Media Room

A dedicated media room is an unusual feature for a house, especially one of this size. But we felt it was worth it, and designed the room to have the right balance of cost and features.

Why a media room? Because it's awesome! The home theater experience is amazing, and a popular feature of our house. But, at a deeper level, why did we choose to put the extra cost, design work, and square footage into it? The first reason, and the obvious one, is that we've have viewed dedicated media rooms with envy for awhile. We do a lot of entertaining, including watching shows and movies and playing group video games. Having a separate space dedicated to this activity gives a superior experience, while leaving the main living room free for entertaining more people.

Patterns
You might think there would be a number of patterns to use for this kind of design. However, A Pattern Language was written before televisions were present in every living room. Instead, we worked based off general ideas from patterns and our observations of social gatherings.

The second and stronger reason for adding this room was space usage: we did not want a television in the living room. We wanted the living room to be a social space, where people could gather and socialize. A circular set-up is best for this, as it easily allows everyone to focus on other people in the room. The focal point is towards the center of the room so that everyone feels included. This makes it difficult to fit a television into the room. It isn't reasonable to provide a single focal point on the wall that all the seats can use. This is made even more difficult by the design of our living room, which has no normal walls at all. Two of them are full of windows to allow in lots of light. One of them is covered with a bookcase backed by the stairs. The last boundary of the room is the open space to the rest of the main floor. The media room gave us the opportunity to divorce the singularly-focused activity of television out of the social space of the living room.

Room Layout

Decision number one was the size and shape of the room. We wanted a couple rows of seating focused on a screen against one wall. We wanted enough space (if chairs were removed) to play Kinect games such as Dance Central and music games such as Rock Band. A rectangle of ratio 3:4 or 3:5 would be best for these functions. The ideal size for us would've been about 15 feet wide, and 20-25 feet long. With the realities of the land and form of the house, we were able to fit in a 12-by-19 foot room downstairs on the north side of the house. This was a bit tight, but fit very well into the layout.

The short wall on the east side was under the house and partially dug into the ground, so that was the perfect wall to put the screen on. The opposite wall on the west side could then fit a row of seating. The door was in the middle of the long south wall, which put it right where the second row of seating would go, giving easy access to both rows. To make the two rows of seating useful, we built up a stage against the west wall so the first row of seating against the wall would be elevated above the second row.

The other main item to figure out was an equipment closet. The various equipment for powering the speakers, routing the sound and video, and the players for games and other media needed to be accessible (for changing discs), but covered up (to prevent light and sound from the equipment leaking into the main room). We also wanted to use this space for other computer equipment: a server for file storage and internal services, central networking, and a wireless access point. It ended up being most convenient to put this on the east side of the south wall, taking space out from the storage/bathroom next door.

Details & Finishes

Lighting

For lighting we didn't want anything that would intrude into the wall and disrupt the sound isolation. We added sconces on the wall for general lighting. Then we added two sets of track lights to light different portions of the room: one for the rear seating (which could be used without interfering too much with the screen); and a second one near the equipment closet to provide task lighting when dealing with anything in that location. To control the equipment lighting, we recessed a switch near the closet and away from the door. By the door, we added switches for the sconces and rear track lighting, as those are the general lights for the room. We also added dimmers to those two switches to give us more control over exactly how much light is in the room. Eventually we would like to hook the lighting up to an automation system so that it can be controlled from our universal remote that controls all the equipment. This would allow us to do things such as automatically dimming or turning off the lights when hitting Play for a movie; and then bringing them back up when hitting Pause. That is a fairly easy addition later, so it is relegated to the list of long-term improvements.

Seating Stage

The stage for the second row of seating was framed up against the west wall. The dimensions were very specific. We wanted to make sure it would be deep enough to comfortably fit a couch with enough leg room/walk-way to make people feel comfortable. But we also needed enough space on the floor for the first row of seating to not be too close to the screen. We also didn't want the stage to extend into the doorway, as that would complicate the entry. We decided 7 feet of depth would satisfy the requirements, ending shortly before the doorway. To decide the height, we used some calculations based on the size and position of the screen, and the position of the seating to determine that 8-12 inches would be the minimum needed to give everyone a clear view. Since we had the room height, we bumped this up to 16 inches high to give a comfortable clearance. This also divided nicely to give a single 8-inch step to reach the platform. We spent a while discussing if the step should run the whole length of the platform or not, and whether we would need a railing. It was determined that we didn't need a railing, and a 3-foot wide step right by the doorway would be enough to get up, and the rest would be flat to give more leg room and walkway.

