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Going to start the project of turning basement into theater room.

post #1 of 165
7/4/12 at 11:45pm
Thread Starter 
I recently had a brand new home built around 5 months ago with a finished basement. I am going to turn it into a theater within the next few months.

I had it all completely blacked out NO Light at all thank god.

Was wondering if anyone could help out on some color choices first.

Is it a BIG must to have a black wall where my screen is going to be framed and mounted? I have no problem painting the main wall and ceiling black and I guess the surround walls but if I paint them like a dark red or dark blue would that cause
the quality of my picture to be a little off? I am probably going to get a JVC Rs45 or a Epson 6010 but I am waiting for CEDIA to see what new will be released.

I plan on having the project done in the winter time so It gives me a few months to make some critical decisions I guess.

My carpet is a Dark Grey so far.

My girlfriend works for Sherwin Williams so I have access to any kind of paint needed.

Any help would be greatly aprreciated thanks.
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post #2 of 165
7/5/12 at 4:19am
We aren't going to help you with a paint color until you post a floor plan and some pictures of the space. Yes black on the front wall helps with perceived contrast. The rest of the room can be medium dark colors and you should be fine. But you really should think beyond paint and do some wall treatments.
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post #3 of 165
7/5/12 at 4:55am
Thread Starter 
Wow just was reading your whole thread for the ohio build.. I am from Northeast Ohio in Lorain County.


I will take some pics of the basement later for sure and post..
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post #4 of 165
7/5/12 at 6:20am
Don't let that BIG guy intimidate you. smile.gif

Bud
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post #5 of 165
7/5/12 at 7:01am
Thread Starter 
I wasnt looks like he is doing amazing work though
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post #6 of 165
7/5/12 at 9:58am
I'm sure he is still for hire... smile.gif
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post #7 of 165
7/5/12 at 12:26pm
Thread Starter 
Looks like his job are a little extreme for me though my room will be nothing like the one he is doing the forum thread on
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post #8 of 165
7/6/12 at 9:08pm
Thread Starter 
700



This is a pic of basement.. The plates are outlests for the 7.2 surround I had prewired..

The room is 18x32 but as you can see on the top left there is duct work that drops the ceiling down a little bit
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post #9 of 165
7/6/12 at 9:14pm
Personally I like a two tone wall with chair rail. I think that it adds a nice design element to the room. I think that a gray/dark red would work well in your room with the gray carpet. I'd go with black for the screen wall and ceiling though.

Alternatively you can look into doing GOM fabric wall coverings with acoustical treatments behind them. Many builds on this forum go that route to help achieve the best audio quality possible within the room. GOM has a ton of fabric choices to choose from.

Also, since you have a large space to work with, I would look into doing a false wall and acoustically transparent screen setup.
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post #10 of 165
7/6/12 at 9:28pm
Thread Starter 
See I am totally lost in mostly all this.. I have my audio equipment purchased but havent even hooked it up..

I have 2 Martin Logan motion 12s
4 Martin Logan Motion 10s
2 Dynama 500 Subs

The only audio part I do not have is the AVR since I am looking to do this room in the winter.. As far as false walls and bass traps and all that stuff I am completely lost..

Screen wall and Ceiling will be black for sure.. What do you mean about mixing dark grey and a dark red each wall a different color?

This is my living room right now

240
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post #11 of 165
7/6/12 at 9:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Holiday121 View Post

What do you mean about mixing dark grey and a dark red each wall a different color?

I was referring to painting the walls two separate colors (one on the top and one on the bottom). Then you run chair rail (a type of molding) in between.

Like this (a pic from my room):
400
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post #12 of 165
7/6/12 at 10:19pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry I was just reading your whole thread simply amazing man. I am 30 and cant even do half of the stuff your doing GREAT job.

Im no handy man at all but I will take your advice on the rail good idea.. What im confused with is how you put that crown molding up and have the lights shining up? Is there a gap or something?

Not sure on how I would go about doing that
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post #13 of 165
7/6/12 at 10:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Holiday121 View Post

Sorry I was just reading your whole thread simply amazing man. I am 30 and cant even do half of the stuff your doing GREAT job.
Im no handy man at all but I will take your advice on the rail good idea.. What im confused with is how you put that crown molding up and have the lights shining up? Is there a gap or something?
Not sure on how I would go about doing that

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate the compliment.

For the crown, I cut a 2x4 on the table saw into a triangular prism shape that has the same angle as the back of the molding. That piece of wood was nailed all the way around the soffit and then the crown was nailed to that. Without the extra wood there would be nothing for the top of the crown to attach to since it angles away from the wall. The top of the molding is open and forms a "tray" that the LED strip lights sit in.

I wish I had a picture of the pieces of wood but unfortunately I didn't take one. It's really just crown molding hung down about 7" from the ceiling.
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post #14 of 165
7/6/12 at 10:56pm
Thread Starter 
Your welcome..

