My Dream DIY Media Room

Welcome, YouTube viewers! Scroll down to the end of this page for the shopping list for this space. Thanks for visiting!

Then and now...

The transformation of our little-used upstairs bonus room (before, above) into a media room with 100-inch Big Screen TV is complete! I surprised DH with an HGTV-style big "reveal," and from his reaction, I knew he hadn't peeked during the 3 month reno (short video here).

Thanks to "malansmithii" for posting his amazing DIY Chrismark Theater (at right) on Rate My Space, and giving me the inspiration to create my own.

My goal was to do a Candice Olsen-style space for a lot less than she spends. My "buyer's guide" & techie info is at the end of the post. Take a short video tour of the finished space here, or at the end of this post. Rate this space on the Rate My Space website here.

Welcome to my favorite space!

Sherwin Williams' "Toasty" flat paint warmed up the 17 x 19 foot space and made it seem even bigger. The Sopranos and Jack Bauer flank the 100" screen. I did all the work myself with some heavy lifting assistance from several neighbors.

(For you "24" fans, my desk lamp from IKEA was the official lamp of CTU and my techie hero, Chloe.)

A Panasonic LCD projector and Stewart Firehawk screen allow viewing with some ambient light in the room, great if you love daytime sports. But the 1080p picture is simply awesome at night in the dark, when the room truly becomes a theater.

BTW, men and women love this room! American Idol was like being there.

Two colorful club chairs from Rooms To Go really make the room. They tie in all the colors from the custom-framed art from AllPosters.com. They're the perfect size for the space. We don't have room for theater-style recliners, which don't look great in a non-dedicated theater room, IMHO.

I created a snack bar out of 2 IKEA kitchen cabinets and a 15" beverage cooler. A granite remnant forms the countertop. The 3 puck lights above are controlled by Z-wave technology and a Harmony 890 universal remote as is all the lighting in the space. This is a retrofit anyone can DIY.

The microwave comes in handy for movie popcorn. The cabinet on the right conceals a trash and recycling center and more storage.

When we have guests, the four leather cube ottomans separate to turn the sofa and chairs into comfy "recliners." We slide the chairs over on either side of the sofa and set up tray tables for drinks and snacks.

My home office still occupies the back of the room, but it's neater now. Ollie Cat waits in front of the door out to the stairway.

I chose glass to make my workspace less visually dominant in the room. The West Elm sawhorse desk can be easily taken apart and stowed in the adjacent storage room, allowing a second row of seating.

3 IKEA cabinets provide a place for the projector. Hanging them by myself was not easy. Nor was hiding the wires. I added 3 puck lights to spotlight the movie posters on the picture ledge below.

IKEA's Trollsta cabinet conceals the printer, modem, router, and several hard drives connected wirelessly to my computer on the desk.

A full bath comes in handy at intermission time. There's also an 8 x 12 foot storage room. Both were put in when we built the house.

One of the non-obvious advantages of the gray Firehawk screen is it's plasma-like appearance when the projector is off.

Update: I looked at several IKEA media cabinets, but found that none fit the depth of my Denon receiver and they were flimsy looking. I found the BDI cherry home theater cabinet on sale ($600 off ) as an in-store Manager's Special at Best Buy. I knew it was the one, even though $1,200 was a budget buster. I'm so happy I got it because it adds richness to the room and ties in the cherry finish of the speakers. Most importantly, all the interior shelves and the back are louvered for airflow. And I can fit a lot of gadgets in there. LOL.

The bright ambient daylight shown here washes out the screen, so you must have good window coverings to maximize your picture.

BTW, I got a Slingbox Pro HD for when I want to have the TV news on, while working on my Mac. You don't run a projector for background TV while you goof around on your computer. Replacement bulbs are expensive.