Soundproofing

Soundproofing was covered more extensively in a previous blog post. So far, we have not had a problem with sound leakage from downstairs as long as the door is properly closed. We have found that it works the other way, too — we can't hear the doorbell if someone arrives while we are downstairs. That is another addition to the home automation list, so that we can have our cell phones notify us when the doorbell rings.

Closet

An area on the east edge of the south wall, next to the door, had been framed out for a closet. We then spent a while designing the enclosure for it to properly support everything we wanted it to handle. Part of it needed to be enclosed to isolate the lights and sound from the equipment. However, we also wanted part of it open to make the basic remote controls, lights, and media more accessible. The enclosed area would have all the internal wiring for the media room, plus the whole house network panel. Because of all the equipment that would be connected to these, we wanted to ensure there was enough cooling in the tight space.

The end result was that about two-thirds of the space was enclosed, while the remaining one-third nearer the door was left open. The enclosed space had two hinged closet doors, set about 6 inches from the floor. This allowed a vent to be placed at the bottom to draw in fresh air. We used freestanding shelves from Elfa to avoid drilling into the sound-isolated walls. The bottom shelf on these also started about 6 inches from the floor, ending up level with the bottom of the closet doors. Within the closet we just used plain shelves and various heights to hold different sizes of equipment. In the space next to the enclosed area, we mixed a couple shelves with several draws for holding game controllers and other small items.

Part-way through construction we realized there was an air-flow problem with the room. It was designed with a heat-pump unit that would control the temperature of the room. However, that would not provide any fresh air. With a tightly-insulated room and a weather-sealed door, practically no air would be able to circulate into and out of the room. Once you put 10-12 people in there and close the door, the air would be become stale surprisingly quickly. We only realized this well after framing was completed, and most of the the rough-in was finished. The solution was to use the HRV, which already required a pair of vents on each floor to circulate fresh air. On the lower floor they had been located in the future bathroom and main landing area. However, they were right next to the media room, and we were able to move both the supply and return vents into the media room. We had them both moved into the ceiling of the closet; but the supply was in the open area (providing fresh air to the whole room), while the return was in the enclosed area, drawing air from the vent at the bottom, up past the equipment, and then out. This coincided nicely to provide a free cooling solution for the equipment closet without extra noise.

Paint & Carpet

To help with light control, we wanted dark colors in the media room. The walls did not need to be a solid black, though, which might have made the room a bit too depressing. The most obvious choice was to use the dark red color from our palette. It would've looked sophisticated and echoed the tradition of dark red velvet curtains in theaters. We also had a dark teal in our palette, though. Combined with a black carpet, it would provide a more modern, striking color scheme to the room without feeling too suffocating despite all the dark color. Applied in a matte finish to diminish reflected light, it was a wonderful result that has received many compliments.

We decided to use Karastan SmartStrand carpets throughout the house, which included the media room. These are eco-friendly carpets made from corn instead of petroleum. But we chose them because they were also the most comfortable of the carpets we looked at, and some of the most stain-resistant. They were easily the nicest carpets we looked at for the price. Their Indescribable line of SmartStrand Silk carpets had the Black Velvet color, which was exactly what we were looking for, giving us the color combination we had originally conceived.

Equipment

Electrical and sound wiring was discussed in detail previously. The only wiring we had to run ourselves was pulling an HDMI cable through the conduit to the projector. Long high-speed HDMI cables are not common, but we lucked out because Monoprice released a new slim, powered HDMI cable shortly before we needed it. This was more flexible than standard cables, making it not too difficult to pull through the conduit.

Choosing a projector ended up being a lot of research and reading. In the end I decided on the Panasonic PT-AE7000U. It was rated as one of the best projectors for color, black levels, sharpness, etc. The closest competitor was the Epson PowerLite 5010, which had longer lag times, making it worse for video games.

