When the owners of this residence on the North Shore of Long Island, NY decided to build a home movie theater, several design related obstacles stood in their way. One of the dilemmas was the placement of the theater within the existing residence. All rooms were finished and the traffic flow would not permit for the conversion of any room in to the theater, except for the Living Room. The existing Living Room had been rarely used due to the life styles of the Owners, and therefore the decision had been made to transform it in to the Home Theater. Now the task had a different degree of difficulty, - renovation of a relatively small room that measured 15 feet x 23 feet, and the achievement of the true look and feel of a Home Theater

All seven custom-made ultra suede and leather seats were positioned in two rows in the center of the Theater. The floor was raised at the entrance, and "cascaded" down towards the "stage" as a series of platforms. The entire perimeter of the room was insulated with fiberglass, soundboard panels, and 1-inch acoustical fiberglass panels. Both windows received a motorized blackout shade, and were upholstered in the same acoustical fabric as the rest of the Theater walls, to achieve a seamless fusion.

The front of the Home Theater was designed to resemble a stage with a 7-foot "Stewart" fixed screen positioned above and flanked by 20 inch "Proton" color monitors, main front speakers and subwoofers on both sides. The center channel speaker was built into the top step of the "stage", and the space below the subwoofers was utilized for storage of CDs, DVDs and videotapes. A cavity in the 9-foot ceiling completely conceals the "Runco" projector from the eyes of the audience. A handheld color touch screen, a single wall lighting panel and an automated control panel with different "mood" presets control all cove lighting, low voltage ceiling lighting and the custom made Stainless steel wall sconces.

To facilitate illumination and access, Audio/Video equipment was placed next to one of the Theater's rear entrances, while the Bar faced the other. "Durkan" rug floor covering really pulled together the colors of the walls, seats and the cabinetry.

Like a perfectly staged play, at the touch of a button, the lights come on and then dim down, the window shades come down, the music starts, the curtain opens, and the show begins!

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