About 6 months ago I purchased a house, this house has a pretty big room in the basement so i decided this would be a fun projector room. Plus it didnt hurt that there was a room on the side for a bar. Problems were 2 small windows on one wall, one large window on the other. There was no lighting in the room at all, no power, and definitely no speaker wire ran. The biggest problem, the ugly wood paneling on the walls and a crappy ceiling.

Here are some pics of before.
Original setup
Original setup2
Original setup3
Original setup4

So the first thing I did was remove a piece of the paneling to see if they had used any insualtion. My luck... they had not, so then I knew I had to tear it all down. I took every wall down to the brick. The ceiling I took out as well as the previous installer did a crappy job. What little wiring there was had to go and then I pretty much started from scratch. I had a few studs I saved as wood is pricey now a days. I framed up the walls, removed the windows and blocked off the openings. I left the windows framed incase I needed to sell the house I could poke them back out and put glass back in real easy. I put insulation back in and ran 2 new circuits, one for general plugs and 2 sets of lighting and other circuit just for the projector bulb and stereo. I also put in support studs for the speakers to be mounted to the wall without tearing down the sheetrock.

I ran a VGA wire, and power for the projector bulb that is switched, the fan wire is hot all the time.
All of the wires meet back by the fireplace in a little cubby. I used banana plugs for all of the speaker wire plates, I highly recommend them. I also ran a 25 ft sub cable down to a plug where the sub will be.

Here is a picture of my base setup.


Here is a picture of the base area, it has the HTPC running 2 monitors (the projector and other flatpanel) directv setup, and my onkyo 6.1 surround setup. I also have a playstation 2 I will use later.



I went with 2 sets of lights both hooked up to their own dimmers. This way I can control the light in the room very easily.


Still to do include:

Finishing the bar room to the right of the projector room
Finishing the mudding and painting the room, probably a dark red or something.
Installing dark carpet.
Doing something about the brass fireplace, I hate brass.

Let me know what you think. Feel free to ask any questions. I will update on this post as to my progress with more pictures

Nice work so far. Do you plan to mount your PJ from the ceiling or some other way?

I'll be watching

the ceiling, this plug is in the middle of the room on the ceiling (http://twin-cam.net/foamcows/DSC00349.JPG)

You can also see it at the top of this picture here
Plug in Ceiling

Sorry I realized this after I posted. DUH!

Excellent work Foamcow!

I love the outlets for the VGA and Audio Connectors. Everything looks nice and neat, and well planned.

Keep up the good work, I look forward to viewing your progress and the final results.

wow, you have been busy! I like the terminal plates, makes it look professional. nice job.

That is really nice work,should be exceptional,when its all done.
You have been REALLY busy!
Are you building a new pj to go in there???
P

Well it has been a while, I havent updated this plog in a while. The room is pretty much done. I have installed a new picture window, a new door, I have new lighting up in both the projector room and bar area. The projector is built and installed. All that is left is a bit more sanding of the drywall, painting, and then installing flooring and furniture, and of course the bar! I love having this room. The sound is amazing, the projector is amazing, it is so nice to have.

Here are some updated pictures.

just moved to HTplog

That's nice foamy.

That looks like a nice, comfy spot to enjoy some big ole movies!

Ordered a set of blinds today for my giant window. It is made by levelor and is a cellular style blind(looks liek a bunch of tubes melted together). They make it in a blackout cloth fabric that stops all light. The window is giant, it is 113 inches wide and 56 tall. Should work pretty well, I cant think of anything better.

The downside?

Total came to $496.00. I know, I could have got a nice screen for that much. Oh well, hopefully it works and looks nice. I will post pictures in 2 weeks when it comes in.

have some updated pictures, I have finished up about 90% of the drywall and sanding, just a little of the ceiling left. This is also why the projector is taken down in these photos. Right now I just have primer on the walls. We are still deciding on what color, dark red or eggplant.

here is the new blinds installed. I also worked on the bench area some since last update.

here is why I have taken a decent amount of time getting all of this done. I had to frame out the rest of the basement and drywall those walls as well.

here is my catdoor we made so the cats kitty litter box is in its own room.

thats cool looking.

HAHA That's so awsome. It males me want a cat JUST so I can do that! Too bad I'm allergic

haha I sat here for about 10 seconds wondering why the bottom of the cat looks like its dissapearing

I have finally painted the walls and ceiling of the room. The name of the paint for the walls is "rare wine" it is a dark eggplant color. The name of the green is "olive smudge". The bar area is a lighter green, I forget the name. The ceiling is a slight grey color, it is hardly noticeable unless you place something white up against it.








I am amazed at what a difference having darker walls makes. This is by far the biggest improvement in perceived picture. It makes the projector feel soo much brighter. The blacks are very black now when you are watching the screen. I am very pleased.

Here is a shot of the bar area. I have the bar lighting temporarily taken down.

I have not yet finished up the hallway, I will this week. The color will be bright yellow. This picture does not justify the color very well. In reality it is a very light yellow. Also here is a picture of the bathroom that is in the basement.

For those that want to see more pictures of the entire house, I have a picture site up at www.twin-cam.net/foamcows/index.htm

Your HT is turning out very nice! I see you have darker colors as you mention in my HTplog. Are you going to paint the ceiling darker too?

The ceiling is a light grey. I didnt want to go too dark, I just felt it makes the room look weird with a dark ceiling. The grey looks white when you are in the room, you dont notice it is grey unless you have something white up next to it. I will try later to take a picture with a piece of paper on the ceiling so you can see the difference. Heck if your just in Dearborn, when I finish everything I will gladly invite you over to check it out in person.

Got a new camera the other day. Something I have been wanting for years. Finally made the jump, ended up with a Nikon D50 SLR. It has a pretty wide angle lens that came with it so I should be able to get better pictures of the room. Here is a out of focus picture of the screen I took with it.

Very Nice

started to lay the tile floor the other day, here is my progress.

Have you considered repainting the pj the same color as the ceiling to blend in? Otherwise very nice theater.

Victor

I did think of painting it, but I have had a white projector before, just kinda wore me out on the idea of having a painted one. I might whitewash stain it to make it blend a tick more.

here is a picture of the tile in the bathroom with the grout in.

You got skills my man! Good to see another person who enjoys the fine art of home improvement! I am thinking I gotta put a bath down here (ht room/play room) and a small fridge!!! I have been eyeing tthe power flush toilets so I don't have to break the concrete floor down here. Good luck completeing the project!
Bluto

Dearborn! I live in Southwest Michigna but drive over to the east side of Michigan alot, heck
weekly I am over to Sylvania, Ohio.

I'd love to see your completed HT and Projector, it just might get me off my butt and to work on
building my projector. I have all the major parts, for some reason having a 7 month old
daughter and taking 2 college classes has prevented me from working on it!

I simply cannot wait to own my own home someday, so I can do something like this.

Your place is looking fantastic, keep us updated!

here is some before and afters

I love that cat accessible hole in your door. Considering my PJ is going to be about 10 feet away from the litter box, I think I will be doing something similar to my door.