Enhanced Home Theater

So, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about this when I’ve not been in front of a computer, and even asked help of a few people in doing research to understand what this is really going to take.

Let’s start off by describing the what I’d like it to be someday:

It’s Friday night, and a couple of friends are coming over to watch a movie with us. Before they get there, my wife and I spend a few minutes preparing some refreshments for before and during the movie, and carrying them upstairs to the home theater.

When our guests arrive, after greeting them, we all head upstairs to the theater, and pass through the double doors into  the entry way to the theater, and through the blackout curtains over the entryway.  The lights are low (but not yet at movie watching dimness), and the projector is fired up, showing a slideshow of some recent pictures. While we had picked a movie earlier in the week for this evening, the sight of Blu-Ray collection across from the entry way sparks a debate on the choice of movie, but we quickly settle on watching the original movie, and we’ll look through the collection after for ideas for a future movie.

Everybody settles into a seat on the two couches in the room, and we push the button on the remote to start the show. The lights dim even lower as the movie starts, and the walkway lighting becomes more obvious, though not so bright as to be distracting.  The movie comes on the screen in FullHD (1080p) and the sound test rumbles the 7.1 sound system through unobtrusive bookshelf and embedded speakers around the room.

So, I’ve been looking at this, trying to identify what needs to happen to get there, given the work that’s already been done to make the current home theaters. There are several phases that will need to happen to get there, partly due to the goal to have it running throughout the process.

1. Before move-in
2. First upgrade phase
3. Second upgrade phase

So, during phase 1, the work will be about doing the things to the room that can’t easily be done while living there, and taking the chance to do stuff that might be on the messy side, to prepare for later phases. This will be primarily about changes and additions to the current wiring, along with making sure that the platform is carpeted, etc.

Phase 2 will be about upgrades to the home-theater electronics themselves, and may be spread out quite a bit, since some of the pieces can be upgraded independently. It may also include some replacement of furniture, as the room will initially have furniture that came from our previous house, but it’s not ideal for the space long-term.

Phase 3, is about unification, and while it may overlap some parts of phase 2, it will be really part of the bigger Smart home conversion, which I will be discussing in more detail later.

My primary interest right now is in phase 1, so watch for a follow-up post about my current thinking in the next several days.

And.. some lighting shots

Yeah, yeah.. I’m working my way through the pictures I took today..

Here’s some shots of all the different light fixtures through the house.

Because I can!

Here’s a close up of the front door that I took today

Today was the inspection…

And I got a bunch more photos, though I’ll probably be posting them in phases.

The first bunch I’m putting up is more detail on the home theater space, as I consider those a prerequisite for the next step in the planning discussion, the “Enhanced Home Theater”

So, here’s the new photos of the theater room:

 

A few details:

• The projector appears to have an 800x600 native resolution, with a DVI connector running down to the electronics
• The wires you see going into the floor appear in the ceiling of the Garage.
• Yes, the platform is wafer-board with no covering (currently).

Now that you know a bit about what the house is..

It’s time to start talking about what the house could (and hopefully will) be in the future.

There are all sorts of things we’ve talked about doing, here’s a short list of some of them (ordered by complexity, simplest first!)

• Server Space
• Enhanced Home theater
• Smart-home Conversion

Seems like a short list, doesn’t it? Oh, how I wish. Each of those items is worthy of a whole post on it’s own, and I’ll be posting about them some over the next several days. I’ll probably not talk much about the smart-home conversion right away though, as I want to focus on the things that we’re hoping to do before moving in, and the conversion won’t take place for a while (probably at *least* 6 months before it begins.)

 

Server Space

Arguably, this is the simplest of the list to talk about, since all it really means is picking a space to store my server and proxy machines, and running wire to hook them up. Where it gets complicated is understanding *why* this is such a big deal.

As all of you who are reading this know, I spend a lot of time “playing with computers.” One of the things I do, because I can, and enjoy it, is run a fairly advanced network in my home. You could probably safely call my network “Enterprise Class” since I’m running software that is often only found in medium to larger business environments. Most of this is for self-education, but some of it is simply because it’s familiar, since it’s the same sort of environment I deal with at work.

So, I have two machines, my ‘big network server’ and my firewall/proxy server that I need to find a home for. Preferably one that is dry and cool. And then I need to make sure that there is power available, followed closely by making sure that there is at least one network cable running from that space to the central wiring box with the network hub.

In Chez-Fou (my last house) this space ended up being the closet in my office, but that tended to get warmer than I like. At one point, I moved them into the garage, but that tends to fill the insides with dust a bit faster (and actually get too cold in winter).  So, I will be looking at a couple of spaces when we do the inspection (Which by the way, is scheduled for Sunday afternoon) and figuring out which will become the new server space.

Once I know where, then I just need to schedule a weekend (after closing, of course) with a second person to help with running the wire, and get the network cable run to the space. Ah, the fun of crawlspaces and fiberglass filled attics.

I forgot to add the floor plans!

Here’s some more details about the house:

• 3,490 square foot (finished living space)
• Built in 2004
• 10,062 square foot lot
• 4 Bedrooms upstairs
• Bonus Room upstairs (This is the Theater)
• Laundry room upstairs
• Den downstairs
• Formal Living room and Dining rooms on either side of the entry
• Walk-in Pantry
• Butler’s Pantry
• All kitchen appliances are Viking appliances
• Slab-Granite countertops
• Built-in desk next to kitchen in breakfast nook
• Fireplace in the Master bedroom/bathroom
• Jetted tub in the Master bath
• Double Shower in the Master bath
• Structured wiring box for distribution of data and media (in laundry room)
• Whole house has network drops
• Security System
• 20’ Ceilings in the family room, with upstairs balcony overlooking it
• Fireplace in family room
• Several of the bedrooms are set up for wall-mount TVs, including Master bedroom
• Several Skylights
• Sprinkler system in yard
• Huge patio with views of the valley, and some mountains on clear days
• 3 car garage (The third car area is likely to be a tech-workshop for me, along with a server room)
• Lots of storage, including under the stairs.

We have Mutual Acceptance!

There are a lot of neat things about this house, including:

• Built-in Home Theater
• Attic Fan to help cool the house
• Dimmer switches throughout the house
• Electric Awning on the Patio
• 80 gallon water heater
• Ceiling fans in Master Bedroom and Family Room
• Hall lighting that comes on when dark
• InstaHot faucet in Kitchen
• and much more..

Here’s more pictures:

Now begins the paperwork…