Lounge redesign

[elootos]

Yep, after 4years of staring at the same false chimney breast with TV and speakers I'm bored to tears with my lounge. Been away for a week and in that time been thinking that it's not as good as it could be; I never originally planned to have a projector/gas fire upgrade so have remodeled it over the years to accommodate such things, but now is the time to take what I've learnt and start again(ish).

(er, old photo before gas fire and extension on the house!)
   

Brainstorming in there this morning I have a few changes I want to implement.

a) Move the projector screen to the bottom end of the room to drop in front of the french doors. The beams run the width of the room so I would recess the entire screen into the ceiling with just a thin slit for it to drop out. This also gives me the length of the room for the projector throw so could have a bigger screen, upto 3m width. It could also drop lower as the speakers would be off to the sides (where the current rear-right is already). The centre speaker would have to be above the French doors and a mesh cut-in to the black at the top of the screen to facilitate sound pass-through (seen someone else do this before). Due to the viewing distance being upto about 5m away (on the sofa), the height wouldn't affect sound positioning at all.

b) Move the projector to the middle of the room for the new position of the projector screen. This is where a bit of hobbyist DIY will come into play. I don't want the projector just hanging in the middle of the ceiling so plan to recess it and will look into a DIY projector lift. Apparently a scissor jack off ebay works wonders. One option is a 12V car one that I could fit with some limit switches, the other option is a lab jack (scissor again) that is more accurate but would require motor adapting etc. Cabling already runs across the middle of room so no major work required there.

Something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MD-7_vOq...re=related


c) Upgrade the TV and move to a corner of the room. My TV is a chunk. About 15cm thick and too bulky looking to just hang off the wall, so ideally I'd like a slim 32" model and hang it from perhaps above were the right hand sub currently is. Pull it out for TV watching and push it back when done. Just for everyday TV watching. Simple.

d) Take the chimney breast back as a chimney breast. Get rid of all the holes and plinth at the top and make it plain and smooth just for the gas fire. Easy.


Basically the idea is to take the room back as a living room with discrete wall-mounted TV in the corner, then have the projector etc all hidden and ready to pounce for movie-night i.e. make movie watching a different experience to TV watching.

Now I just need to run this past the wife and work out if I can do it all for under £400 and I'll start asap. Fingers crossed...

[newstuart]

Personally i think it looks better as it is compared to the other options you mention, poss motorise the pj to add to the wow effect,

[northan]

I didn't think it would be long before you got itchy feet and wanted to get your teeth stuck into a new project.
Options were to restart something or move house and start again So yea I can see the better option.

I like your plans to be honest, I prefer the discrete look. It only looks really good if people don't know what you got until you press that magical button that makes it all apear.

Ive seen some great bookcase sideboard mechanisims that let you push a tv out of hiding when you need it, there are some mechanisims that will discuise your tv as a mirror or picture, then you can swivel the tv for access when you need it.
I will try to look for this particular mechanisim, I thought it was brilliant, miles ahead of anything else on the market.

Are you going to do any sketch up drawings so we can see the layout?

[elootos]

Well I spent a while talking it all over with the wife and then she went on rightmove.co.uk

But I still would like to stay where I am for a few more years and moving the screen would only require a few hundred pounds so perhaps it'll do for now.

My opinion is that the chimney breast has become too customized and could be more discrete. Plus getting a screen down the end of the room would be perfect for a 3m beast it would fill the entire bottom end of the lounge and be a true wow factor compared to the current 'oh, that's nice'. Plus all the math for pj works well according to the online projector calculator; throw, screen size etc. It would work much better as a true home cinema rather than an add on to the existing TV.

Still a few more things to work out but fingers crossed I can get it done in time for the end of the year.

As for the tv, not sure where that would go but far less crucial than it was. I wouldn't want to put up the in built speakers on it but I'd get a good contrast between that and the pj/5.1!

[phillj]

It will be interesting to see how it turns out. It looks like a nice idea.