There is just so much info I am taking in I am sort of getting lost in all of this. My room will not be totally closed off it connects to another half of my basement which is completely blacked out no light as well.. The only thing is sound will travel im sure that way so I will prob lose out on that a little.
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post #15 of 165
7/7/12 at 5:40am
My suggestion would be to read as much as you can, everything you need to learn can be found on this Forum. Good luck!
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post #16 of 165
7/16/12 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
I finally picked out some colors for the room.... Bought the paint and started priming today.. Will be painting tommorow. When I get a chance will upload some pics.. Finally starting my journey lol
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post #17 of 165
7/17/12 at 6:53am
Thread Starter 
Ok here are some prepping pics... Primed all the walls and started paiting the ceiling black..


Question I have 4 Recess lighting things as you can see hanging down from the wall. They are white should i just spray paint them black? Or leave them white?


450

700

450
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post #18 of 165
7/18/12 at 10:58am
Thread Starter 
Ok some new updated pics... I finished painting . Man that black is a killer. I primed and had to use 2 coats for the black and the red. Thank god my girlfriend works for Sherwin Williams lol.

Sorry the camera on my iphone is not the best but here is the first coat

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And the final

700
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post #19 of 165
7/18/12 at 12:29pm
Yes, spray paint the trim rings on the can lights black.
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post #20 of 165
7/18/12 at 1:03pm
The black and red look great. In addition to painting your can light trim, you might consider a darker color for your baseboard. Anything white in your theater will reflect light.
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post #21 of 165
7/19/12 at 5:28am
Thread Starter 
I am going to take care of the spray paiting of the cans today... The baseboard is what making it hard for me ... I really dont want to paint the trim but if its going to wash out the color then i might just have to.. This is going to be my first projector so I guess this is all just going to be new to me
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post #22 of 165
7/19/12 at 5:53am
I seriously doubt that a white baseboard will wash out the color. If it has a gloss shine, you MIGHT get some reflections. I would suggest that if you like the white, leave it and watch some movies. If it bothers you after that, a quart of paint will fix it. Once the lights go down, EVERYTHING looks dark. Your wall won't be red anymore and the white will not be white.
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post #23 of 165
7/19/12 at 6:16am
Thread Starter 
That is very true.. Plus have to take into consideration that my two tower front speakers will be taking up some of that baseboard and also a subwoofer.. So little will be shown on the front projector wall..


Going to be heading out soon to get some materials.. Been trying to read up on 3d Bluray players in other threads since my birthday is 3 weeks away and my girlfriend says she will buy me one for my birthday how nice lol.. But the question comes down to is that oppa is expensive but says it handles mkv streaming and others... So much to read up on this topic because if I could just hook up a external hard drive and run the blu rays right through that... Then i read that the ps3 is a nice player as well. If going to spend the 200 why not just get a ps3 lol.. This room is driving me nuts and have so much work to do still and enjoying every minute of it
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post #24 of 165
7/19/12 at 6:50am
I don't think the baseboards are a big enough surface to reflect light back onto the screen but I think they will reflect enough light to become a visual distraction in what will be a pretty dark room. Simple enough to fix. You could always wait to see how bad they are, but my guess is you will want to paint them eventually.
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post #25 of 165
7/19/12 at 7:09am
Thread Starter 
That is true not like its going to be real hard to either 1 Cover them up just to see the difference with some black cloth down there or something. I guess maybe I am jumping way to far ahead of the game... Off to the store to get some black spray paint for my recess lights... As far as wall plates for the speakers and subs thats go around my room spray paint them black as well?
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post #26 of 165
7/19/12 at 7:17am
We were discussing this last night, on whether white baseboards would be distracting. Have others done dark walls with light trim?
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post #27 of 165
7/19/12 at 7:51am
The conventional wisdom/best practice, is to do a darker color, of course. Where my build is at now, I have a dark brown ceiling and medium/dark green walls, but I haven't yet replaced the white trim along the base of the wall. After reading your question, I can honestly say that I can't remember noticing it at all. I notice the light on the ceiling though, even though it's very minimized by the dark color. I also look at the walls. In fact, I was specifically looking for light and how the room lit up during a show, and never once noticed my white plastic cheap very reflective base trim.

I'd say that if you were going to put white trim at any level higher than the floor, that'd be an easy choice to replace it or paint it. If it's just on the floor, and you really like it, leave it, use it, and see how it goes. You can always paint it later.
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post #28 of 165
7/19/12 at 8:18am
Quote:
Have others done dark walls with light trim?
Here's what I did. Maroon GOM, matching paint and what was supposed to be "gold" trim but turned out REALLY yellow. Really pops when lights are on, don't even notice it when watching a movie.
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post #29 of 165
7/19/12 at 8:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tlogan6797 View Post

Here's what I did. Maroon GOM, matching paint and what was supposed to be "gold" trim but turned out REALLY yellow. Really pops when lights are on, don't even notice it when watching a movie.

Thanks for the pic. I knew it was a stupid question, because somebody had to have done it. Doing a lighter trim with my darker walls will really help my WAF biggrin.gif

/threadjack
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post #30 of 165
7/19/12 at 8:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tlogan6797 View Post

Here's what I did. Maroon GOM, matching paint and what was supposed to be "gold" trim but turned out REALLY yellow. Really pops when lights are on, don't even notice it when watching a movie.

This photo makes me want to get a hot dog with mustard!

edit: hey! we should gold leaf that for real! It would look really amazing since it's already yellow. Shoot me a PM if you want to!
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