Flat black paint for the room vs. all other colors (1 Viewer)

After many years of waiting I'm finally getting a dedicated HT room. The room is 17'D x 21'W x 9'H and has total light control. There are windows, but they will be covered with blackout drapes.

I've gotten the green light to paint it whatever color I want (Did NOT see that coming!). Now, we all know that a flat black room with a black carpet is the ultimate, but let's face it; it's darn ugly. The room will be used for kids movies and watching football games in addition to watching real movies. I.E. the lights will not be completely turned off during those "lesser viewing experiences."

Other than knowing all surfaces have to be "dark colored" I'm not sure how to proceed. Pretty sure I will be painting the wall the screen will hang on, flat black. Thought about black for the ceiling too, but not sure how that would look with the other walls painted a different color. Possibly, the ceiling can be flat black, and the 4 walls a dark red or blue?

Would appreciate some ideas/opinions. Thanks!

Anything dark works, and non satin(reflective). Chocolate brown is a good choice, so is burgundy.

In our new screening room (dedicated for movie viewing only) the ceiling is flat black, walls are blue with gold columns, carpet is a darker blue but the front in is BLACK aside from the red curtains. The focal point needs to be the screen only. I've got a few pictures posted on this forum.

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll be referring back to this thread when the time comes to tell the builder what color to paint the walls (new construction). I guess I will pick the darkest color carpet I can from whatever the available choices are (assuming one of the "custom colors" is not too much more $$$)

If this is new build...Don't forget acoustical flooring and drywall. Pay extra, you will be thankful.I recommend SoundBreak XP and ThermoQuiet. If you don't need thermo properties, QuietZone.

I am having the floor insulated (the bonus room is over the garage and kitchen) but it's just normal insulation. It is not much, but it is better than just leaving it uninsulated...it will at least prevent that space between the kitchen ceiling and theater floor from being just a hollow box.

Not sure if the builder would allow me to substitute or add acoustical insulation as it could void the warranty on the house, blah, blah, blah. You know how it goes. I do plan on adding acoustic treatment (the "window boxes" lined with acoustic foam, etc) on the walls though.

Your builder should be able to provide acoustic drywall. It doesn't cost much more than normal, and the XP goes up just like regular.

Matter of fact, one of the builders I do theatre planning for actually built a room in their showroom.They'll walk clients into various rooms, shut the door in this one and the clientd almost always ask..."Why is this room so quiet?""Glad you asked..."

Hmm, I will look at the options sheet for acoustic drywall. Thanks very much for that tip!

Your builder should consider being flexible. You should have an allowance or cost range for what's going in, and if what you have in mind exceeds that, you pay the price. Some of the above suggestions probably do not, however. The one thing to keep in mind that changes in design or construction once you have started have a tendency to get expensive. There are some ideas you can put in construction that actually can add little to the cost, and much to the finished product:


This was my idea. It turned out that we had a mill works that made these to measure, would pass building codes and would install them. My builder had never used this in anything he had done previously. They took up less space than a conventional stair case, and the cost turned out to be not much more than we would have spent on conventional stairs.

Concerning paint, you mentioned having kids. Be sure and use something that can be cleaned. There are varying amounts of gloss that can be used in paint. A low gloss finish can be almost non reflective, and can still be cleaned. While black may be considered ideal, I'd have to agree that it's tough to make it look good with the lights on. You could consider using a non reflective black border around your screen, and a relatively dark non reflective color on the wall surrounding the screen and on the ceiling. Light off the side walls will not reflect as much and wash out the image and can be lighter. I used a dark chocolate brown for the wall my screen was on and the ceiling, and lighter brown on the side and back walls. I also had soffits with lighting below. I used an off white on the undersurface-light from the screen doesn't reflect off the area directly, and I wanted the lighting to work on the rest of the room when it was on.

You can always change your mind, though. Repainting is probably one of the less expensive modifications.

Love me a spiral staircase...

Just posted about this subject matter in the "Building A Home Theater? Start Here." thread.

My room is paneled with knotty pine and it is beautiful and doesn't bounce back light to the screen at all. Make a nice looking room.