How to Build a Media Room – Part 3
In Part 1 and Part 2 of the series of how to build a media room, we provided ideas for planning, constructing, and decorating a home theater. As a follow-up, here are a few pictures of our finished product.
Here is the entrance. We chose double doors because we wanted more of a grand entrance than a single door provides. The doors are painted with a semi-gloss finish on the outside, but a flat finish (to minimize glare) on the inside.
The wall of the media room are decorated with movie posters. Sconces (operated by a remotely controlled dimmer) provide soft lighting, while recessed lights provide optional additional lighting. The popcorn machine was a nice addition. I recommend premeasured ingredient packs for convenience.
This is a 103 inch fixed screen. The center channel and two front speakers are flush mounted directly below the screen. To the right is a built-in equipment rack and to the left are built-in shelves for media.
The rear four chairs are elevated on a 12 inch raised platform. There are two steps on the left.
Good luck!
Jon
How to Build a Media Room – Part 2
In Part 1 of this article, I discussed reasons why you may want to build a media room, choosing a location in your home, pre-wiring, and adding lighting, flooring, and sound insulation. In this post, we’ll discuss the remaining steps.
Painting the Room
The ideal paint for a media room is a dark color in a flat finish. Why? Because it does not reflect as much light. So I recommend that you target one or more dark colors (in a flat finish, of course) that fit nicely with the décor of your room. For example, if you have black, blues and grays as your primary colors, then you may want to go with a charcoal gray or midnight blue wall color. It is very important that you also paint the ceiling dark and flat. If you have baseboards, crown molding, or chair rail, you can also paint the molding in a flat color.
In my media room, I have red carpet and dark brown chairs. The walls are painted in a chocolate brown with a slight red tint. The ceiling is done in a similar, but slightly lighter color. The molding is done in a lighter (flat) accent color. I also painted the inside of the entrance doors using the wall color.
Furnishing the Room
You should furnish the room however you like, but I do have a couple of tips.
1) Use the right seating based on the attributes of the room
- Don’t overcrowd the room
- Arrange the seating such that no view is obstructed
- Consider the ideal viewing distance based on your screen size
2) Make it comfortable
- Does the seating recline?
- Do you have cup holders or side tables for drinks?
- Are the seats comfortable enough for a two hour movie?
3) Think of the little things
- Pillows and throws
- DVD storage
- A clock
- Snacks
Finishing Touches
Wall Art
You can get pretty creative with home theater wall art. Here are a few ideas:
- Stencil film-themed art
- Hang old film reels or clapper boards
- Framed photos of classic theaters
I chose to hang framed movie posters. Now, I could write an entire article about movie posters- but here are a couple of thoughts. You can get 24” x 36” standard poster sized reproductions from most online art stores such as art.com and posters.com. The benefit of these is that they fit into a standard 24” x 36” frame. This is a common size, so there will be many frame style to choose from and you can find lots of pre-framed art in the same size. Instead of the 24” x 36” reproductions, you can purchase 27” x 40” original movie posters. I believe that the best place to find these is on eBay. Oddly enough, they originals seem to be less expensive than the reproductions- especially if you purchase more than one from the same vendor at the same time to save on shipping costs. Most are in mint or excellent condition. The downside is that are is a limited selection of 27” x 40” frames. I purchased the black vinyl frame style. The framed posters will introduce some glare into the room, but the anti-glare plastic in the product above will help.
Equipment
The actual theater equipment is outside the scope of this article. However, there are many comprehensive home theater sites on the Web, such as:
I will make one general recommendation pertaining to you equipment purchase. Start with a budget and choose a complete system that fits within that budget. Take a look at www.audioholics.com/buying-guides/system-buying-guides/. This site gives recommendations for complete systems based on price points.
Good luck!
Jon
How to Hide a Spare House Key
For many people, having a spare key for emergency situations is a must. Whatever the reason- as a backup in the event you lose you primary key, so that your children don't need to keep a key with them, or for emergency entrance by others, the important things to consider are location, disguise, and protection.
Location
The first thing to consider is WHERE you want to keep the spare key. Some of the more common ideas I've heard or read are:
- Under a doormat- Please don't do this, even if it is just for five minutes. It is probably the first place that comes to mind when someone thinks of hiding a key and the first place that a burglar will look. Choose a place that isn't obvious to potential thieves.
- In the dog house (where the pitbull hangs out)
- In a flower pot
- Inside the zipper of patio furniture cushions (my patio furniture cushions do not have zippers)
- Somewhere hidden in your landscaping (inside a plastic bag buried in the mulch, taped to the base of a bush, etc.)
- Nailed to a tree
The bottom line is that you want to choose a place that will be difficult for others to find. This hiding place should not be highly visible to others. The last thing you want is reach into your secret bush and have a dozen people watching you. For areas near a metal structure, a magnetic key case can provide storage and some protection from the elements. This particular one is made of plastic, so it won't rust like the ones you can find at the local hardware store.
Disguise
Disguising the location of the key decreases the chances that a burglar will find it. Most disguises involve buring the key in something or taping the key behind or underneath something. Examples of burying include hiding the key in the soil in a flower pot and under mulch in flower beds. Examples of taping include securing the key under the barbeque grill, inside the gutter downspout, and behind/underneath a part of a deck. In addition to the methods above, there are a couple of "hiding places" that can be purchased online.
- Pretend Sprinkler Head - This particular product also includes a window sticker that reads, "WARNING: THIS PROPERTY PROTECTED BY SDC SECURITY SYSTEMS". A visual deterrent is one of the most valuable aspects of a security system. In fact, the largest traffic source to this article on wireless security systems is from Google searches for ADT yard signs.
