Having the blank canvas of a new-construction home or big home addition is nice, but it’s not always applicable to your home theater project.

More often than not, you’ll wind up taking your existing basement, bonus room or attic space and working on a conversion. Of course, the result is worth it for that big-screen and super surround-sound system renovation.

We’ve also seen some pretty creative places that have been transformed—like an unused indoor pool and a couple of garages.

The before-and-after process has become so popular to check out among consumers and the custom electronics pros who transform many of their spaces that it was a recent category addition to our annual Home of the Year Awards contest. We haven’t posted the winners for this year, but you can always check out last year’s, which are included in this slideshow.

So click here for 9 Incredible Home Theater Transformations and start thinking about what you can accomplish in your own home.