picked up a High Definition cable box and I've been watching some TV in my theater room. The Olympics look very cool on an 8' screen and in HD...

I took this pic this morning with the lights on, you can still get a great picture even with this much ambient light.




This shot is of a DVD, but rest assured, the quality is very much the same watching programs in HD. In fact, one of my fave shows is Nova on PBS Tuesday nights. I was totally enthralled in the show about insects trapped in amber... aka Jurassic Park.

I've watched bits and pieces of my favorite scenes in various DVD's. I'm looking forward to actually sitting down in front of the screen and watching movies for, oh say, a whole weekend!

I still need to finish hanging the curtains and painting the center ceiling medallion. Also adding bits and pieces here and there to finish the room off...

2/26/06

Well, I managed to get the partial curtain panels made as well as all the toppers (valances). After hanging and adjusting them I started with making the tie backs...

Here are some pics...








Ok, now I'm going to do some watching now...

Update 3/10/06

For those techies out there, or just for the curious...
Here is a listing of the equipment I have used:

Projector = Sony VPL-H51A
Screen = Dalite 92" diag. 16:9
Receiver = Yamaha HTR-5990
HD Cable Box = From the local cable company, not sure the model...
DVD = LG model LDA-511
CD Player = Sony 200 disc changer
Speakers = Fronts: Klipsch Synergy III model F-3
Center: Hlipsch Synergy III model C-2
Presence: Klipsch Synergy III model S-2
Rear Surrounds: Panasonics 100W for now...
Subwoofer: Klipsch SUB-12, 12" 650W

I'm not done buying stuff yet, but if you need details on what approx. I've spent, then check in the "Links" section on the main page for a link to my story on Projectorcentral.com...

3/17/06

Improvements are coming slower these days, but I wanted to put some recent pics here. Last weekend Lori and I found these pieces of pottery and filled them with arrangements. There's one one each side of the screen on top of the floor speakers...




























Stepping back just a bit...




























The next project this weekend will be to raise the rear seating up a bit. I may also decide to push back the front row a bit. This may render the reclining functionality of the rear seats unusable, but I think it may be best so the persons in the front row are not right on top of the screen.

To be continued...