The Hygge Room

Everyone else is doing it so why can't I? Figured I would dedicate a thread to the construction and design of our dedicated theater room. I am somewhat of an AVS newb but have lurked for quite a while. With that said I will share some background with respect to what we want to accomplish by building this room.

First the name:

Hygge is a Danish concept and to best describe it I will use another persons words who best summed it up. " Hygge is about achieving perfection in the pleasures of life with friends and family, but in an effortless and simple way." While I am not danish I very much appreciate this idea and found it a fitting term for what we plan to do with the room when it is finished. Furthermore the speakers being used in the room are from Denmark so that ties in too right?

The Concept:

To create a dedicated theater room to entertain ourselves, our family, and friends. We do not want a dedicated "home theater" in the sense of the term. It will not have movie theater inspired paraphernalia, popcorn poppers, or film real sconces. While that is very nice, it is not for us. We want a cohesive space that is functional yet shows it's purpose. As a result the speakers will be a highlight of the room rather than being hidden behind acoustically transparent panels. The screen will be fixed on the wall and the acoustic treatments, while they will match color and texture, they will be mounted in plain sight. We do not plan on having theater style columns or pillars or the typical GOM lined walls of other theaters.

The components:

Not all of this has been decided 100% but quite a bit of the gear has already been purchased.

Already purchased:

Infocus 5700 front projector
Pioneer Elite DV47Ai
Oppo DV971
DVDO iScan VP30 scaler
Dynaudio Contour S1.4
Dynaudio Contour SR
Dynaudio Stand 4's
Dynaudio Sub500
Earthquake Cinenova Grande 5
Audio Refinement Pre2 DSP
3 x Berkline 880 seats

Proposed setup for the rest of the gear:
Dynaudio Contour S1.4 single speaker for center
Universal Remote
IR repeater
3 x Berkline 880 seats

The Room
Room is 14.5' x 23' x 7'7"and is being built in the basement of our home. Home is 3 years old and we bought it with the idea of building the theater room. Dedicated equipment closet in the back of the room. Two rows of 3 seats with a riser and a small stage. No proscenum or the like......

Wiring Details:
2 x dedicated 20 amp circuits for equipment and 2 dedicated 15 amp circuits for lighting. Monster Cable 14/4 in wall cable for all speakers runs (2 conductors will be combined to create + and - for each speaker). Wired for 7.1 just in case. 1.5" electrical PVC run from equipment closet to projector location for future proofing. Dedicated outlet on switch for projector. RG6 runs to potential sub locations just in case IB is not for me.

Other Details:

9 x low voltage halogen recessed lights housed in MDF boxes. 3 x sconce lights. Room has two 4' x 5' windows. We built slider blinds out of MDF that slide in between the wall to cover the windows and help control ambient light. RC1 channel will be used on the ceiling to isolate the bedrooms located above the theater. Room will have absorption, diffusion, and bass trap treatments.





That should give you a decent idea as to our room. Room is coming along nicely and I will get my pictures hosted and start posting them very soon. Comments/criticism's and such are welcome.

Thanks for the response. The low voltage lights we bought are very high quality and have been installed for quite some time. With no background noise you cannot hear the lights. I actually like the look of the light the provide and I will supplement them with sconces on a dimmer to give us that relaxed feel if we have the halogen's off. I sure appreciate the input.

My post did come off as we were plannign the room but actually framing, electrical, and insulation was completed some time ago. We are just now hiring a drywall contractor to do that work... As stated I will post pictures when I get them hosted.

General Framing Pictures:


Equipment closet




We framed in front of the half wall (foundation) to build sliding panels to cover the windows. Here is the track we used.


Panels Open


Panels Closed


Screen wall with wiring installed.

Entrance to theater:


Insulated Screen Wall


View from screen wall


Window wall with MDF sliders open


Window wall with MDF sliders closed

Main panel with sub panel added for theater and the rest of the basement (located in other area of the basement)


Wiring to 3 front channels. Monster 14/4 in wall and RG6.


Low voltage halogen lights with 2" high density insulation over them and R19 between the floor joists.


Projector box


Inside of projector box cover

Outside of projector box cover


Cover mounted


Dedicated Outlet for projector


PVC run to projector box


Entrance of run in to equipment closet

Projector box, mount plate, and RC1 channel installed.


RC1 installed, waiting for drywall


Drywallers started this morning actually. I had to go back and add the 2" insulation over the lights as I forgot to do that. The rest of the basement is rocked and tomorrow they will rock the theater. The screen wall will not get rocked I will be doing 5/8" MDF on that wall. The Drywall and carpet are the only thing being contracted out. I intended on doing the drywall myself, however the price they quoted me was too good to pass up! They will also use bull nose rather than doing 90 degree corners.... Will post more pics. once they are done.