My Shopping List

Home Theater System Essentials:
1. Panasonic PT-AE3000U LCD 1080p Projector, $2450 - B&H Photo online
2. Stewart Filmscreen Firehawk G3, 100" diagonal gray screen, $1888 - eBay seller "adroitsales," new, shipped from manufacturer
3. Denon AV-1909 Surround Receiver, $600 - Magnolia Home Theater @ Best Buy
4. Intimus 4T Hybrid SA in Cherry, 7.1 surround system, $1760 - aperionaudio.com
5. Monster PowerCenter HTS 1000 MKIII, $119 - amazon.com
6. 3 Monster 800 Series HDMI cables, $160 - eBay seller "hdmi4less," new in packages
7. Logitech Harmony 890 Universal Remote, refurbished $149 - amazon.com
8. HD DVR - DirecTV, free with subscription (1080i)

9. BDI Avion 8527 cabinet, cherry, $1199 (on sale) - Magnolia Home Theater @ Best Buy

HT Extras:
1. Sony Playstation 3, $399 (for Blu-ray, 1080p) - Best Buy

2. Apple TV, $279 (720p) - apple.com

3. Slingbox Pro HD, $250 - amazon.com
4. VUDU HD Internet Movie Player (1080p), $149 - vudu.com
5. Samsung VR-325 DVD Recorder/VCR (old, 480p) - Circuit City
6. *D-Link 8-port gigabit desktop switch, DGS-2208, $47 - amazon.com
7. Belkin Pure AV 3-port HDMI switch, $100 - amazon.com
8. Five Intermatic HomeSettings Z-Wave Dimmers, $90 - homeseer.com

*connects DVR, Apple TV, Vudu, PS3, and Slingbox to router via cat6 cable.

Snack Bar:
Akuram 24" kitchen cabinets, white - IKEA
Tidaholm 12" oak doors & trim panels, black/brown - IKEA
Lansa Handles - IKEA
Vinotemp VT-32BCSB Beverage Cooler - beveragefactory.com
Gold Brazil granite remnant - fabricated & installed by Continental Granite, Bunnell FL
Lack shelf, black/brown - IKEA
Puck lights, black - Lowe's
GE Microwave - Lowe's

Furnishings:
Leggett & Platt ultrasuede queen sofabed (4 years old) - Furnitureland South
Robertson Accent Chairs - Rooms To Go
Leather cube ottomans in Ponderosa - Ballard Designs
Trollsta Sideboard, black - IKEA
Besta 24" shelf units & doors, white - IKEA
Sawhorse Worktable (desk) - West Elm
Ergonomic desk chair (old) - Relax The Back
Clear floor mat - Sam's Club
Recumbent exercise bike (old) - Vision Fitness

Accessories:
Custom-framed posters - allposters.com
Ribba picture ledge, black - IKEA
Shag rug - Home Depot
Red velour pillows - Target
Red travel pillows - IKEA
Faux fur throw, brown - Homegoods
Husvik Floor Lamp - IKEA
Farja Desk Lamp - IKEA
Knubbig Table Lamp, white - IKEA
Chrome puck lights - Lowe's
Riddell mini football helmets - eBay
Bosch Tassimo Coffeemaker - amazon.com
Plastic popcorn tubs and photo used above - popcornpopper.com
Plastic rectangular tray, black - Target
American Flag bowl, tray tables (Bombay Co.), needlepointc at pillow, plaster columns are old.

Colors:
Walls: Sherwin Williams SW6095 Toasty, flat

Ceiling: Sherwin Williams SW6126 Navaho White, flat
Woodwork: Sherwin Williams SW7008 Alabaster, high gloss

Window Covering:
Plantation Shutters were installed several years ago - Blinds4Less, St. Augustine FL

Extra DIY Savings:

Shop online for the best prices and availability, and save on sales tax too. Many sellers are now offering free shipping. Join Amazon Prime for $79 annually and get 2-day free shipping on many items. Other than the granite slab, I picked up everything I bought in retail stores in my SUV. I saved $200 in delivery fees on the 2 chairs and media cabinet alone.

Love to know what you think of this space! It's now posted for you to rate on Rate My Space here.

Now the Geek Stuff

I did all my research on the web for about 3 weeks before making my first purchase - the projector. This helped me determine if the project was do-able and what size screen to buy.

