The plan of the new theater:


The heart of the theater -- the Emotiva pre-amplifier, and amp chassis which contains 7 dedicated amps that put out about 300 watts per channel (it weighs over 120 lbs... and I have a dedicated 20 amp electrical circuit for this puppy!)


The new theater seats - electric reclining black leather Berkline 099's




The destruction of the new equipment closet:


Framing the new rear wall:



The inside of the rear wall, sheetrocked:


The outside of the rear wall, textured and primed:



The new equipment & fridge alcove, textured:



And, the new 18" platform for the dual-reclining sofa (second row seating, it is curved to match the Berklines that will be in front).  Room is now painted - charcoal on the lower wall, ceiling, front wall & equipment closet.  The upper part of the walls is a "wine" color.

 

The front right corner, where the DVD rack will go:

The new equipment alcove

And...

Carpeted, lighting, equipment & seating installed

 

Now -- Curtains are in, door installed!  At first, I was not sure what to do -- but in the end, kept coming back to these.  In the end, I installed a wall of "fake-leather" curtains over both windows - behind the speaker.  These are totally light-blocking, and the valence on top prevents light coming up.

 

Screen installed, snack shack set up
I ended up going with a 133" DaLite Cinema Vision screen.  It was fairly easy to set up.


For the snack shack, I  bought a stainless steel fridge, stocked full of all sorts of beverages, and snacks on top.  It sits right next to my equipment rack in the alcove.


Finally, here is a picture of the main section of the finished theater.  The rear platform is about 18" higher than the main floor with a dual-reclining sofa, providing a "stadium-style" seating.  This lets even short people easily see over the heads of people in front.


Things left to do eventually:
1) install a silent vent fan above the alcove to draw heat from the room (thereby pulling cooler air in from outside or other rooms).
2) install crown moulding and a chair rail
3) build a custom-sized speaker stand for the center speaker (currently angled up by being propped on a block of wood with a towel!)