Credit the assist on this room to a neighbor of the homeowner. That’s how Premier Home Theater got involved, and where things took a turn for the betterment of this quaint theater room.

“We were contacted by this client from a neighbor referral,” says Premier’s Rob Kowalski. “When we came in there was an empty room with white drop ceiling, no carpet, and some electronics that were started by another company that was no longer on the job.”

Premier and the homeowner got together to start discussing details, and that’s when the theater really started to pop. Screen size would be bumped up to a larger 92-inch Da-Lite model; a white drop ceiling was changed to black, making the screen stand out more; some lights were shifted around to add to the ambiance and functionality.

The custom installer and homeowner also talked carpet, seating style and color, and fabric for the acoustic panels—the front wall is covered in Guilford FR701 fabric to hide the speakers.

Premier also designed and built the seating platform, then installed the acoustic panels with custom wood frames. Once everything was dialed in design-wise, Premier dialed in the electronics by calibrating the whole system, which includes and Optoma DLP projector, Sony surround receiver and Blu-ray player, and Logitech Harmony 880 remote to control things.

“One of the challenges of the room was its size,” Kowalski says. “We were limited because of it being an existing room. We choose a layout for the seating that allowed us to go to a larger screen without overwhelming the viewers in the front row.”

The homeowner’s anything but overwhelmed—in fact, the home theater bug bit him hard. “The client has been so happy with the results that they are now considering upgrading all the electronics in 2009 to bring it up to par with the look and feel of the room,” says Kowalski.

About the Author:
Arlen Schweiger - Managing editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen contributes product news items to electronichouse.com along with his role on the print publication. Got a tip? Send it along!