I've been spending the better part of the last year looking at everyone else's amazing theaters on here, so now that I've finally (mostly) completed my first one, I thought I'd share it.

Moved into our new home about a month and a half ago and having a potential theater room was a must. However, we weren't in the price range to get something fairly new with a basement so I had to turn my attention to lofts and bonus rooms. Ended up settling on this house which has a great mostly closed off 21'x16' 2nd floor extra family room if you will. Things really worked out perfectly for an already constructed room to allow me to make a decent theater without wires all over the place and give it a look like it was built this way in the first place.

Updated equipment list (pics need updated for speakers):

Equipment

Mitsubishi HC1500 Projector
100" Elite EZFrame Cinewhite Screen
2 Polk Monitor 60 fronts and CS2 center
4 Polk M3 II's surrounds
Premier Acoustic PA-120 12" Sub
JVC RX-412B HDMI receiver
40Gb PS3
Toshiba A3 HD-DVD
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii


Grand Total = ~$4000 (that includes everything - custom bar, stools, recessed lighting, wiring, mount, etc). Not too bad considering the end result. Speaking of which, here's some pics. Sorry in advance if the pics are a little blurry, the wife's camera isn't so great.


Here's the only "before" shot I have. Just a plain jane empty white room.
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/theater_before.jpg

AFTER:

Coming up the stairs (theater on left)
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2821.jpg

Looking into room from doorway opening
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2849.jpg

Shots from each corner (flash is on)
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2851.jpg

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2852.jpg

From front corner
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2847.jpg

Screen area
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2824.jpg

PJ
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2837.jpg

Audio Pier and Equipment
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2836.jpg

DVD, Blu-Ray, HDDVD collection and super cool Buckeyes LED frame (oh no, here come the haters) :D
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2859.jpg

Here's a few pics of the bar w/o flash to get a better idea of what it looks like in person

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2853.jpg



http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2855.jpg



http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/mrfranz15/CIMG2834.jpg

very very nice. sent you a PM as well....

Looks like a nice room!

Go Green! :cool:

No hater here... GO BUCKS! Did you get that sign from Lowes? I see they have them. I've been debating getting one, but haven't felt compelled to give lowes anymore money.

Great theater room! I love the bar area - the faux granite looks really nice.

I like the colors you went with also. The red accent wall goes great with the warm browns in the room.

Well done! Chalk up another comfotable, cozy, budget friendly home theater in here.

that's a nice setup there. I got that PJ and it's hard to beat for the $. I like the bar behind the couches too. That's a good way to do it

i love it!

Very nice. I like the simplicity.

i like it too. a lot.
simple. clean. nice job!

Well... I'm a Wisconsin student, so hate hate hate...


But your room is BEAUTIFUL! I also have the HC1500, and LOVE it, looks like you are as well!

Enjoy that UW/OSU night football game in there with a few buds (both friends and beverages), just got my tickets!

Awesome job. Doesn't look over complicated nor overly expensive.
Congrats.

Like the room very much..............................................
the sign..... well........not so much.:D

Good job!

He i was wondering where you got the led light? is it an ebay neon special? you know the ones from singapore and a bunch of other asian countries


Oh yeah thats a nice screen you have there. I have the national championship from last year on dvd if you havent seen it or would like to live it again let me know!! hahaha:D

Thanks to eeryone for all the kind words on the room. Definitely enjoying it (to the point of obsession).

Didn't figure the Buckeye stuff would be a huge hit, but to those who asked it is from Lowe's and they have several different teams. It is a bit pricey but the wife-to-be bought it as a surprise so I couldn't say no. :)

Oh yeah thats a nice screen you have there. I have the national championship from last year on dvd if you havent seen it or would like to live it again let me know!! hahaha:D


No thanks. I'll pull out my 2002 National Championship DVD when I'm depressed. It's more to my liking, and I even found my way on to TV that night while sitting in the front row! :D

Unfortunately I think I'll be getting to relive the feeling of last year's championship game here in 2 nights when the Trojans put a beatdown on my Beanie-less Buckeyes. :(

Well... I'm a Wisconsin student, so hate hate hate...


But your room is BEAUTIFUL! I also have the HC1500, and LOVE it, looks like you are as well!

Enjoy that UW/OSU night football game in there with a few buds (both friends and beverages), just got my tickets!

Ah yes, actually already have a little get together lined up for that one. Looking forward to it! Should be another tough game...that'd be something if both UW and OSU can go out to the west coast and get W's this weekend. Game would be huge then.

Haven't posted in here in forever. Need to put up some updated pics for my new Monitor 60 towers, PA-120 sub. Put up a dartboard in the back bar area. Otherwise, everything else looks pretty much the same. Nothing too exciting.

I've still kept the back and far side walls blank with the mindset of putting a few acoustic panels, but never got around to it. That's probably the next thing on the list. Anybody got any good recommendations for acoustic panels? aesthetics is probably as important as performance in this situation, and of course, keeping with the theme they must be cost effective. :D

Hey, I really like the colors you have chosen for your room. Can you tell me:


What paint you used (color names & company)
What type of wood is the bar and stools made out of (stain?)
Is that granite or solid surface on the bar?