The carpeted room is 17 feet wide x 19 feet long. The ceiling is 10 feet high.

The Stewart Firehawk screen is 100" diagonal, 55 .6" high x 93.6" wide, 1.78.1 aspect ration (16:9). It's mounted 29" above the floor. I saved $600 by buying from an authorized dealer (adroitsales) on eBay.

The main viewing position on the sofa is 11 feet from the screen. The throw distance from projector to screen is 18 feet. I ran one long Monster HDMI cable from the A/V receiver to the projector on the back wall. I didn't ceiling mount the projector because we use the ceiling fan. If you stand up from the middle of the sofa, your shadow hits the screen by about a foot, but who cares?

The floor is carpeted. There is no acoustic treatment on the walls or ceiling, but the 7.1 surround sound is great. We aren't audiophiles, so this is a fine family room system - it has blown people away. Concerts on Blu-ray are amazing.

At night there is some reflection, in bright scenes, off the wall of white shutters - the slider alone is 80 square feet. For the best picture, ideally you want your entire room to be painted dark, but mine is not meant to be a dedicated theater. So I will eventually make some roman shades and curtains to draw at night, which will enhance the design as well.

The Harmony 890 remote, our third, controls all the A/V components and the lighting, connected via Z-Wave switches and plug-in modules, as seen it the video tour above (For complete information, visit Homeseer.com). I did all the home theater wiring and the accent lighting myself. The six ceiling cans were installed by the builder.

As a Big Screen TV junkie, I had to have 1080p. And that means DirecTV and Blu-Ray. And we use it just about every day. If you're going to invest in a theater, go for it if you can. If you're on a tight budget, there are a lot of great deals on 720p equipment and you will love it. But beware the urge to upgrade at any time!

Are you ready for some football?

Or maybe a Blu-ray movie on the 100-inch BIG screen? 

Click the little screen above for a 2 1/2 minute video tour of our new DIY media room/home theater. Photos, resource list and DIY details are in the next post. And here's the before/work-in-progress video.

8 NFL games. On one big screen. Cool. Is it September yet?

NFL GameMix image courtesy of DirecTV.

Before & After Video: Our Faux Fireplace

First, the bad news: It looks like the geniuses in the U.S. Congress may postpone the digital TV transition. 

Now, the good news: This allows plenty of time for the man in your life to get his humongous new Big Screen HDTV, and for you to try one of my creative solutions for integrating (camouflaging?) it into your decor!

My new 3-minute high definition video above shows you, before & after, how DH and I turned our 50" Samsung DLP TV into a Faux Fireplace and the focal point of our living room. 

UPDATE: There are some pretty bad (and expensive!) TV solutions out there. I just found this one for $9,200: A plasma TV on a lift that hides in a very fake looking fireplace. Yuck.

move it! redecorate for free

Everything old is new again. It's true. "Move your stuff" is my best advice to friends who say they're just bored with their interiors.

20 years ago, I learned this decorating secret from my neighbor Marcia, who had an extraordinary gift for accessorizing. Several times a year, Marcia would call me to come over and help her move furniture. And a lot of other stuff. The results were always amazing.

When I moved to a Florida-style house from a traditional Southern-style house, I wasn't sure how much of my stuff I'd be able to work into the new place. But much to my surprise, I found places for almost everything, and the coolest part was WHERE things ended up.

I liked my gold mirror in the old dining room, right, but I LOVE it over my great room TV now. And I had planned to put it in the new dining room...

My foyer, right, was one of my favorite spaces in my old house. The new house doesn't have a foyer. So the wrought iron mirror was supposed to go over the TV mantel in the great room, but it didn't fit. So it moved into my new dining room and I can't imagine it anywhere else.

The antique botanicals from Branca Chicago were perfect in the foyer vignette, along with my majolica plates. But I like them all so much better above the hutch in the new kitchen.

The antique pine dresser moved easily into one of my new guest bedrooms.

You don't have to wait to move to a new home before you recycle your stuff. Try it today. Everything will look brand new to you in its new location. You can always move it back, that's the beauty of it. And of course, it's FREE!

favorite space: how did this one get away?

