Painting a Media Room!
When I left you in the last post, it was with the challenge for you to guess what I was going to do in here! (see the full group of before’s here)
Ooo la la, not
Well wait no more my friends. I decided to paint this entire room black. Yes black! Ceiling, walls, trim, door, and floor. Now I know what you’re thinking, won’t that be SUPER dark? Yikes, a cave? Yes and no. I’ll explain more!
PAINTING A MEDIA ROOM: A STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL
First things first we covered the “screen” with a sheet of plastic but left the trim exposed. We also covered all of the outlets, light fixtures and speakers with tape.
We decided to bust out our sprayer since we were painting everything and it made it SO much easier.
I used Caviar by Sherwin Williams. This is the same black that we used on our bathroom vanity cabinet (seen here) and the front door (peep it here).
Super fresh and still wet, I snapped this shot to show you the drama factor. The all black surface actually makes the room feel bigger. There aren’t any colors on the ceiling or trim to break it up so it’s a fantastic visual trick. (This applies to any color)
Dang one little swipe of black made it through the plastic, no biggie though because…..
*My tip to a better picture is to paint the screen a bright fresh white! We hadn’t painted it yet in this pic but I had leftover white paint from our bathroom. Once the black was dry, we came back and painted the “screen” with it. HUGE difference in picture quality!
Regarding the floor, I recommend painting that with a porch and patio paint. It’s much more durable for foot traffic than standard wall paint.
Next up on our “painting a media room” home project, was adding some interest to this all black space with some texture. This is the room on the other side of the wall, the kids hang out space. When we did this room I added texture by installing some reclaimed grey washed wood to the bumpout.
See this room here. Although I owe you an update, the furniture is much different!
So when it came time to deal with the bumpout in the media room I wanted to carry it over in there. I knew the grey wash would play beautifully off of the black walls.
The hubs hopped up and was nailing in the boards while I rolled him back and forth. It makes things much easier and faster.
I highly recommend snagging yourself one of these rolling scaffolding things. We got ours at a big box home improvement store and you can see, it’s been WELL used.
Our oldest likes doing the cutting so we set him up just outside the room. He used a small dremel saw to cut the boards to fit.
Never too early to teach them DIY
The finished result! I had to crop this down so as not to reveal too much. But you can see how the texture and variation in the wood tones play off of the ceiling and wall color. It breaks it up so as to give some added interest without detracting or fighting with the black.
The other bonus to using this in here is that it ties into the other rooms in the basement where I used this same material on the other hvac bumpouts. It creates continuity throughout even though this room is literally painted the polar opposite color.
Coming up next I’m sharing the comfiest movie binge seating that I selected for this room followed by the big reveal of this space. Trust me it does NOT feel like a cave.
What do you think? Are you surprised I painted every square inch of a space black? I always love to hear from ya so hit me up in the comments.
And don’t forget to pop in your email to the subscribe box, you are not going to want to miss the last 2 posts on this project!
Pat
November 10, 2020Love it!! So beautiful when the entire room is one color and the grey is perfect. Just so anxious to see the finished product ~ you never cease to amaze me with your decor!
Tina Bousu
November 14, 2020Thank you so much Pat! I can’t wait to share the full space with all the extra goodies. xoxo
william diederich
November 9, 2021If recommend so acoustic sound absorbing panels on the walls for a more immersive experience. I went with ATS Acoustics, bought six of the 2’x4′ DIY panels. Came out great. I also went with curtains, black and dark burgundy. Just needing new theater carpet now.
Tina Bousu
November 16, 2021Hi there, acoustic board panels are definitely an option!
diane
November 10, 2020I think the black paint is great for the media room. how about deep red velvet curtains on both sides of the screen, floor to ceiling, wall to side of the screen.
if budget permits, 2-4 theatre type sconces on the side walls. I know its typical and your taste are atypical. (and I love your taste and what you do do. that’s why I follow you). I m 71 n0w and I remember the local PARAMOUNT theatre in my home town. I loved going to the movies then. i loved that theatre. deep red brocade seat covers. deep red velvet curtains on both sides, almost 2 stories tall. still the longest curtains I ever saw in my life! the sconces looked Tiffany shades. looking forward to the finish!
Tina Bousu
November 14, 2020Hi Diane! How fun that you had a paramount theatre, what special memories to have. I’ll let you in on a secret, we are on similar brain wavelengths! 😉