Personally, I think the pretend rock is old news. However, if you have lots of rocks on your property, then a fake rock may be a great choice. The sprinkler head is a great idea, but only if you have an in-ground sprinkler system. If not, it may look odd to have only one sprinkler head for your entire lawn.
Protection
Finally, consider restricing access to the key with some sort of a combination lock, either in a lockbox, in the garage, or both.
Lockbox
In the Garage
- Wireless keypad garage door opener (Make sure that your purchase a model that is compatible with your garage door opener)
An alternative to a garage can be a tool shed that is secured by a combination padlock.
In the Garage in a Lockbox
Now you have got two layers of protection, the keypad combination to open the garage door and the lockbox.
One additional way that you can protect your spare key is to keep it at a trusted neighbor's house. This the the best choice for many people. Your spare key is locked inside someone else's home (hopefully not labeled with your address). If you ever need the key, a cell phone call is all you need to access the spare- provided your nieghbor is at home. The downside is that you must find a neighbor that you trust and who will usually be home during the times that you may need to drop by and pick up the spare key.
Conclusion
My choice would be to keep the spare key in the garage in a lockbox. However, I would take the extra step of mounting the lockbox in a non-obvious location. If your garage contains lots of clutter, use that as concealment. Now you have multiple safeguards in place- a combination keypad for garage entry and a hidden box with combination access in the garage. If you also have a home security system that must be disarmed upon entry, you can feel pretty good about keeping a spare key around.
Jon
How to Build a Media Room
While I love the versatility of locating the primary television in a family gathering area, that location often makes it difficult to create an ideal atmosphere for watching movies. If you are a television and movie aficionado and have a spare room in your home, you may want to consider turning that room into a media room.
There are two primary benefits to a media room- better acoustics and better viewing conditions. These conditions are present because of things like: an absence of windows (or good room darkening blinds), low ceilings, dark ceiling/wall paint, dark carpet and furnishings, proper viewing distance and angles, etc.
Identify (or Build) a Room
The first thing you will need to do is to identify a room. If you only have one option, then your job is done. However, maybe you have more than one unused room or can swap the furnishings of one room with another. Or maybe you have an unfinished basement you are currently designing a floor plan. If you are using existing equipment, try to go with a room size that matches your screen size. Here is a viewing distance calculator. If you are working with a clean slate, you can design to your personal preference. I would prefer a fairly large room because it allows flexibility with screen size and furnishings. You can always fill extra space with side tables, a popcorn machine, a DVD rack, etc. I ended up with a room that is 20 feet long and 16 feet wide with a 7 1/2 foot ceiling height (due to duct work). The room is in a buried basement and has no windows. I chose windowless french doors for the entry (that swing out instead of in so that the screen is not obstructed as people enter and exit the room).
Address Pre-wiring, Lighting, Flooring, and Sound Insulation
After you've selected the room, take care of anything that requires cutting drywall. Pre-wire for speakers. Pull adequate electrical wiring. Try to have a dedicated circuit for your surge protector. Is there sufficient lighting? If not, add sconces and/or recessed lights. And remember, any lighting that is controlled by a switch can be remotely controlled. See my article on remotely controlled dimmers for additional details. These dimmers integrate beautifully with universal remotes such as the Harmony One. If you plan to use a ceiling-mounted projector (as I did), you will need to run the necessary cabling (HDMI and power) from the projector to the equipment rack. For power, you can add an outlet on the ceiling next to the projector mount or run the power alongside the HDMI cable. I chose the latter because I wanted the projector to run through my surge protector.
Depending on your circumstances, you may want sound insulation. You can either blow insulation into the wall or attach acoustic panels to the face of the wall. Along those lines, hardwood flooring may not be the best option for good acoustics. If you do have hard flooring, use are rugs to absorb some of the sound.
One final item- I had a 12 inch raised platform built in the back of my media room. It is 6 feet deep and creates a nice stadium seating effect for the rear row of chairs. Or course, this needs to be built prior to installing and flooring.
In Part 2 of this article, I'll cover paint, furnishing, and finishing the media room.
Jon
Entry Level Table Saws
This post is a continuation of a series outlining my most useful tools. A few years ago, I wanted to construct a built-in bench, but didn’t want to rely on a circular saw for straight cuts. I picked up an inexpensive Ryobi BTS10S Table Saw from Home Depot for $99. It included a stand. I don’t think that the model I own is still in production, but Amazon sells a similar model made by Black & Decker- model BDTS200. These saws are fairly compact as far as table saws are concerned, and light enough for a single person to move around (the Black & Decker model includes a stand with wheels for additional mobility).
A table saw is best at ripping pieces of wood. To rip wood is to make a cut down the length of the piece of wood (as opposed to crosscutting, which is what a mitre saw would do). As an example, I ripped pieces of mahogany trim to make a modular wine rack fit flush with the walls as part of my wine closet project. For my built-in bench, I use the table saw to cut sections of ¾” oak plywood. All in all, I have been very happy with my purchase and it has been well worth the money that I paid for it.
Now remember, this is an entry level table saw. High end cabinet saws can cost thousands of Dollars. A $150 saw will have a smaller table, a smaller blade, less power, and a less accurate fence (the guide that positions the piece of wood parallel to the blade). However, I believe that it is more than sufficient for DIY home improvement person that only uses that saw occasionally.
As with any power tool, safety is very important. Follow the instructions provided with the equipment and wear safety glasses and hearing protection.
Jon
