I'm in the midst of repainting my home and I figured I'd go with something other than white for the walls.

It's a 15x15ft room with a mid-range projector, ~100in image.

It's not a full-blown theater, but it isn't exactly frequented like a living room either, so I'm willing to consider any color.

I understand that with projector rooms, darker colored walls are preferred so light doesn't bounce back onto the screen.

We're putting in new wood flooring too. Unfortunately, it's not dark (not my choice); it's a lighter brown, but I don't think it's too reflective.

It's a low-height ceiling as well and I'm guessing black ceilings are preferred in this type of set up. I'm not so sure I want to go with a black ceiling, so keep this in mind when suggesting.

So what are the suggested colors? And more specifically, the name/code of the color. I'm picking everything up at Home Depot and they mainly carry Behr paints. Or if what you're suggesting isn't Behr, then a comparable color in Behr?

I'm thinking of more of that traditional red? Dark of course (but not sure exactly which red). Grays? Even blues?

Thanks.

There have been many threads on the forum discussing reds. Be aware that if you don't go with a high quality paint you will be in for a "many - coat" experience. I have used Benjamin Moore paints with a lot of success. Also, primers - I use a dark gray primer for the red paints. Zinsser has a good one. You can also get the Ben Moore version.

Your floor may be "reflective" in ways other than in light. The sound will do some bouncing. You may want to consider at least a large area rug to help out.

The 15 x 15 room also presents it's own problem because it is a square - again, not very good in the acoustics thing.

I know, I know... I sound like a big party pooper! There are ways to get around all of this. Unfortunately, I am not the acoustics expert here. Others are.

Back to the red paint. The darker, the better. It all depends on what you ultimately want. Also, use a flat paint. No sheen.

My favorite red is Bejamin Moore's Raspberry Truffle. A "true" red, it is not as dark as most people want for their HT. I used "Exotic Purple" for my HT. Very dark, almost black purple. That's your goal. Get your red as dark as you can stand without being black.

Good luck and have fun!

That all sounds very good. I'm not so worried about the acoustics and all that; otherwise I'd spend more money into it. I should've mentioned that this is just a budget project, really.

What color would you suggest for my room? I know it'll be a dark shade of whatever it is, but which color? It may help to somehow match/contrast the other furniture in the room. There isn't much furniture at all, but what there is, it's either black or white. The new wood flooring will be oak.

A friend of mine suggested dark blue walls to contrast the oak floors. I may also consider painting the ceiling a darker color, and instead of black, my friend suggested a dark gray.

I'm not the greatest with home decor, so any more help will be appreciated.

the beauty of paint is that if you don't like it, you can change it!

Visit the Gallery here on AVS and take a look at what others have done. Pick out your favorites and then go from there.

Color is not a right or wrong thing on it's own. You need to consider the furniture as well as the other rooms around it. I could easily tell you to go with a Kodak Gray, for instance, but with your furniture a deep blue, red, or green may be the best answer.

Don't stress! Pick a favorite color and run with it! (as long as it's a medium to dark hue)

Good luck!
(BTW, there are some terrific budget acoustical treatments out there;) You'll be glad you looked into it)

I used a dark grey ceiling and a grayish green for the walls of my theater. Take a look at my thread for pictures. I really like how it looks with the lighter tan carpet and seating.

Laters,
Jeff

Any thoughts on the pros/cons of a flat black paint for the walls in my HT? I have a combo music/HT system in my finished basement, and I will be painting soon. Since the RPTV and front speakers (all black cabinets) are located in an alcove section of the basement, I thought I'd paint that section (walls and ceiling) flat black. The carpet will be more of a charcoal (Black Pepper is the carpet company's name for it). I am a little worried it will be too dark, although the rest of the basement has white walls and ceiling. Your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

Bondmanp

Flat black will make an extremely dark room. In addition, from my own experience anyone who touches the wall will leave a mark. I painted my equipment room walls with flat black paint that had 3M scotchguard in it. It was claimed that you could clean the surface if it got messed up. When I put the wall plates back on the wall it was obvious that hands had touched (lightly) the wall area around the plates.

Tom

Tom: I agree that flat black will make a disturbingly dark room. However, the area to be painted is a 10' X 8' alcove of the cellar, the rest of which will be white. Your points about dirt showing are well taken. I will look at some dark alternatives to black. Thanks.

We used Behr FLAT back on our ceiling and dark red on the walls. The room even with some light coming through the door, looked like a black hole. There was no light reflection. Kinda weird.

My walls and ceiling were painted the same dark red color. I believe the brand was Pittsburg Paints, and the exact color was "merlot." That was the brand that our builder's subcontractor used, and we had an entire color wheel to choose from. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics, but I'm pleased with how it looks.

My walls are now Painted with Behr Sandwash Color: Night Sky. Its a really neat texture its like sand on the walls. But has absolutely no real reflection that I can tell. I also did a black drop ceiling which is almost finished. It makes the room nice with some color, but when the lights go out its nice and dark

Ryan