Comments on: How Do You Paint A Media Room?

By: Lynda

Lynda — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:55:50 +0000

I have enjoyed reading the comments. My concern is I have a huge gameroom that I want to convert to a media room. I have two big windows. How do I block out the light. I have shades, but the light comes through the side.

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:44:15 +0000

Dave, thanks for the info. I have been stressing out for days on what colors to paint my media room. It is actually a media/exercise room on the bottom floor which is the first floor that sits into a hill, so we consider it the first floor/basement. I put a sample patch of dark blueish/greenish color from Sherwin Williams called Cascade and my husband flipped when he saw it. So here I am reading your article and after learning I shouldn’t go with blue or green, am happy to get some pointers. Thanks for the blog!

By: Harshal

Harshal — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:12:03 +0000

Also, I was thinking of going with a flat dark(est) orange color (rather than a red), with the trims painted cherry wood. This would all fit well with my existing cherry wood coloured leather recliners and existing furniture.

By: Harshal

Harshal — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:09:30 +0000

Hello Dave,
I came across your blog, and it has definitely helped me. I have an existing media room that is all light – Grey and the ceilings have those blocks (that come from a finished basements, the ones that you can lift up).
Now I like your idea of coloring the ceiling, but i was wondering if those blocks on the ceiling can be individually painted? My guess is yes.
We have tiles on the floor – and I wasn’t really intending to spend on carpet, until I came across this page. It does make sense for sound absorption, but it looks like I might need to give that a thought. Would a large rug do the same job? I am trying to cut costs here.
Thanks for the help

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:49:33 +0000

Hi Olivia, a tray ceiling painted in gold with rope lighting may not be out of the question. I think it depends on how big of an area you’re talking about and where it is in relation to the screen and seating areas. Like I’ve tried to stress in my writings above, the most important thing is to keep reflective surfaces out of the line of sight when you’re in your seating and watching the screen. If the rest of the room minimizes reflections too, then a little gold on the ceiling may be totally acceptable. I’m assuming you’ll also be able to turn off the rope lighting when watching those dark movies where contrast is critical to making out the details of the picture?

In short, it all comes down to the geometry of your room.

By: Olivia

Olivia — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:27:52 +0000

Trying to decide on a ceiling color for our Media room. We’ve selected Threatre Red for wall color, trim (crown molding, floor boards , doors will be painted dark brown. Not sure what color to paint the ceiling. Will have a tray ceiling in the room and thought a gold color with the rope lighting would look nice. After reading this article , gold will not be the choice. Any advice is needed. Thanks

By: Roni

Roni — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:37:43 +0000

Thanks so much for this article Dave. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to paint my media room for 6 months and your articles helped me come up with some good ideas.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:56:21 +0000

@Nicole Glad my post could help! I can certainly understand needing a semi-gloss for an area where kids will be spending alot of time — the ability to wash the surfaces is pretty important! I think the semi-gloss won’t be an issue given that you say the area where it’s used is away from the TV/screen. But to be explicit (and nit-picky), to me that means out of your line of sight when in a normal seating position and looking at the screen. Otherwise, even though you’re using a black color, the gloss finish can cause enough of a reflection to distract you from the screen if bright light shines on the surface. Like if daylight leaks through the blinds or drapes in the window seating area when you’re trying to watch a dark movie. If the black area isn’t out of the line-of-sight, then simply do your best to minimize light from hitting it. The good news is you can always work on improving that after the rest of the room is done.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:23:51 +0000

Thanks a ton. We have a large “gameroom” in our upstairs that we are converting to a dedicated media room. We chose a deep red and a black. The black in only in the window sitting area (where the kids play their guitars) this is a semi-gloos. If the rest of the room is flat deep red, can this area be semi-gloss as it is away from the TV?

Thanks for such great info!!

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:14:36 +0000

@Desi Girl: Hmm, I’m not sure I have a real recommendation on carpet, except to follow the same principals mentioned above. That is, try not to get anything too shiny, too vibrant of a color, nor too light. I will say that we did not change the carpet when we painted our room so our carpet is a tan-ish shag. Not ideal for the projector, but we haven’t yet had the budget to replace it.

If you’re questioning carpet at all, in my opinion it is the right way to go compared to a harder surface like hardwood or tile. This is primarily for surround-sound acoustics rather than any projection issue though. Unless you’re going to add lots of sound absorbing wall panels to your walls, you’re going to have a very echoy / reverby room without the mass of soft, sound-absorbing carpet. That could make dialogue quite difficult to understand.