The big question I have is about the seating plan? From my understanding there are going to be two different viewing positions, so the sound and seating would need to work in both.

[elootos]

Well a few more hours over the weekend spent working out the logistics of it all and I've come to a few conclusions.

I may not need a projector lift as the pj would have to be at the back of the room anyway for the throw distance to match the screen size. Therefore if its at the back of the room then it shouldn't be too obtrusive in the room.

The screen cannot be sunk into the ceiling as there is a beam running the middle of the room - I remembered this from when running the original HDMI to where the PJ is now! So the solution is to build a pelmet the width of the room above the French doors and curtains. Once decorated with coving etc I think it will be very discrete and also a lot easier than pulling the bedroom floor up for a ceiling install!

All new cable runs can go behind the coving which I will replace for the majority of the room. As its stud walls, the wiring can then run vertically down to where it needs to go for speakers, TV aerial/HDMI etc.

Only costs (fingers crossed) are for new screen (>£180) and materials for decor etc.

(09-18-2010 01:16 PM)newstuart Wrote:  Personally i think it looks better as it is compared to the other options you mention, poss motorise the pj to add to the wow effect,

I think I'm just bored of the way it is, plus as I've modified it lots over the years I 'd like to start again with how I'd want it now. In reality the perspective of the photos doesn't quite give how much bigger the screen would be at the bottom of the room - I am sooooo looking forward to getting it done that if it doesn't happen I may cry

(09-19-2010 11:38 AM)northan Wrote:  I prefer the discrete look. It only looks really good if people don't know what you got until you press that magical button that makes it all apear.
Are you going to do any sketch up drawings so we can see the layout?

That's what I'm aiming for; something more discrete than what i have now. Not sure about Sketchup - it could take a bit too long to fiddle with and the wife's already given the go-ahead (kindof )

(09-20-2010 08:55 AM)phillj Wrote:  The big question I have is about the seating plan? From my understanding there are going to be two different viewing positions, so the sound and seating would need to work in both.

Not sure how or where the TV will go, but I don't intend to use the 5.1 other than for the PJ. I may just go down a small 2.1 speaker route for the TV.

TBH what's fuelling me to make the change is I spend too long listening to normal TV in surround and not enough time watching films properly. What I want is more of a contrast between daily TV watching and the less frequent film/HDTV watching.

And one of the annoyances since the very day I installed the original projector was that it doesn't drop low enough; my dream has always been to have a behemoth screen that drops level with your viewing level Plus I don't like the way it blocks the TV; I'd prefer to have the option for both to run as if I make a mistake with the display control panel in Windows, then I can't see the TV without raising the screen - small, but annoying! Oh, and finally you can't currently use the fire with the screen down, which in winter is a must-have for the wife!

[elootos]

Oh, one last thing I might try is to DIY tab-tension the new screen. The ripples do make it look naff on panning shots etc.

I've thought about it for my old screen lots of times but never could be bothered to pull it down, now however...

[elootos]

Been thinking more about the lounge and how to implement all the changes. It's looking more likely now that the chimney breast will go and that's made me evaluate how to adapt all the USB wiring etc that's behind the TV. I'd like to make the room more future proof for any new homeowner as well so plan to run spare\secondary hdmi and speaker cabling to a brush wall plate on the left hand side of the room. This should allow local equipment next to/behind the sofa used for projector watching. I plan to completely rerun all the other cabling that runs up to the loft as well. The current cabling was from over 4 years ago now and I think I can cut it down quite a bit. I also plan to create fused spurs for the TV and PJ/screen as well to create a proper implemented neat install

All in all it shouldn't cost too much, just lots of fiddling around which is all part of the fun anyway

[northan]

Just make sure you leave an instruction manual for the person buying your house in the future.

[elootos]

(09-23-2010 08:31 PM)northan Wrote:  Just make sure you leave an instruction manual for the person buying your house in the future.

Nah, it'll be easy. Hdmi, speaker cable and USB to the loft, then a couple of hdmis and some speaker cable to a blanking plate in the lounge.