CrazyAl's Garage Conversion

crazyal

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OK, where to begin. Well, after trawling through albriscoe's almighty thread I might as well give up now, lol!!

I am starting out with a humble garage conversion and like a mad fool, have bought some equipment already.

I set myself a budget and so far have kept to it quite well. For my pennies so far I have gathered:

Onkyo 606
Q Acoustics 1010 package from Superfi with some additional 1010 's for 7.1 and upgraded the fronts to1050's.
HD65 Projector

As you can see, the garage is 15' long in total. Some room at the back will be used for a PC desk with integral shelving along the back wall which will back onto the bricked-up garage door.

I will be using an existing HTPC with Vista MCE, along with an existing PS3 and 360 Elite and 46" Sony Bravia from the living room (the Mrs can't complain as I will be replacing it with a shiny new Samsung 50").

Everything will be HDMI except the HTPC which will be VGA.

Haven't purchased any speaker cable yet but I'm thinking of getting some Anniversary XT. Managed to get some great bargain banana clips though, (thanks Mr Incredible!).

I'm hoping to get a 72" electric screen if it will fit, once the walls are all done. If not, se-la-vie. I know it will be a tight squeeze with the fronts but we'll have to see how it pans out space-wise. As it is having a 46" LCD, I'm going to go for an electric screen. Suggestions of suppliers would be most helpful.

I was thinking of a raised plinth for hiding the kit (I have seen a picture on the forums of a real nice plinth covered in a dark cloth but I can't find it - drat!), but now I'm thinking of a long, smoked glass cabinet to hold it all. This would also do away with me needing an IR repeater if I went for the hidden kit.

As you can see, I've cheekily nabbed part of a picture from a german HTPC site to give an indication of the kind of lighting I would like, plus the more I look at it, the more I like the idea of a dark coloured room. I was looking at bottom black/top red but am still undecided :rolleyes:

I've opted for spot lights as can be seen on the 'Lighting' plan. These would be remote-controlled and in 3 banks.

Unsure where to mount the side/rears at the moment, but I had to put them somewhere on the plan.

Furniture must be leather and black but with the width of the room I know I'm gonna be keeping things snug, so to speak. Looking at approx. 135cm in width.

The building work is being done by a good reliable chap and I'll be helping out where I can with the work as it starts & progresses, which will hopefully be only several weeks away.

This is my first project of this kind so please, please give your suggestions/tips/hints/pointers/cash - all welcome! :thumbsup:

It goes without saying that piccies will be upped and the thread updated once things get moving! :D

Many Thanks

CrazyAl


Image showing top view & colour/lighting idea




Image showing side view and possible lighting


 
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Do I take it you'll be seated between the two side speakers? If so, that seems a bit close for a 72" screen going by the old "2x the width" rule for viewing distance.
 
Do I take it you'll be seated between the two side speakers? If so, that seems a bit close for a 72" screen going by the old "2x the width" rule for viewing distance.

Hi Kero-chan

Well, I'm really open to suggestions given the space I've got, didn't really know whether to put them higher up or further behind the seats.

No doubt it will all change as things move along :D

Thanks

CrazyAl
 
Good luck with the project Al :thumbsup:

Looking forward to seeing the progress

Hi Kenny Glasgow

Thanks for the comments, I'll keep updating as I go along.

CrazyAl
 
looking nice :smashin:

Hi isayisay

Well, I've been thinking this morning and I'm gonna be looking for a long, black cabinet with dark doors to put the kit into.

I'm also looking at The Thermaltake DH102 case for the HTPC.




I've decided to put a combo HD/Bluray drive in the HTPC as well for transferring movies over.

Just got some my long VGA cable and a lot of banana plugs through the post so have put that with the pile of stuff I'm quite quickly gathering - here's a piccy of it all so far (no, the pink cat litter will not be part of the 'natural look' flooring! :D




Cheers

CrazyAl
 
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o0o0o0o0o, i like!! get some sketch ups done!! :D

remember to leave enough space for your door to swing fully, but youve most likely thought of that anyway!

the kit pile looks good!
 
o0o0o0o0o, i like!! get some sketch ups done!! :D

remember to leave enough space for your door to swing fully, but youve most likely thought of that anyway!

the kit pile looks good!

Hi craigscott

Thanks, yes I will get some sketches done, promise! :D

The door swings outwards into the conservatory luckily.

Thanks

CrazyAl
 
Excellent work so far there crazyal, looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Any chance I could be nosey and ask how much the HTPC case you are looking at will cost? If I was to build a proper HTPC for my own room, I would love something like that.
 
Good luck CrazyAl :thumbsup:
Mines coming along nicely after 2 weeks. It's very daunting at first but I was amazed how quickly we got things done.
 
Excellent work so far there crazyal, looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Any chance I could be nosey and ask how much the HTPC case you are looking at will cost? If I was to build a proper HTPC for my own room, I would love something like that.