Ricky & Jeff's Entry Lounge posted by wallscouture

Sometimes Rate My Space is a mystery to me. Uploaded 7 days ago, 2550+ views, 108 ratings, 4.2 stars. I would have picked this to be on or near the front page!

I love the the "Florida look," of course. The subtlety of the different faux paint treatments really stands out to me.  A lot of folks overdo faux in a single space, "because they can." Ricky's (AKA "wallscouture") restraint shows, and the result is wonderful. He also added the faux arched niche.

But my favorite feature is the drum shade Ricky had made to fit over his existing traditional fixture. Talk about a great idea with spectacular results. I may have to steal THAT idea!

If you like this space as much as I do, please rate it here and leave a nice comment. You'll also find all the details on the faux painting.

Turn your big tv into a faux fireplace

Want to "hide" a big screen TV in a traditional room? Here's a brief video of our great room's DIY media wall, as featured in HGTV Ideas magazine's summer issue.

We did it ourselves with a purchased mantel, a fireplace DVD, and our 50" Samsung DLP TV. Complete how-to info is here.

HGTV Ideas magazine photo shoot

What fun! HGTV Ideas magazine did a photo shoot in my home in January for the summer 2008 issue.

Photographer Nicholas Sargent, son of Kim Sargent (of Architectural Digest, Florida Design fame) and his assistant were terrific. (The curtain shot got left on the digital darkroom floor). Being a gadget geek, I loved learning about all the new digital equipment. Fascinating. Took half a day for the 2 shots.

The article is on Rate My Space and features 4 spaces, mine plus spaces by camryn1230 (dining room), rmemom (Den) and mariaferlo (Bedroom). Read the article here. As I understand it, the magazine is inserted in Scripps-owned newspapers across the country, but is not available on newstands. They told me it drops in mid-July.

If you'd like to rate my Comfy Old World Great Room, click here.

Mantel+TV+DVD = Faux fireplace

Here's how we created our great room's media wall featuring a "faux fireplace," featured in HGTV Ideas magazine.

Hanging a 50" TV above a fireplace was not an option - we'd have to crane our necks to see it from the sofa only 9 feet away. So we made the TV look like a fireplace in a mantel instead of hiding it in a cabinet. My inspiration was a very realistic fireplace DVD online ($14.95) from plasmawindow.com.

Here's how we did it...

Our builder built the arched niches from my drawing above. Jim and I did the rest in about 3 weeks using economical paint-grade poplar, pine and MDF from Home Depot.

We installed the Fairfield mantel in poplar from Premier Mantles, custom sized for the 24" deep niche. Then we built the removeable frame above that fits inside the mantel and around the TV. That was the hardest part of the entire project.

Our first-ever woodworking project (winter 2006). I did the miter cutting, trim and finish work. Jim handled the table saw and router. We now have a garage full of power tools. Our favorite is the Paslode nail gun. Everyone should have one.

BTW, I never knew DH had these skills until he retired from the business world and started watching HGTV with me.

Jim built the cabinet boxes out of sandeply plywood. Shelves are MDF. TV is a 50" Samsung DLP HDTV. The arched plantation shutters were custom made to fit the back of the niches by Blinds4Less, St Augustine.

The mitered doors with euro hinges were not quite so easy. I applied the trim and stapled on the speaker fabric from Acoustical Solutions, Inc.. after Jim assembled them. Hanging them was frustrating, but we had patience and got it right.

Cabinet painting, wall colors and painting, and other room details are here. If you want to try this and need more info, please let me know.

How do you handle YOUR big screen monster TV?

how-to: faux painted great room

Before I describe how I faux paint with trash bags (yeah, it sounds wacky, I know), I must confess that I'm completely self-taught through books, magazines and HGTV (does anyone else miss Debbie Travis?!) My mom was an artist, so maybe that's why I love to paint and find it creative and relaxing.

I don't want to paint for other people though. That would take the fun out of it...as I discovered when I had my window treatment business. Sewing became a drag. Besides, I love it when the smell of fresh paint finally GOES AWAY.

