This DIY home theater project was kindly provided by a reader of Home Stratosphere.
The room is capable of watching regular TV, streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu as well as Blueray DVDs. It’s the ultimate TV Room.
Below is a series of photos that step you through exactly what he did to create a professional-looking media room with some very nice flourishes that give it a vintage cinema look.
How long: Worked 1 weekend day per week for 1 year to complete.
Seating
As you can see in the finished result above, the room includes stadium seating with large, plush leather (real leather) armchairs that cost $3,200 for all four. No expense was spared on the chairs, which I think was very smart. After all, comfort is paramount when enjoying a movie or TV show.
The projector is a Panasonic PT-AW-100U floor-mounted projector.
Screen
You’ll also notice that the format is a projector with screen. This is ideal for a home theater, but given the size of today’s televisions, you can also opt for an 85″ TV that’s wall-mounted. If going the TV route, it’s more of a media room than a home theater.
What’s cool is that the projector is mounted on the floor placed in a custom-built wood box.
Sound
In addition to the Tannoy speakers at the front and rear, shaker bass speakers were wired into each seat.
Color scheme
I love the two-tone gray walls, matte black ceiling and red color scheme used. The splashes of red on the walls under the lights look great as it matches the deep red carpeting.
Universal remote control
Everything in the room is controlled by one universal remote control – lights, sound and viewing material. Homeowner went with the Genesis MX-900 universal remote control.
Not just the room
The builder of this custom home theater created a fun entry area into the theater creating a “home cinema” effect.
Below, you can scroll through photos that depict the step-by-step process for building this top-notch home theater.
Step-by-Step Instructions (Photos)
The starting point for building your own home theater is to set up a bare room with drywall and establish the foundation. In this case, part of the floor will be raised for the stadium seating.
Gray pipe conduit for any future upgrades. The conduit comes through the wall. Behind the wall is the AV equipment.
Before building a media room, you need to give some thought to wire management. There can be a lot of wires that are best concealed but done so in a safe manner.
This is the framing on the walls to create slight “column” style wall accents. Uses 1″ x 3.5″ MDF boards.
Take the space to the next level with cinema-like lighting and wall adornments.
MDF boards for wall columns leaning against wall getting ready for installation.
A large square is cut into the wall which is where the audio-visual control panel will go.
One aspect of this media room that makes it awesome is the custom wall paneling to give it a vintage cinema look. You can see it in progress here.
Photo of the AV equipment from the back. Includes antennae for URC (universal remote).å
The home theater is starting to shape up nicely at this point. The red accent on the wall columns is applied which will match the deep red carpeting.
Obviously dark colors work well so that it is a dark space. The wall color is two-tone gray.
The ceiling is painted matte black.
Red fine carpet is used throughout giving it the “red carpet” effect.
The object in the center of the floor where the projector is mounted. The white wires are for the bass shakers that are placed in the chairs.
The up-lighting is also a very nice effect – similar to that in cinemas. It provides some light but away from the screen.
The Finished Result (Photos)
Photo of the finished DIY home theater from behind showcasing the 4 seats built on stadium-like seating platform all having a great view of the screen. Also, check out the entry area which is a little alcove with movie posters.
View of completed home theater from the front. The wood box in between the two front chairs is a custom cabinet for storing the projector.
Notice the ample space between the seats that include cupholders. It’s a very comfortable space for watching movies and TV.
The home cinema includes some nice touches like movie posters.
Here’s a photo of the theater in action with Game of Thrones playing – it’s the awesome scene where Drogon the Dragon attacks the Lannister army.
Close up of the audio-visual control panel that controls the sound and projector. It’s professionally mounted into the wall and makes it super easy to run this theater.
Photo of the outer area leading into the home theater with movie posters and nice wall paneling.