Hi Max Payne

Thanks for the comments. In awe of your setup as well :smashin: I may have to nick your idea of the sweetie jars :thumbsup:

The HTPC case should be approx. £265 but I'm off to a local computer fair at the weekend to see if I can do some haggling for this and some other components :D

If I get one I'll post back some detailed piccies and a mini review.

Cheers

CrazyAl

Good luck CrazyAl :thumbsup:
Mines coming along nicely after 2 weeks. It's very daunting at first but I was amazed how quickly we got things done.

Your plasterer did a great job by the looks of things - hope mine is as good!

Cheers

CrazyAl
 
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Thanks for compliment and thanks for letting me know the price.

Look forward to reading your review of it.

Hi Max Payne

Thanks for the comments. In awe of your setup as well :smashin: I may have to nick your idea of the sweetie jars :thumbsup:

The HTPC case should be approx. £265 but I'm off to a local computer fair at the weekend to see if I can do some haggling for this and some other components :D

If I get one I'll post back some detailed piccies and a mini review.

Cheers

CrazyAl
 
I will shortly be doing my garage conversion, So i will keep an eye on your thread.
I like your downlighters.
What are you doing for the seating ?, I am trying to get hold off real cinema seats but they are so hard to get a hold off.
 
Hi geewhizz

The lights may change again - I keep going over stuff in my head and if I keep chopping and changing I'll never get stuff sorted.

No - I've made an executive decision - the lights stay as they are :D

On the subject of seating, this I feel, is going to be a bit of a headache :(

I have measured again tonight and can go to about 135cm. This leaves about 8-9 inches either side to get past.

I'm really sold on the idea of a nice black leather 2-seater but it may come to 2 chairs, but again they would need to be of a smallish size.

Oh, for another couple of foot either side!

If you come across any suitable chairs in your travels, please let me know! :D

Thanks

Alan
 
Mate just emailed this piccie to me. They are 750mm at widest point. What do you think?


 
Those footstools fall apart after about 18months, the legs come very loose and become a PITA to fix. Plus the leather on teh chairs wears quickly too.
 
Those footstools fall apart after about 18months, the legs come very loose and become a PITA to fix. Plus the leather on teh chairs wears quickly too.

Hi -Ad-

Thanks for the input :smashin: - I'll avoid these then.

The hunt continues...

Thanks

CrazyAl
 
Hi Al. You're doing what loads of peeps on here would love to do - me included ! Good choice of kit, and it should look wicked when finished .:thumbsup:

Remember, there's no right or wrong way of doing something like this, just what you think is the best way of doing it. Have you thought about an l-shaped sofa instead of chairs or a 2 seater ? There's nowt wrong with changing your design half way through if it's still cost effective.;)

Good luck !:smashin:
 
Hi Al. You're doing what loads of peeps on here would love to do - me included ! Good choice of kit, and it should look wicked when finished .:thumbsup:

Remember, there's no right or wrong way of doing something like this, just what you think is the best way of doing it. Have you thought about an l-shaped sofa instead of chairs or a 2 seater ? There's nowt wrong with changing your design half way through if it's still cost effective.;)

Good luck !:smashin:

Hi THE_FORCE

The L-shaped sofa might just be the ticket, thanks for that :smashin:

It would certainly give me some more scope for seating :D

Thanks

CrazyAl
 
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A few people have suggested that if it's a dedicated cinema room to have a permanent screen rather than an electric one. Trouble is, I really want the Bravia in there to watch SD stuff as this will save on the PJ bulb longevity.

Decisions, decisions.

Oh, the wall plaques came today along with a nice 4Mtr Monster sub cable.




Cheers

CrazyAl
 
Impressively detailed thread,and a home cinema isn't complete without the plaque's,very nice mate.:thumbsup:
 
thanks for posting in my thread Alan, very nice plan mate and the kit so far is super cool :smashin::smashin: keep the up dates coming.
 
Impressively detailed thread,and a home cinema isn't complete without the plaque's,very nice mate.:thumbsup:

Hi IAN P

I'll try and get some 3D plans up as I've (yet again) made some changes :rolleyes:

Many thanks for the comments.

CrazyAl
 
thanks for posting in my thread Alan, very nice plan mate and the kit so far is super cool :smashin::smashin: keep the up dates coming.

Hi dj_woodster

Thanks for posting :smashin:

I have a builder lined up who quite simply is a perfectionist, I've seen his work which is brilliant

So things are progressing nicely.

The skip arrived yesterday ready for me to totally de-junk the garage and the big shed arrives Wednesday to take the remaining garage stuff.

As of next Friday, I'm pretty much ready to start work. Can't wait :smashin:

I'll keep the thread updated with piccies and stuff.

Cheers

CrazyAl
 
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