DIY: Apartment Living Room converted into a Home Theater

Here's my living room that I converted into a home theater on a low budget.

A few hurdles to consider when trying to accomplish this feat in an apartment - the main one is having a living room that is long enough and a projector that's able to project a 120" image (in this case 17.5 feet long), and for one of those walls be viable to hang a 120" screen. Most apartment living rooms are not setup this way since most living rooms will have the short-length walls with a doorway or a window so residents can orient their furniture and on the longest sides. So that's a big thing.

And then, as you can see, I didn't account for the width of the room. It's a little bit of a tight squeeze getting through the entryways besides the couches. Also, having an apartment where you can block out light entirely is ideal also important if you ever want to watch anythning in daylight. I have thick curtains that I overlapped over my vertical blinds which does the trick.

Another hurdle is the ability to mount heavy items. The ceiling mounted projector and the Left and Right Bookshelf Speakers were the hardest to put up since they they require large drilling holes and studs b/c of their weight - luckily I found studs in exactly the places that I needed. Luckily! Also, cables are an issue. I was able to bundle and run most of the cables along the length of the wall and hide most behind the couch - usually, homeowners can snake wires through walls - this isn't an option for apartment owners. But I was able to manage without. Also, sharing walls with neighbors is an issue when blasting audio - for this living room, no walls are shared. Woo-hoo!

The stadium seating platform was a DIY project and necessary for seating beyond 3 in this size of a room. Basically what the platform looks like underneath, is a big bookshelf with carpeting nailed over it. It's really sturdy and high enough (15") to look over the first row even when it's reclined.

So there you have it! The bare essentials without sacrificing too much quality all within an apartment. Thanks for looking!

(Shot in 720p-30fps with Panasonic DMC-GH1 and Hague MMC steadicam. Edited with FCP. FYI, did not set up Hague properly so a bit jerky. Slowed down footage to 50%).

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• DIY
• apartment
• home
• theater
• living
• room
• low-budget
• low
• budget
• gh1
• dmc-gh1
• carada
• projector
• mitsubishi
• hd1000

[moviecriticsonline]

I like how you made it happen with the limited space you had. Very nice job!

[celestialdls]

Thanks!

[Charleszexclusive]

what is that song ?

[celestialdls]

It's from the Amélie soundtrack. :)

[BambooScar]

Is ambient lighting around the screen necessary? Isnt it to protect ur eyes from damage or is there another thing to it?

[celestialdls]

I originally had those LED lights lining my couches so it would kinda resemble lighting at a public theater. But then I didn't enjoy having more wires on my floor and decided to flush it against my screen. I don't turn them on when watching anything on my projector since the less light the better! :)

[swagger312]

Nice

[superhdhdkid]

Dfg

[lovethyself87]

bloody lovely.. u r living my dream!!!

[threshers001]

How did you hide wiring for speakers etc...

[musicman257]

it goes to show people dont need to spend hundred of thousand of dollars to get a nice hometheater very cool man.

[Mathemaetica]

This is just too friggin' kewl! I LOVE IT! You made amazing and COMPLETE use of space->decor->style->function of all the aforementioned combined. And also, just as you have for me, you have given near most everyone watching TONS of ideas! Thank you for sharing =) THUMBS UP!

[hectorflt17]

2 things i need from you 1:brand model etc of that screen 2:the same from the projector and how much lumens it has.

[prodigistics]

@scan0121 LOL'ing now.

[choxor]

Awesome, great job with the wiring.

[scan0121]

WHAT DO U DO WEN U WANA WATCH PORN PAHAHAHAAAA