The ceiling mount for the projector was a bit easier. Chief was a well-rated brand for ceiling mounts, so I first acquired a simple plate that was mounted onto a block that was fixed between studs in the ceiling, giving it a secure base. A short post was then attached to the plate, and the drywall was installed around it, hiding the plate. Then the primary mount attached to the post in the ceiling, and the projector. It has adjustments to help align the projector; and a quick disconnect when I need to take the projector down to replace the bulb. Getting the projector attached to the ceiling took two people, but it worked! Almost. The distance from the projector to the screen hadn't been calculated quite perfectly, and the projector didn't have quite enough distance to fully fill the screen. It was only off by a little bit, though, so a shift bracket was added to slide the projector back a few inches, filling the screen just perfectly.

There are a lot of options for home theater screens. The first thing I knew was that I wanted a fixed-frame screen. This kind is assembled once, and then fixed to the wall permanently. It does not retract or move, but usually is a flatter, more even canvas. A nice, thick frame covered in black velvet (or similar material) provides good focus on the screen, absorbing any light that might stray off the screen. A widescreen 16:9 format is standard for most content now, though many movies are still in a 2.35:1 format. We watch more than just movies, so we chose the 16:9 format as the primary size of the screen. At this aspect ratio, a 106-inch screen was about the largest that the room could reasonably support. While there are many companies that provide such screens in a wide range of prices, Monoprice recently introduced a low-priced series of projector screens that are quite high quality. In addition to the items listed, they also offered multi-format screens, which are primarily a 16:9 screen; but have a manual mask of black velvet that slides in from the top and bottom to perfectly frame the screen at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio for movies.

Years ago I had discovered SalkSound, a small speaker manufacturer that sells direct to consumers. They provide very high-quality custom speakers at a reasonable price. At the time, I had ordered a pair of SongTowers with upgraded ribbon tweeters, and a matching SongCenter. We decided they shouldn't stand out too much, and got a simple black satin finish with aluminum baffles on the towers. We had enjoyed these for a number of years in our previous home. With the dedicated media room here, it was time to round this set out into a full 5.1 system. A pair of SongSurrounds was ordered for the rear speakers, and a 12" Salk/Rythmic subwoofer was added to complete the set, all in matching black satin.

Most of the remaining equipment we already owned: a Pioneer receiver paired with a 7-channel Emotiva amplifier. We had three gaming consoles: a Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 2, and a Microsoft XBox 360 slim. A Sony PlayStation 3 was added primarily for Blu-Ray and streaming video support. For music throughout the house, we acquired several Sonos components, and the media room received a Sonos CONNECT to play music through the Salk speakers.

The last bit of equipment was the universal remote. After having a Harmony remote that stopped working several years ago, we switched to a URC MX-450, which feels much higher quality and is programmable without any additional software. When we moved all our equipment into the closet in the media room and out of IR range, we were easily able to add an RF base station that was compatible with our existing remote. This receives radio signals from the remote, then translates them into IR signals that are sent to a specific piece of equipment, allowing complete control even when the equipment is hidden away. The only complication was the PlayStation 3, which is only controllable via Bluetooth — IR is not available. An IR adapter was acquired, resulting in the remote sending an RF signal to the base station, which translates it into an IR signal sent to the adapter, which then sends commands to the PS3 over Bluetooth!


After all this time and money spent on layout, design, details, and equipment, the end result is amazing. The media room never fails to impress, and is a wonderful room for enjoying electronic entertainment. We use it regularly with and without friends, and the focus of the room really shines through. It may not be a worthwhile room for everyone, but it was a great decision for us.

Six month review

It's already been six months!

The house feels like home at this point. We're mostly unpacked. Furnishings are mostly in place (although there are, of course, things we want to add or upgrade). We're making good progress putting up art. We've even been part of a couple home tours (that's a normal part of setting up a new home, right?).

Six months in, we have a feel for what works well and what could have been better. Overall, we love the house. It's a great place to live: comfortable, beautiful, and functional. It just feels right — it's the right size, has the right functions, and supports our life in positive ways.



