Media Room in game room or bed room (Houston, Mart: house, theater)

[tentenequals20]

We looked at a house that did not have a media room, but has a game room(19x18 dimension)
It is closed on 3.5 sides and open for about half the side of the room. Can this be used as a media room as well as a small game room?

Here are the bedroom sizes (other than master bed room)

2nd Bed: 14x12
3rd Bed: 12x11
4th Bed: 13x11
5th Bed: 13x12

Can any of these rooms fit a media room and can accommodate a projector/screen type theater system with good speakers? We probably need seating for 6 people at most.

Thank you for any suggestions, in case you know about media rooms.

[Cbink]

A couple of things to consider for a media room:

- light. Does the game room have windows or a lot of light coming in?
- sound. Do you need to contain the sound a little? If there's a half length opening quite a lot of sound will escape. This will also affect surround sound performance but only a little for a home theater scenario.

I would think you could make the game room work if you can keep the light in there down.
The other rooms IMO would be too small as you'd end up really close to the screen and with seating for 6 you're probably looking at two rows of seats (if you're going down the media seating route).

You will also have light issues in the bedrooms although you can install blackout blinds to limit this. Some people have blackout blinds then put the screen in front of the window to minimize light into the room.

[EasilyAmused]

Those secondary bedrooms are very small. In fact, a single bed and a night stand might be the most you can get in two of them. I don't see theater seating fitting in there

Of all the new builds I've seen lately, not in the MPCs,the media room idea has been scraped. It might have gone the way of a fad. Like said above, the gameroom can easily double as a media room with the right blockout blinds or shutters.

[Cbink]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

Those secondary bedrooms are very small. In fact, a single bed and a night stand might be the most you can get in two of them. I don't see theater seating fitting in there

Of all the new builds I've seen lately, not in the MPCs,the media room idea has been scraped. It might have gone the way of a fad. Like said above, the gameroom can easily double as a media room with the right blockout blinds or shutters.

I think the media room idea makes sense in the suburbs and MPC's where space generally isn't an issue but in areas where space is a premium having a media room in lieu of a bedroom doesn't make that much sense and the fad has worn out and practicality has won through.

That being said, I have a dedicated media room and it gets used every day. It's where my wife and I escape to in the evening.

[Cabot]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

Those secondary bedrooms are very small. In fact, a single bed and a night stand might be the most you can get in two of them. I don't see theater seating fitting in there

Of all the new builds I've seen lately, not in the MPCs,the media room idea has been scraped. It might have gone the way of a fad. Like said above, the gameroom can easily double as a media room with the right blockout blinds or shutters.

This made me laugh! Those size bedrooms are often the master bedroom in the UK (and no built in closets)!!

[smuggy_mba]

Originally Posted by tentenequals20

We looked at a house that did not have a media room, but has a game room(19x18 dimension)
It is closed on 3.5 sides and open for about half the side of the room. Can this be used as a media room as well as a small game room?

Here are the bedroom sizes (other than master bed room)

2nd Bed: 14x12
3rd Bed: 12x11
4th Bed: 13x11
5th Bed: 13x12

Can any of these rooms fit a media room and can accommodate a projector/screen type theater system with good speakers? We probably need seating for 6 people at most.

Thank you for any suggestions, in case you know about media rooms.

The 2nd Bed 14X12 can be an option. If the front wall is 12 ft, you can have a 120" screen comfortably leaving 1 ft on each side for the speakers.

You can have one row of seating (may be a sectional). Make sure you know which projector your're using so that you can determine the throw ratio and do the wiring for projector accordingly.

This link is your friend: Projection Calculator Pro - Projector to Screen Distance

Your choice of screen/projector will depend on whether the room is light controlled or not. Make sure the room is dark enough to not allow ambient light. Go to http://www.avsforum.com/ for more info.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by tentenequals20

We looked at a house that did not have a media room, but has a game room(19x18 dimension)
It is closed on 3.5 sides and open for about half the side of the room. Can this be used as a media room as well as a small game room?

