Basement theater paint color options

[Eric S]

I've been working on this for years (on and off - mostly off) and now I'm ready to begin painting my basement theater. It is a room that is approx 14 feet wide by 24 feet long with a 7.5 foot ceiling. There are no windows, so I will have total lighting control for the front projector system that will eventually live in this room.

My question is, what is the best paint color to use for the 4 walls?

I know that darker colors are generally better and remember reading somewhere that Joe Kane recommended a Benjamin Moore #1602 Gunmetal color, but that looks rather dark to me.

I was thinking of using a lighter shade of gray on the walls, then using a burgundy colored cloth for my wall-mounted sound absorbers and probably a darker gray rug or even a darker burgundy rug.

I suppose the alternative is a burgundy wall paint with gray accent sound absorbers on the walls. What colors have you used?

Any input or guidance would be most appreciated!

Thanks,
Eric

[Chris D]

Hey, Eric, you've probably heard that an all-flat-black room would be functionally perfect. You want to avoid vivid, and especially, bright colors.

So for me, I found a compromise that ended up working beautifully for me. I went with a medium-dark grey carpet, then a little darker grey on the lower walls. I had a dark blue on the upper walls, and then a flat midnight blue on the ceiling that looked black with the lights off. In a dark theater with the lights off, this was a very color-neutral scheme that functioned wonderfully. But it also had the benefit of adding some color and life to the room when you turned the lights on, so it's not just a black hole of a room.

You can see pictures of my previous theater and colors here in these threads. I'll be re-doing my current theater in a similar way:

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=18352

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=19125

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=13046

Whatever you do, you're going to want a fully flat black front screen wall. It looks and functions great.

[Dean McManis]

I did black velvet curtains on the sides of the screen, and the side walls for 10' coming back away from the screen, then I alternated black and burgundy curtain panels down the side of the theater room.

I had a dark burgundy carpet on the floor (except for a 6' section right under the screen) and then I had a charcoal carpet on the ceiling.
The setup worked well from a sound and light point of view, and I thought that it looked classy. 8)

Having black completely surround the 180" screen helped from wall, floor, and ceiling reflected light from washing out the screen. And the image seemed to pop forward with the high contrast surround.

Grays, blacks, and dark, muted color tones would all work well. :T

[Eric S]

Chris, I remember seeing some of those photos when you originally posted them. Thanks for the links again. I like the 2-tone look. It is possible that the theater room will double as an "entertainment" area as well, so something more livable than black or all gray is a nice bonus.

Eric

[George Bellefontaine]

I used the Joe Kane formula way back when I first put my HT together so I really don't know how the picture would look with brighter colors. No windows in my HT so maybe a little color here and there wouldn't hurt. I do know that with my grey walls I have always had good contrast with just about any projector I have owned.

[aud19]

As mentioned, flat black would be best for performance but not the most desirable colour for esthetics. I used the following for the wall behind my RPTV with great sucess;

Kodak 18% Grey formula for HD Behr Premium Plus Interior Flat Latex (1 Gallon) from the Kodak color card matched at Home Depot.

Accent Base (1600)
4 columns on label:
------------------------------------------
COLORANT OZ 48 96
------------------------------------------
D Thalo Green 0 36 0
E Thalo Blue 3 14 0
F Red Oxide 1 11 0

I don't have a pic but I will say that it looks phenomenal with the display and even nicer with some white baseboard and crown molding (they really POP off the darker grey) It might be a bit overwhelming to use it for an entire room but if you can manage it (or the flat black) for at least portions of the room (in a two tone scheme for example) it should lend itself to nice neutral colours (it's a colour neutral grey) and good contrast on screen :T

[Eric S]

Thanks for the input, everyone! Sorry, I didn't mean to start this thread and then abandon it - work has been killer for the past 2 weeks!

I am torn between going with "optimal" grey colored walls and making the room more pleasing for other functions as well. Decisions, decisions...

Thanks!
Eric

[Eric S]

The other issue that I am wrestling with is what to do with the ceiling. There are water utilities and A/C ductwork that hangs down from the rafters, so I just can use drywall. It looks like I will probably install a drop ceiling and either paint the tiles or cover them with fabric. With the drop ceiling, I will have a room that is about 7'6" high.

I would certainly welcome some suggestions for the ceiling.

Thanks!
Eric

[George Bellefontaine]

I had a similar problem. I had a drop ceiling installed. It lowered the height of the room to 7 feet so ceiling mounting has always been out of the question for me. I have always gone for long throw projectors that enabled me to install them on a shelf or stand behind the seating area. One exception was the NEC HT1000, a very short throw PJ with a crazy offset. It was installed on the bottom shelf of a table set between the two chairs. As for the ceiling, I haven't gotten around to painting it as yet, but I am thinking of also going with a neutral grey, or perhaps like you are thinking, installing some kind of dark fabric .

[Eric S]

George, I don't think that the drop ceiling will be a big problem for hanging a projector. The wooden rafters will be just above the ceiling tiles, so I can easily mount a projector just about anywhere and hang the support hardward down through the tile.

Part of me is just wondering if I should tile the perimeter of the room and just hang a fabric in the middle of the ceiling between the projector and the tiles....

Eric