[TheFlickPit]

I didn't get the title of this thread the wrong way around. I am in fact going to be turning my home cinema room back into a living room which probably makes this thread unique.

It is relevant though as, not suprisingly, the new living room will have a few thing forum readers will be familiar with:

Pioneer PDPLX5090 Plasma TV
Floating Wall
Hidden Equipment (actually in the room next door)
Surround sound
Remote control lights and curtains

I will post pictures of the current installation as well as progress reports on the conversion which starts on 1 May 2009 and will finish (hopefully!) on the 15th, two weeks later.

Jon

[TheFlickPit]

Here are some images of the current layout:

I will resize these tomorrow.

This last one shows the cup holders and buttons for moving the seat back and footrest up: (the orange effect is bad lighting)

[deansocial]

is all that equipment just stacked up???

[Docta teef]

Madness don't do it Are you trying to get banned from the forum or something for this most evil of crimes.

[chelsea.tone]

[TheFlickPit]

The equipment is stacked up on a set of wheel things you put under washing machines. As they are always behind you it doesn't bother me. The other side has a table with the SUB, PC and Wii in it.

I know it sounds insane but I am hoping the photos of the new room will make people see why.

The seats are for sale in the classifieds by the way....

Jon

[deansocial]

dont you worry it will overheat?

[TheFlickPit]

No, its fine. There is air all around.

[IanW]

[B4T]

Interesting thread, looking forward to the progress pics!

[willo]

Looking forward to seeing the progress on this. If it turns out anything like your home cinema then it should be something special.

[TheFlickPit]

update:

I have collected my tv, new door, wood for the wall and all the paint and decorating stuff.

pics below

[TheFlickPit]

Here are some pics of the new TV in its box:

[TheFlickPit]

Day 1 of 15:
Clear the rubbish in the garage and remove the raised floor from the cinema room.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 2 of 15:
Paint preparation and removing the radiator which means getting covered in either polyfilla or water.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 3 of 15 (morning):
The 3-seater is going to be around until Wednesday so the middle of the room has a giant white blob we have to work around.
If any dust or paint makes it in there the buyer can clean it off!

[TheFlickPit]

Day 3 of 15 (afternoon):
Thanks to Dave (guy from the pic in the first post) the painting went well yesterday and the room is now entirely white and the door is ready although not in place so I can paint it outdoors later.
TIP: Hanging a door is much more work than painting a room!

[TheFlickPit]

Day 4 of 15:
Thanks to Dave again the whole room is now painted. The ceiling is white and the walls are Dulux Malt Chocolate.

I have replaced all the lights and sockets which did not got that well because the socket back boxes are all bent and there are three blanking plates in plain white because the steel ones would never have matched. I have also finally put an extension on the air-conditioner so it will be able to plug in neatly when the curtain is back up.

[willo]

Looking good Can't wait to see the finished article.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 5 of 15:
Building the wall was a lot harder than I thought. There is a lot more to consider than you might think because of cable routes, bracket space and the rope light.
I also had to stop and paint the end studs and the top so they would look ok if you poke your head round and so the rope light reflects the malt chocolate colour.

That said, it went up in one day so I am pleased. Tomorrow I'll hang the TV and if everything works (touch wood, there's plenty of it) I'll start filling and sanding the screw holes etc.
Pictures are, in order:

1. Hole in the first stud for the cables
2. Cunning slot for the rope light on the end studs
3. The basic studs with TV bracket
4. The perfect bracket level?
5. Cables going to the kitchen
6. The complete but unpainted wall
7. The mess in the kitchen for tomorrow

[TheFlickPit]

Day 6 of 15:
Today was a very good day because I hung and tested the TV. The good news is that all the cables worked and the even better news is that the whole thing looked awesome.

I then had to take it off again to fill the holes and join before applying three coats of Dulux Cooke Dough paint.

Other jobs today included glossing half the skirting boards and door frame as well as fitting the two rear speakers.

The second picture of the wall shows it painted and the rope light. The light looks much better in the dark but I'll save those pictures for when it's all ready.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 7 of 15:
Thursday was mainly spent outdoors tidying up the cables and installing another CCTV camera which will be modulated onto the aerial feed for the TV allowing me to use picture-in-picture to see when deliveries (read: pizza) are at the door.

The first picture is of the 40mm waste pipe I uses to house the outside cables. I cut a slot out of it using a jigsaw with the tip of the blade snapped off so it was short enough to not reach the other side of the pipe. The end result in the second picture may not look brilliant but when I tidy the ends up it will look a lot better than it did before. Especially as the HDMI cable was white and looked terrible.

The last picture came out very badly but it is supposed to show the cables coming into the kitchen from the living room going through the brushed blanking plate.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 8 of 15:
On Friday I put connectors on the end of some of the cables and fixed the trunking to the skirting board for the rear speakers.
This involved some measuring but, thankfully, I had my friend Amber (first pic) around to help.
Later in the day I turned the flat pack stuff in the next picture into what you see in the last three. I have cabled up almost everything and sorted out the odd handles since the picture was taken.

[addyjones1234]

looking good, is the cctv hdmi then?

any pics of the back/sides of the room?

[TheFlickPit]

I will be posting complete photos of the room once I am finished.

The CCTV is modulated onto the aerial signal. My Pioneer TV can only have PIP if one of the sources is the tuner.

[TheFlickPit]

Days 9 & 10 of 15:
The weekend has seen progress in a number of areas.

I went to Richer Sounds and collected my new Onkyo TX-SR607 AV receiver.

I have cabled two of the IP cameras in the garden, painted the door and the rest of the skirting boards and labelled the speaker wires.

I also coiled up a load of the wires that come from the living room in the kitchen that I will not be using.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 11 of 15:
The electric curtain rail arrived today so I can recommend these people. It's expensive but I'm hoping the result is that I open the curtains more. I have attached a picture of the motor that does the work.

I also checked out the radiator cover. It is finished with a nicer look than I'll ever achieve with gloss so I am going to leave it alone and hang it when the carpet is down. In the meantime I have fitted a six-way power socket on the wall that will be covered by it. This is where I will connect the various chargers. That way I can turn them all off with one switch.

On a non-AV note I replaced the light on the front porch with a PIR bulk head thing which looks ok. I have been meaning to do that for about five years!

Finally I created (after three p1ss poor attempts) a cover for the horrible cables and hole in the wall created by the air-conditioning installation years ago. I used a piece of guttering which I think it will be ok once it is painted.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 12 of 15:
Today I moved the kitchen cabinet to the other wall and reorganised all of the gagdets so the cables would reach.
I then programmed the Harmony 1000 with the correct activities and sequences for the lights and curtain etc.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 13 of 15:
Today I...

• Filled a skip with rubbish.
• Hung the old curtains.
• Hung the TV.
• Cleaned the floor and windows.

[TheFlickPit]

Day 14 of 15:
The carpet has been fitted so I installed the radiator cover with the charging cables on top on one side of the room.
I ran the ONKO audio setup and the TV is now looking and sounding brilliant.

The sofa arrives tomorrow. Once it is all in position I will take some proper photographs.