Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Basement PJ Home Theater - Wall Color Scheme

Hey folks.

I've been thinking about painting the wall(s) in my basement home theater to a darker color. I've got a front projector with a fixed screen (black velvet border). The ceilings are only 7 feet, given its a converted basement.

Presently, the walls are a mid-tone khaki/tan color, with a white ceiling. I've talked the wife into painting the wall behind the screen black or charcoal gray. I might leave the remaining walls tan and the ceiling white.

I thought that maybe a total make-over might work better, though, by painting all the walls a darker color (possibly brown), or maybe painting the ceiling tan to match the walls.

Any thoughts on color schemes? Note that, even if I leave it as-is, I'm very happy with how the image looks on the screen. The change would be mostly for "lights on" appeal, but also hope that painting the wall behind the screen a dark color will reduce some occasionally annoying distractions from light spill.

Thoughts, specifically on color choice, and on painting the ceiling?

I think having the ceiling the same color as the walls really gives a room a cave-y feel. A dark ceiling will reduce the reflected light coming off the screen, but some (non-anal-purists) see that as a benefit since a bit of ambient light can help reduce eye strain in a dark theater.

Hi Capn Pickard:

So we painted our basement theater room a dark purplish color on all the walls, with a lighter purple color on the ceiling, and then an even lighter purple color on the walls of the stairs leading down to the room (the stairs are behind all the seating). I basically got paint cards and found the first dark color I liked and just went up the progression from dark to light on the card. The colors look really nice and rich and it makes a huge difference when we watch a movie (we have a 100" Elite screen - 1.1. gain I think, with a Panny PTAX200U). Previous to this color everything was white and the glare was quite harsh. Now the image just pops off the screen. Painting the ceiling helped a lot too, but we deliberately didn't go as dark for fear of making the room seem way too small (our room is 21.5' x 12.5' x 7').

On the type of paint - we chose Benjamin Moore Aura after seeing some good reviews, including one off of a person's post here at the forums. No joke, one coat did it, no primer, that's it. And it goes on so beautifully and the odor is very minimal - we loved using the paint. I'm sure if we had to go over a darker color then a primer and/or multiple coats may have been warranted.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Peter and idboy. I'll check out that Aura paint soon.

The purple sounds a little dramatic for my taste, but I bet when the lights go out, it turns black as night.

I worry about the cave-feel with the low ceilings, for sure. Maybe I will do this in parts and paint the walls first.

Adrien here's some ideas I came across....

http://www.ehow.com/list_6964654_theater-room-paint-colors.html

http://www.diy-home-theater-design.com/home-theater-paint.html

http://www.your-home-theater-design.com/home-theater-paint.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_5079448_choose-paint-colors-home-theater.html

We're half tempted to do a makeover for our TV room also, I'm really digging some of the earthtones and neutral paint schemes that's been floating around the internet lately. If we had a sure enough dedicated home theater that was not a part of the main living area I would probably contemplate a dedicated dark scheme color-decor combo but with the smallish house we have and the TV room being a part of the main floor traffic area it just ain't going to happen and that really gets the ol' noggin' working overtime on paint schemes and decorating ideas that can work with both worlds ... sometimes it ain't easy being middle class.

There, fixed that for ya.

Front projector systems have different demands than a rear projection or flat panel displays. Any reflection whatsoever will adversely affect the image. ANSI contrast ratio being the most largely effected piece. ANSI CR is what gives the image "punch" and 3-D depth. Just as audiophiles go through extreme measures for SQ, videophiles do to. I've seen some pretty crazy techniques that folks go through to eliminate light spill, right up to sealing the projector light path in the machine itself. For room color, flat black is the most preferred, but it's ugly and a real bitch to keep clean. A good compromise is painting the screen wall black, the ceiling black and the remaining walls a dark color in an eggshell finish. Black velvet on the walls is the ultimate, but costly. I'm pretty fussy about video quality, but settles for painting everything a dark burgundy in eggshell. I can see some reflection, but not enough to bother me. If I want light in the room, I open a black out shade over the window or turn on some lights.

Yay, Tom's Oktoberfest avatar is back

Thanks, all. I think a flat charcoal gray will do as a good first step. I'll take stock of things after this is done. I'm very hesitant to paint the room too dark all over. With one window and a 7 foot ceiling, when not in use, I think only Batman will be comfortable down there.

Then maybe only Batman deserves to enjoy your theatre.

John -