The great room is compact enough that people in the the kitchen, living, and dining rooms can interact comfortably, but spacious enough to hold large crowds. When the crowd gets too large, the large open space can get loud, but furniture and carpets have helped decrease the noise.

The kitchen is highly functional. It's one of the first things people comment on. We love the large amount of counter space, the induction stove, and the general layout. The bi-fold cabinets get out of the way just like we hoped — and they look really cool. A shelf under the sink provides a place for necessary but unsightly sink accessories. We're not finding the combination microwave / convection oven as useful as we hoped; its controls are just awkward enough to make it a bit of a pain to use as an oven.

So much counter space!

The media room also elicits exclamations. It must be something about walking into a teal cave with two rows of seating and a 106" screen. It's been a great venue for watching movies and playing video games — Rock Band is easier when everyone can read the screen clearly! Although we find the room itself quite large enough, we do wish that we had been able to add more storage, especially for large objects such as Rock Band drums and DDR pads.



The house is filled with natural light. Even on cloudy days, we don't bother turning on lights most of the time. We do use the lights in the kitchen, partially because it is further from the windows and partially due to the fact that work done in the kitchen often requires more light (e.g., chopping).

Separating the master suite into separate sleeping and dressing rooms has made it easier to get up and dressed without disturbing the sleeping partner. We haven't had an opportunity to test the dressing room's fitness as a sitting room — when just the two of us are in the house, there isn't much need for another sitting room.
We love the master bath and don't regret forgoing a tub in favor of a smaller room and larger shower. Although the high (36", standard kitchen height) countertops took some time to get used to, it's rather convenient. We'll see how well this height works if we have kids. =)

It took awhile to figure out exactly how to tune the heat pumps. We initially set the temperatures too high. We didn't initially understand how the presets worked. We had to learn how to tweak the settings to maximize efficiency when it was really cold out. Now that we've figured all that out, we appreciate the ability to set the temperature differently in different rooms, especially the rooms we don't use as often. The heat pumps don't dry out the air, which makes for lovely feeling air. In retrospect, heat distribution would have been more even if we had put the second main floor unit in the great room rather than in the office.

We have had some annoyances, but they are mostly small things. We had initially planned the dining room so that the table and pendant could be centered relative to the island and the adjacent wall. When we actually accounted for the space needed for chairs and cabinet access, we realized that the table would need to be about a foot off of centered on the wall. We were able to move the pendant, so that is centered, but when you look at the table head on, you can tell it's not centered on the wall. A small thing, but something that we could have fixed with a little more forethought.

100% natural light!

Another thing we might have changed in retrospect is our exterior color scheme. The grey-on-grey color scheme is gorgeous on sunny days, but on cloud days it looks a bit dour. And in Seattle, it's often cloudy. While on the topic of paint, the matte finish paint that was used in the interior looks good, but is a maintenance pain. It mars easily and can't be cleaned.

Another thing we need to fix — the house number is just above a downward pointing light. Oops.

The angle of the driveway is steeper than we would like. It's a constraint of the site, so there's not much we could do about it, but it does make washing the car less convenient.

That's about it for the things we wish were different. We also already have a list of improvements that we want to make over time, starting with...

More built-ins! If I have my way (and I will eventually), we'll have built-in furniture added wherever it is practical (and some places where it's not). In particular, we want to build a daybed with bookshelves into the office with a custom desk on the opposite side. This would provide a private, quiet place for reading or working on a laptop. We want to add window benches on the stair landings and add some built-in bookshelves in a few places.

On the topic of storage, we need to get some in the garage (and get rid of all of the give-away items stored in there, but that's another topic). Right now, everything in the garage is either still packed in boxes or is sitting on the floor. It is neither organized nor space efficient. Getting shelves in the garage is on our short list of important projects.

Even higher on our short list is landscaping. We moved in six months ago, but winter isn't the best time for putting in landscaping. It would have been a great time to start planning then, but we didn't. We've finally started to work on plans for improving our exterior. More on that later!

All in all, we are still glad that we decided to take on our house building project. There's nothing quite like living in a home that was designed to fit your life.