Hi,

I am about to embark on my first attempt at a dedicated home theater. My wife and I (of two years) purchased our first home in May of 2008. The design is a four level split - Main level: Kitchen, Dining, Living room. Upstairs: Three bedrooms, Bathroom. Downstairs 1: Family Room, Laundry room/Half bath. Downstairs 2: HOME THEATER/Man cave + Adjoining furnace room/workshop/storage.

So, this is the scoop. I have been strolling through all of the incredible threads on AVS, and in doing so have learned a lot...but at the same time I've created a whole lot of questions.

I am on somewhat of a budget, but the plus side to that is that the room already has one layer of jiprock all around, and I have already own most of the equipment I'll be buying. So really the funding for this venture is mostly going to be put into its design...for now.

My first question to you wonderful people is if you would help me with the color scheme. I think that I have decided on this: A purple color for the bottom portion. A almost black color with a slight tint of purple for the chair rail, and a smokey grey color for the top portion of the walls. I haven't decided on what to do with the soffit and ceiling yet...I'm going to go with a false tray ceiling to hide a support beam that stretches one side of the room, so I will probably paint the bottom of that with the grey, and then do the tray in the blackish color.

Has anyone seen anything like this, or done it yourself? If so, pictures would greatly appreciated.

I will post pics as soon as I am able. The dimensions of the room are as follows: 12 1/2' wide for the front half of the room, 14 1/2' wide for the back half by 21' long.

Help me out getting started guys! Post some helpful pics and suggestions!

Thanks so much,

Jeremy

Don Kellogg's purple palace is the first thing that came to mind.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=757237&highlight=purple+palace

Yeah, I've seen Don's thread. He did a great job on it. I would really like to see an example with more grey in it, though. I did enjoy reading Don's thread, though. He has a similar sized room to what I am working with. My equipment rack won't be on the back - I'd be putting it into the right side wall. On the other side of that wall is my furnace/workshop room - so I can access the back of the equipment through that room. The door to it is near the back of the room.

Did you see Big Red's Indigo walls?

http://battas.zftp.com/dropbox/avs/berkline%2006.JPG


http://battas.zftp.com/dropbox/avs/berkline%2009.JPG

No I hadn't! Thanks so much for sharing. I really like the grey color he has done. Now if I can manage to get a copy of photoshop from a friend it'd be nice to take that and photoshop the bottom part into a nice deep purple color...and the trim to black. Mmmm... :D

Anyone have photoshop? lol

Here's a question, because no one I know has a dedicated home theater, I have never been able to experience the difference.

Would I still be able to get a decent sound out of the room if I skipped the green glue and did just good insulation and a second layer of 5/8" drywall? The left side is against cement - so I could only do the inside of it with double drywall. The right side, however, is sided with the furnace room - so I could do two layers on each side of that wall...

What do you think? :)

No I hadn't! Thanks so much for sharing. I really like the grey color he has done. Now if I can manage to get a copy of photoshop from a friend it'd be nice to take that and photoshop the bottom part into a nice deep purple color...and the trim to black. Mmmm... :D



How about this:

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s270/mdputnam/Purple.jpg

Not sure which trim you want black though.

Hey thanks! You guys are super helpful. I played with that pic in paint for a bit and I think what I would like is a darker purple on the bottom - like closer to plum. And then the trim would be all the pillars, door frames, anything that is wood I would probably make black.

I'll throw out another question to try and get some interest here. What is the minimum I should do for my floor. I am doing 'click' vinyl flooring - it is on a cement foundation. So, what should I do for underneath the vinyl that won't cost me an arm and a leg - this is a budget room remember. My wife isn't as nice as some of yours, unfortunately. Of course, my wallet doesn't seem to be as nice either. haha :D

OK...New issue I had not anticipated. There is a sewer drain pipe in the back of the room. It will be hidden as if part of the storage cupboard across the back, but how should I hide the noise from something like that?

Go with carpet over pad instead of vinyl. You can put it right over the concrete.

Yeah, I could do that - the only thing is that I got a really good deal on the click boards, so I picked enough up for family room and theater. I've read a few times that doing a 2x4 frame on the floor with insulation would help the accoustics of a room. If I did 2x4's flat on the floor, did insulation, plywood, foam, and then the flooring - how would that be? Good/bad?

Any suggestions on the sewer pipe in the back? What do I do just cram that section full of insulation as much as possible? Or is there a best practice?

Any suggestions on the sewer pipe in the back? What do I do just cram that section full of insulation as much as possible? Or is there a best practice?

surround with insulation, then build a double 5/8 thickness drywall surrounding box. Use Green glue. If it has a clean-out valve make an access hatch out of beefy material and use weather stripping to make it an air-tight fit.

Lastly, do not serve chili with beans on movie night.

A hard surface floor for a dedicated theater space is a bad acoustical decision no matter what you put under it. You should invest in a big fluffy area rug for the space between the speakers and the front row of seating.

Haha...my wife does make a good chili. She's from the South, so us Northern people are loving her spicy food.

Ok, I think I should go with the access hatch idea. I don't know if it has any valve or anything like that, but should it every need to be changed I wouldn't want to dismantle my whole storage unit/bar.

I understand now that the accoustics with the click floor are bad. So I was actually planning on doing a nice big area rug. Here's a good question...or at least it's good in my head. You say big and fluffy? So should I be looking for shag, or a tighter weave? I had thought shag would be the best, but my father was thinking I should go with a tighter weave.