So for now, my 3 year old house is my canvas and paint is cheap. Instant makeovers in a few hours. My friends think I'm nuts. But who cares?

Basics:
For the mantel, cabinets and walls I used all Sherwin Williams latex paints and Behr clear Faux Glaze. I also add a small amount of water and Floetrol (extends drying time) to my glazes. You can dilute your glaze with a little water too. No hard and fast rules. Minimum 4 hours drying time is important! Step waaaayyyy back to survey your work and don't nitpick the small stuff. No one is supposed to use a microscope when viewing faux work. Don't let nosy friends or family members nitpick either.

Good idea to get some foamcore board to practice on and view it in the actual light conditions of your space. NOTE: If you have textured walls like I do, be sure to get spray-on texture from your paint store so you're simulating your actual surface. Remember to prime over it before you paint.

Glazed mantel & cabinetry:
First and most important, I primed the mantel and cabinetry with Kilz, sanded well.

• Brushed on 2 coats of Alabaster semi-gloss latex (SW 7008)
• Maintained a thin paint consistency to hide brush marks
• Brushed on a light glaze in and around the crevices
• Recipe: Faux glaze plus a little water, tinted with a very small amount of burnt umber acrylic colorant)
• Made sure to write down the recipe!!!
• Removed most of glaze with rags until I got the definition I wanted.

Walls:
I used these colors and this technique throughout the space except in the niches described below. Builder applied the base coat, Kilim Beige flat (SW 6106)

• First glaze rolled on in 3 sq. ft. sections
• 1st glaze recipe: faux glaze tinted with Mossy Gold satin, SW 6139)
• Bagging off is a subtractive faux technique similar to ragging off
• Partially removed 1st glaze with bunched up pieces of plastic trash bag
• Pitch saturated plastic pieces frequently as they'll stop removing glaze
• When dry, applied 2nd glaze dabbing it on with trash bags, an additive faux technique
• 2nd glaze recipe: faux glaze and a little water tinted with Kilim Beige
• 2nd glaze adds more depth and covers 1st glaze overlapping and boo boos
• Go for an organic or random effect rather than an amateurish repeating pattern
• Haphazard is GOOD.
• I've learned to finess corners to keep them from being too blotchy

Niche accent walls:
I used a green faux combination on back wall of the CENTER niche above the mantel and the wall opposite the media wall. The look I'm going for is crumbling plaster. Also used it in my breakfast nook and dining room niches, where I added a second thin glaze of gold metallic.

• Base coated with Mackintosh, satin (SW 8116)
• Recipe: faux glaze mixed with SW Marshland (SW8125)
• Rolled on and then partially removed with bagging off technique
• Touch up: make a light glaze with Mackintosh and dab on where needed to soften

Gold band trim:
This bit of trim covers the seams where faux sections overlapped and repeats the gold from the mirror. Really only works with rounded corner bead.

• Taped off a one inch border along the rounded corner bead on the edge of each niche
• Use ONLY blue painters tape for delicate surfaces and remove after each coat, within 45 minutes. Trust me on this!
• Painted two coats of Ralph Lauren's Golden Candlesticks metallic paint

Fave latex painting tip:
Use liquid Downey-type fabric softener with water to clean your brushes (and rollers if you're dilligent enough to reuse them).

Misc stuff in the great room:
Topiaries, faux tree & greenery, silk flowers from my favorite place, Marge's, Orlando; Christmas tree, floor candlesticks - Floral Supply Mart, JAX; Red urns and mantel candlesticks - Dockside Imports; Mirror - Colony, Charlotte; Sofas - Huntington House; Armchair where I watch HGTV - Key City; Coffee table - Lane Venture; End tables - Mexican import & Tommy Bahama; Antique pine - Metrolina Expo, Charlotte; Floor lamps -Holtkeotter; Black pillow fabric, Costa Blanca Xanadu. Most of the non-antique furniture is from Furnitureland South, High Point.

If you like this space, please rate it here!