Well honestly I will need to quote another on that. This is th ebest I can come up with for the correct pronunciation.

"The closest native English speakers can come phonetically is "hooga" ... if we try forming our mouths for "ee" while saying "oo."" The adjective form is Hyggelig, so I suppose I could use that. I just thought it was a fitting concept to be applied to the atmosphere we are trying to achieve with our theater room.

Entire basement is now drywalled with the first coat of mud and tape in place. Great work so far by the guys I am having do the job. They are using bullnose on all corners that I think makes for a nice clean look. Will post more shots once they are all done.

Flush mounted access panel for projector box.


Close up of bullnosed corner


More detail in the edge work.


Frame for main breaker panel and theater dedicated sub panel. We will make a custom door to cover once we start the trim work.

Drywall work is done! I am VERY happy with the quality of work and
attention to detail! The bull nose edging is a really nice touch.



Turning the corner looking at the theater entrance.


Screen Wall made out of 5/8" MDF caulked seams and filled screw holes.


Eqiupment closet


Closet detail of bull nose work and perfect seams


Finsihed window and slider

Finished projector box access panel.


Detail of floor beam bull nose work


Breaker panel work, we are going to custom make a cabinet door for this...


Finished soffit work



Purchased stage material today and will start work on that tomorrow.

I wanted something pretty darn heavy and MDF is. Couple this with your typical lynnacoustic or 703 installation and it should make for a very dead screen wall. I am not covering the rest of the walls with linnacoustic like many people do. I will take care of the first reflections with custom made OC703 panels and use diffusion and bass trapping elsewhere. I don't want an overly dead room, that only applies to the front screen wall.

Heh that is a simple plastic access panel that can be purchased at ANY Home Depot for less than $10. It clips into the base pretty tightly. The projector will be mounted in back of that panel. I will drill a hole for the wiring and probably use a grommet for whatever size cables I wind up using. I am planning on building a hush box for the projector, but in case that cannot happen I wanted a nice clean look.

What picture???? Thanks for the input....

HEH I got it, I forgot the wink in my post....

Borrowed a stage design from where else... The AVS forums of course. Thanks to this guy! http://diggingitout.blogspot.com/200...5_archive.html

Screen wall with stage frame in place.


Side view of front curve.


Detail work on curve.


This will be the last update for a week or so as I am going to finish the rest of the basement before I resume on the theater. Once i resume work I will route the RG6 through the stage so that if I choose to run a dedicated 3 channel amp for the front stage I have wiring there for RCA's! Once that is done I will fill it with sand and top it off with two layers of 1/2" plywood and tar paper.

We have been working really hard on the sitting area of the basement. It is almost finished and then we can start busting on the rest of the theater.

Here we added a cold air return for the basement.
Tapping in to the existing return.


Return duct in place.


We had to re-do the original ductwork. Taking supplies off the end of the supply plenum a definate no no!

Before


After

Sitting room shot.




Shelving made out of pine stock. Mirror cut to wall to set reveal for trim and round over bit used for a nice clean edge.






Bi folds enter in to one of two mechanical areas. This area houses the water softener, well tank, and sump crock.


Last but not least my helper Pixel likes to get jump in to the ceiling joists!

Have not updated recently but that is not for lack of progress. The ENTIRE rest of the basement is 100% completed! That did have an effect on theater progress but now that it is 100% completed I am back to working on the theater room. So here's a bunch of updates....

First I built my screen for the FP. This is the Wilsonart Designer White laminte material as talked about in the DIY screen section.

Laminate with contact cement applied.


Peg board backer ripped to size with contact sement applied.


MDF frame glued and screwed to peg board base.


French cleat on well.


Other half of cleat is also the top half of the frame.



Screen hanging in place.

We also finished the stage...

Filled with sand.


Completed stage uses 1/2" plywood first layer and 3/4" MDF second layer. We rounded over the front of the stage so that the carpet would wrap better.


Equipment closet shelf panels and back has been started. We used 3/4" MDF to make the sides and pegboard as a template to drill the holes for the shelf inserts. I hoped it would work out and honestly it is perfect. You will also notice that the back of the cabinet has a large hole in it This will actually double as a bass trap. I will use the Ethan Winer design and the masonite front of the trap will be mounted directly behind the cutout in the clost back. The back is also removable to access all of the wiring.





I have also been buying and auditioning speakers lately. Here is a pic. of the temporary demo setup.



See the updated first post for a new list of equipment.