Here are the bedroom sizes (other than master bed room)

2nd Bed: 14x12
3rd Bed: 12x11
4th Bed: 13x11
5th Bed: 13x12

Can any of these rooms fit a media room and can accommodate a projector/screen type theater system with good speakers? We probably need seating for 6 people at most.

Thank you for any suggestions, in case you know about media rooms.

None of those bedrooms will be big enough to have a home theater that will seat 6 optimally. It could be done in the 14 x 12 bedroom with 2 rows of 3 seats, but the viewing won't be optimal.

If I were you, I'd go to AVSForum.com and post the details of the rooms along with your budget and get some opinions there. There will be people with similar situations that have built theaters who will share with you their layouts and the pros/cons.

I would personally use the game room and have it set up strictly as a home theater, but that's because I love watching movies. My home theater is 9 x 17 and it only accommodates 4 because I didn't want to shoehorn in 6 chairs and have a poor layout. It was an unfinished attic space with no windows (walls, floor, ceiling, power, a/c, etc). I use it all of the time, and love it.

I have it setup with 7.2 plus a transducer in each seat.

The only things I have left are to upgrade one sub, put the back seats on a riser and have my movie posters framed to hang up.

There are a million HTs better than mine, but I still love mine and use it all the time.

[PedroMartinez]

Take a look at this thread: Small Theater Build Threads - Page 10

[Cbink]

Originally Posted by Cabot

This made me laugh! Those size bedrooms are often the master bedroom in the UK (and no built in closets)!!

Lol! Absolutely right! (I'm a Brit and would struggle to move back after experiencing Houston housing)

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

None of those bedrooms will be big enough to have a home theater that will seat 6 optimally. It could be done in the 14 x 12 bedroom with 2 rows of 3 seats, but the viewing won't be optimal.

If I were you, I'd go to AVSForum.com and post the details of the rooms along with your budget and get some opinions there. There will be people with similar situations that have built theaters who will share with you their layouts and the pros/cons.

I would personally use the game room and have it set up strictly as a home theater, but that's because I love watching movies. My home theater is 9 x 17 and it only accommodates 4 because I didn't want to shoehorn in 6 chairs and have a poor layout. It was an unfinished attic space with no windows (walls, floor, ceiling, power, a/c, etc). I use it all of the time, and love it.

I have it setup with 7.2 plus a transducer in each seat.

The only things I have left are to upgrade one sub, put the back seats on a riser and have my movie posters framed to hang up.

There are a million HTs better than mine, but I still love mine and use it all the time.

Nice job on the theater! Looking good and impressed with the way in which you've managed to arrange it all in a relatively small space.

Mine is fairly basic; 65" Plasma, 5.1 surround and a sectional but we love it. I love to watch soccer and wanted a plasma because of the 600Hz refresh rate. Ideally, I'd like to have a drop down screen so I can have a bigger viewing area for movies but it's a fairly low priority!





Sorry for the poor photo quality. We weren't sure if we really had enough space to put in media seating (we wanted at least 2 rows of 3) so went for a sectional instead. I've since hidden all the wires in the wall too.

[deckhanddavy]

Your 2nd bedroom (12x14) is definitely doable. Our media room in our home is the same size. It's a little small, but perfect for our needs. Be sure to use blackout curtains on the bedroom window and do what you can to remove any other light leakage. If you don't mind darker colors, media rooms with projection units almost always need dark walls and ceilings. Lighter walls reflect light easily and will bounce back onto your projector screen. This will cause your video to look washed out and contrast to be lacking.

Here is a photo of my room that is 11 1/2 by 14. We use blackout curtains in the entry way. We have no windows in the room. The screen is 92", but you can probably go larger as you most likely don't have 12" bumpouts as we do. Because your room is smaller, I would suggest using acoustic panels to better separate a 5.1 speaker system. We use it and it made the world of difference!