I'm having a bit of an issue and want some advice. We all get into project mode every now and then and it drives my wife nutz whenever I want to change anything to do with the theater. The burnt yellow walls are nice but I think it might be time for a change. Plus I would be able to get the full benefit of a projector upgrade with darker walls. A mere hint of the idea of painting had her reaching for the red button to nuke my plans. How do you guys get your spouse on board for this kind of stuff? This isn't even really a money issue, which is usually what stalls my ideas out.

She loves it as is and probably spends more time in the room than I do watching movies. Thing is, I listen to music in there a lot with the lights on and dimmed. So I see the wall color more while in use. I wish I hadn't caved in the beginning and got more clout on the wall color choice..... bah

Future maybe....

I listen to music in the dark, in a cave that's already dark. I ussually end up with my eyes closed anyway.
For movie viewing the darker room is certainly good. Maybe consider wider masking around your screen?
Happy wife happy life.
My wife could care less and doesn't use our theater/cave/walkin closet. The rooms too dark.

Turning the lights off goes a long way.

I hope the wifey aint reading your posts on this forum or you may have a not so happy wife . My ex was reading my conversations when i use to use icq, not good. LOL

She is at least softening to the idea now. We'll see I guess.

Is there any chance this is just a case of your wife really liking the current colour, since it sounds like she more or less picked it ?

The good thing here is that much of your discomfort with current colour seems to be how it looks with the lights on, so at least you will be on common ground when talking about new colours for that part of the discussion.

It is pretty hard to find colours that will look good with lights on (which is the way your wife will judge them) and which have optimal performance when the theater is running (which is the way you will judge them) so maybe wider masking as brwsaw suggested, even extending to the first part of the side walls, might be a solution there.

Yeah, she pushed for it, but we agreed so I can't really complain for my part. Seems like the mood is thawing about it. Good stuff. She has a business trip coming up. Perfect transformation time. Part of the issue is disrupting the room use. Gotta schedule it around business hours. Lol.

what is the words.. it's far easier to ask for forgiveness that to ask for permission. Paint a wall, or part of a wall a new colour.. call it a feature wall.

Probably not a great idea..... I know where you are going though.

The very last thing I would want is resentment over my hobby. Wouldnt be a great start to eventually get atmos up and running, with 8" in ceilings and a rack full of QSC DCA cinema amps..... Baby steps.

She likes the paint colour with the lights on, you want something darker for your home theatre with the lights off...put up a couple of rails for some dark curtains behind the screen, best of both worlds. If you get heavy fabric they'll probably stop some reflections as a bonus.

I know where you are going but this room is far past curtains acoustically.

Pull down shades at the sides of the screen?

Thermochromic paint and baseboard heaters ?

Hyper colour T shirts on the wall with a garden hose nearby!

Seriously though, had to google it, thermochromic paint is kinda cool.

I've been through this. Some people just have issues visualizing dark colors. I have a green faux finish in my theater. It's aging now, but has held up fantastic. Ceilings are moss green. Anyways, with flat green on roof, and flat green on screen wall, no reflections and it's black with lights off. With any room, but even more so a dark room, it comes down to having nice lighting. We use pot lights to aim at pictures, my screen etc to brighten room. This room is 10 years old now, we might do a red next time but we still love it. It's basically done with two colors. A light color goes on first - just roll it on, then the top color gets rolled on but you put garbage bags on it when wet and rub it in, then pull off. Once she seen it, she loved it. It also hides flaws in the wall very very well. Any uneven gyprock or plaster is unseen. Killer is I started this, and then she wanted the entire house like it and I said no....too much.






...and I don't believe in the Happy wife happy life. That is complete nonsense probably made up by a woman I see too many men sacrificing their own happiness to make someone else happy only to be miserable. Both deserve to be happy or the relationship is doomed.

all these are old pics but you get the idea

I like your room. I respect the amount of work you put in. Kudos!

From your pics I understand you are a DIYr too. It's really fun to keep chasing a moving target and super gratifying to look at projects when done! Good stuff.

Thanks. Yeah those pics are old. I'm not sure what to do next. Theater seating is long overdue, new flooring too. I'm going to focus more on the room now. Speakers in that room are done with a 7.2.4 I need nothing more. It's hard to capture in pics but the pine with the green is easily my favorite in the house given the rest of the house is typical colonial molding/white doors everywhere type home. The woman just said hey put Atmos upstairs too! So I'm jumping on that idea asap! I'm sure she'll get me back with something lol.