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This instructable is the first bit of major work I've done. It wasn't for the faint hearted. Recently I bought a large house (which is why I've been so bad at replying to some of my instructables) and it has been a lot of work!
But that doesn't mean I shouldn't have some fun.
The original occupant of the house was a radio nut and he built himself a 6ft x 8ft recording studio. He soon realised it wasn't big enough so he expanded it out to 15ft x 10ft but left the original walls from the 6ft x 8ft building in place.
When we looked round it, my wife fancied it as a gym, but due to the low ceiling, it wasn't really suitable. So I got it :)
Originally I was going to use the smaller of the two rooms as a reading room and have a small 2 seat sofa and a 30" screen on the wall - but it was going to be cramped. My friend Ben came over and said "Nah, don't worry we can just take down the walls and open it right out!
What I ended up with was a 6ft by 4ft projected 1080p screen, surround sound, bar with beer pump and optics, corner sofa and beanbags.
Total cost? I wouldn't like to say...
This 'ible shows the steps we took into renovation and shaping it into a retreat for myself and friends.
Thanks go to my friends Ben, Allan, Steve, Gary, Becky, Leo, Michael and of course my lovely wife who let me get on with it so I could be kicked out of the house permanently.
But that doesn't mean I shouldn't have some fun.
The original occupant of the house was a radio nut and he built himself a 6ft x 8ft recording studio. He soon realised it wasn't big enough so he expanded it out to 15ft x 10ft but left the original walls from the 6ft x 8ft building in place.
When we looked round it, my wife fancied it as a gym, but due to the low ceiling, it wasn't really suitable. So I got it :)
Originally I was going to use the smaller of the two rooms as a reading room and have a small 2 seat sofa and a 30" screen on the wall - but it was going to be cramped. My friend Ben came over and said "Nah, don't worry we can just take down the walls and open it right out!
What I ended up with was a 6ft by 4ft projected 1080p screen, surround sound, bar with beer pump and optics, corner sofa and beanbags.
Total cost? I wouldn't like to say...
This 'ible shows the steps we took into renovation and shaping it into a retreat for myself and friends.
Thanks go to my friends Ben, Allan, Steve, Gary, Becky, Leo, Michael and of course my lovely wife who let me get on with it so I could be kicked out of the house permanently.
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To use the word 'dated' or 'manky' probably doesn't really cover the state of the rooms we were looking at.
The ceiling at one point had collapsed through water leakage - but had been fixed with a long term roofing felt and been reboarded - but to save costs the owner hadn't removed the old insulation which was pretty disgusting.
The egg boxes were put on the walls to insulate against noise and we even got a few filing cabinets and a lethal storage heater thrown in. (The storage heater was so old that the insulation on the wires had actually dissolved to dust and when it turned on, the storage heater actually became live with the mains)
The ceiling at one point had collapsed through water leakage - but had been fixed with a long term roofing felt and been reboarded - but to save costs the owner hadn't removed the old insulation which was pretty disgusting.
The egg boxes were put on the walls to insulate against noise and we even got a few filing cabinets and a lethal storage heater thrown in. (The storage heater was so old that the insulation on the wires had actually dissolved to dust and when it turned on, the storage heater actually became live with the mains)
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Great HOb
A couple of suggestions: Our screen is surrounded by black velvet "curtains" that my wife made to attach to the wall. It helps if all you see besides the image is a wall of blackness. It hides the speakers, too.
We also painted the room a dark red. It looks nice when the lights are on (ours is a dual use room - not a dedicated theater) and absorbs a lot of the light that reflects off the screen when the projector is running. It makes the room darker and improves the image.
What's funny is that we were very much movie people, but once I hooked an Xbox to it a year after it went in, it is used about 80% for gaming.
Enjoy your new space.
Well done to find walls that were unfortunately structural then incorporating them into the space. The best bits of DIY are forced by unfortunate circumstances.
And I really want to be there when the house's next owners take up the carpet and see that message. Beautiful.
I almost spat out my coffee reading your experience with the angle grinder in Step 4. Very funny, I'm not sure I would have done any different.
The results look awesome!