Design help !

Im going crazy trying to figure out how to maximize my room space in all ways (screen size, seating etc.) of course all the while on a minimum budget.

I have ran into quite the snag, below is a sketch up drawing of the room and the ..... doorway (queue evil scary music)...... in a load bearing walll !!!

I fear moving the door opening over will: blow the budget and be outside my handyman-ness

So Im looking for tips on room design, I know some may say the room is too small to do what I want, but I have to atleast try.

Im looking for 2.35:1 screen, AT to better use space, seating for atleast 6, due to size I was looking real movie rockers.

Thats about it. Please tell me there is a design that fits the room for all these things. Maybe something simple that I missed ?

Thanks !!

 

theater bar.zip 30.1083984375k . file

Sorry about the file type, here are a few jpg shots of the issue.

As for the real room, Im almost ready to put up drywall. Im stuck at electrical / wire running as Im not sure the final layout of the room. So placing outlets and such is crawling along. Of course if the doorway does need to move that will have to happen before drywall as well.

The finished room dimensions are 10.5 feet by 12.5 feet, to get the door centered it needs to be moved over about 10 inches.

All walls are cinderblock, I have used extruded foam insulation and 1x3s to act as studs for the drywall.

Want a good laugh ? Remember this is on a budget sooo.....

Im not exactly doing inwalls, more so going to put my speakers on wall. I am planning on using the SeymourAV screen material, and his new "XD" material is supposed to allow for closer seating distances before the fabric texture is seen. From what I have read I can get away with keeping my speakers 2 inches back from the AT material.

Heres the laugh part: Im planning on 9inches of space between the rear wall and the false screen wall, and below the screen widening that to 18 inches in order to have a small equipment rack, and my 16inch wide sub, sit on the floor.

What speaker fits that 7inch space ? why a Bic Acoustech ht-85 center channel, with the horn tweeter rotated 90 degrees. 3 identical ht-85s across the front. I like the sound of klipsch so this is a cheap similar sounding thinner alternative.


As far a screen size I already have my projector so running it through the calculator gives me a 90 inch wide 16:9 screen, (50 inch high) and with a HE anamorphic lens I get 120inch wide. Im tired of black bars so I really want to go CIH.

My home is older, built in late 1960s, and the heat is baseboard hot water. So there are no ducts in the house, and no AC. Also retrofitting AC means ducts would need to be added all over and thats a major costly project.

The answer that the previous owner used was what I like to call 6 zone cooling ..... window or in wall AC units throughout the house.

In the theater, there are 2 windows not shown on my drawings (they will be covered over with fabric panels (oc703 sheets with black fabric). 1 of the windows has a 6000 btu unit mounted in it. I hope that does a good job, last summer while using it as a temp setup (the old bedsheet screen, and crappy couch deal) the room stayed nice and cool with that on.

The room also has a exhaust fan like you would find in a bathroom, it vents to the outside and is flush mounted in the ceiling. This is a quiet alternative to running the AC to remove heat in the room for non-summer months of the year.

I hope that setup can keep the temperature reasonable all months of the year.

With a shadow box layout, since I would have the room, should I put the center channel above or below the screen ?

I still like the idea of 3 identical speakers across the front, but the exta foot or so of throw distance is tempting.

After thinking over the whole AT screen or not issue, I took some more measurements, or lets say I put more thought into the measurements I already had.

What I found was based on the riser height calculator (figuring on Theater Rocker seats using measurements from seatsandchairs) if my screen is not at least 36 inchs off the ground, with my short distance between rows, my riser shoots up to be 16 inches. That 16 inches with a finished ceiling height of only 92 inches, leaves 76 inches when standing on the riser. Now I am 6'2 and that seems a little close, not something I want to put up with.

So I feel my riser cant be higher than 12 inches. Where is this going ? It means that my screen needs to be 36 inches off the ground. (based off of screen height, that does put viewers eyes between 1/6 to 1/3 of the way up depending on row, which should be comfortable)

So when I add it all up: 92 inch - 8 inch soffit above the screen to install lighting, - 36 inch off the ground, = 48 inches

48 inches does not include screen borders. if you figure at 3 inch frame around the outside then its even less, but I can shorten the soffit or lower the screen to say 34 inches.

Point being, my screen height cannot go more than 48 inches, so at my PJs max throw, it can do more than that, so in fact I CAN spare 9 or 10 inches behind the screen for slim speakers and still have the max screen size.

I think a 48inch screen height is respectable, in such a small room it should look quite large. Am I right ? thats 98inch diagonal, for 16:9 and 123 diagonal for 2.35:1 if I use a HE anamorphic lens.

Enough rambling I doubt anyone cares to make sense of what I just said, I barely can myself hah.