Anything else having to do with the appearance. I think I am going to be doing some sort of bar behind the row of seats like you did and I really dig the appearance of yours.

Thanks!

Was the bar "purchased" or built??? I don't trust my carpentry skills to build one, but would love to purchase an already assembled bar such as that.

Beta.....

I'd like to know where you got the stools and what you paid for them. I think they would look great in my room. Thanks,

bar looks sweet!

I'd like to know where you got the stools and what you paid for them. I think they would look great in my room. Thanks,

Got them at Target (http://www.target.com/Augusta-Swivel-Stool-Cappuccino/dp/B000FNGMQS/sr=1-1/qid=1233062779/ref=sr_1_1/186-2407047-7330740?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Aaugusta%20bar%20stool&page=1). I paid $75 each for them. Target.com regularly has 15% off and free shipping on these and most all of their furniture. I got an extra 10% off with my xbox live diamond card, making them $75.

I like them a lot, great so far for the price. I have the Lt. Cherry color (which is pretty dark) and the 29" height. Wanted the cappuccino color, but they didn't have 29" at the time.

Hey, I really like the colors you have chosen for your room. Can you tell me:


What paint you used (color names & company)
What type of wood is the bar and stools made out of (stain?)
Is that granite or solid surface on the bar?


Anything else having to do with the appearance. I think I am going to be doing some sort of bar behind the row of seats like you did and I really dig the appearance of yours.

Thanks!

Paint is from Sherwin-Williams:

Screen Wall - Color is Red Theater. I forget what the finish is called because there was only one choice for that color because it is such a deep red. Creative designs or something like that.

Side Walls and Ceiling - Dormer Brown, Classic paint with flat finish.

For the wood on the bar it is primarily sheets of premium 1/2" "blondewood" from Lowe's. About $25-30 a sheet, but it had a great smooth look to it I thought.

I made a rookie mistake with the stain and got the 2-in-1 Minwax stain+poly mixture, PolyShades. Because of the poly mix in it got thick and dried fast on the big pieces. I got better as I went, but found it very difficult to apply, looked bad in some spots, but it is covered by the couch. 99% sure it is the Bombay Mahogany color, but I'd have to go home and check. Staining was by far my least favorite part of the bar project, so even though a couple pieces probably could've used a 3rd coat, I said screw it.

The bar top was a custom order piece of laminate from Menards. It is called Blackstar Granite. It ended being fairly expensive because I got beveled edges all the way around. It is 18" wide by 9' long.

See above post for the stool details. Their Light cherry color is pretty dark so it matched my stain well.

I made a rookie mistake with the stain and got the 2-in-1 Minwax stain+poly mixture, PolyShades. Because of the poly mix in it got thick and dried fast on the big pieces. I got better as I went, but found it very difficult to apply, looked bad in some spots, but it is covered by the couch. 99% sure it is the Bombay Mahogany color, but I'd have to go home and check. Staining was by far my least favorite part of the bar project, so even though a couple pieces probably could've used a 3rd coat, I said screw it.

Thanks for the details -- and when the time comes, I'll be sure to "practice" on the area to be covered up by the couch!

Was the bar "purchased" or built??? I don't trust my carpentry skills to build one, but would love to purchase an already assembled bar such as that.

Beta.....

Custom built. Trust me, it is not that hard. I got the most compliments for the bar from friends and family, all saying they can't believe I made it myself, i.e. they didn't think I had the carpentry skills to pull it off. I wasn't sure either to be honest. :D

And I did it all without having my own saw. Went to Lowe's with a bunch of measurements and had everything cut to size before I bought it. They didn't always cut things exactly perfect, but it didn't matter once everything was together with the corner pieces covering the seems, etc.

I can give you a rough plan if you're interested. It really is as simple as building a half wall frame with 2x4's and then getting some sheets of wood, staining them and covering your frame up. Then glue/screw on the bar top.

Thanks for the details -- and when the time comes, I'll be sure to "practice" on the area to be covered up by the couch!

Yeah, I had never really stained before, so I practiced on some scraps. Then I did the smaller, not wide side pieces where I could make quick passes and was always staining with a "wet edge". It was surprisingly easy and thought they looked great. I saved for last the 2 huge pieces that go across the front, but are covered by the couch. Since they were so big, my passes took a long time to get back to where I was, and by that time my edge had dried and it would get pretty nasty. It was like it turns to glue because of the poly mixture and you just cannot try to stain along that drying edge. Hard to explain. I'm sure there are techniques out there to avoid this, but I think the poly mix contributed. Second coat I was a little better though and fixed it up mostly.

Good luck with your project!

bar looks sweet!

Thanks man. I chimed in on your thread as well. Gotta go for the projector!!! :D

I like that setup. We have the same projector, love it. I might copy the bar idea.