General Discussion Poker Forums

Hey guys, I'm looking to remodel my basement and I've had a few contractors give me some estimates. I've found a guy that I like that will be able to do a lot of the work himself for what seems to be a fair/better price based on what the other general contractors are charging.

My question to the community is I'd like to hear some ideas for cool stuff to do with the 2 main rooms plus bathroom that we've sketched out. If it helps I can upload a diagram of the layout plan but basically it will be like this:

18' by 18' "media room"
13' x 14' "bedroom" (will be using this as my office)
and a 7' x 13' bathroom

I'd like to get some ideas on how to make it more than just a plain old basement refinish. I'm looking for anything from interior design ideas to lighting to home theater to anything cool and non-standard (without going too crazy...(ie i don't want to make it a replica of Chalmun's Cantina... the bar in star wars lol).

To give you guys an idea of stuff I'm throwing around... I think it would be cool to build in a giant plasma tv inside the wall and having shelving built right into the wall to hold a receiver, xbox, ps3, dvd/blueray/etc so that all the wires are hidden for each device. Also including in wall surround sound speakers.

Something like a TV built into the shower would be another option of things to consider.

A hidden door to use the space under the stairs to hide a mini refrigerator.

Stuff like that. I want to make it baller without being gaudy.

For instance something like this is cool, but way over the top for me:
http://theater.stevejenkins.com/gallery/complete/

But something like this is probably too simple: http://www.warmbasements.com/images/basement_entertainment.jpg

Most of the pictures and research I've done has shown the media room to have a massive projection screen. It seems like a projection screen would be way less clear than just getting like a 65-70inch plasma. Also I'm unclear about how it would work hooking up the xbox etc to a big projector. Have they made good advancements in projectors such that they are reasonably close to plasma quality?

Thanks for any thoughts/ideas/experiences.

WoT

Get at least one pinball machine. Watch Craigslist. I can help you make sure you get a good price (tell the wife it is an "investment" in art. seriously)

I had 7 in my living room before I sold them and moved to Mexico (still have 2).

When I got to 3, out went the coffee table.
When I got to 5, out went the couch.
When I got to 7, out went the wife. (this part is just a pinball joke)

Have your lighting hooked up so that when u turn your screen on the lights dim down and turn off.

...<snip>...Most of the pictures and research I've done has shown the media room to have a massive projection screen. It seems like a projection screen would be way less clear than just getting like a 65-70inch plasma...<snip>...

I'm not so sure about this. Think about it. By far, the best movie experiences are in theaters (Imax or not), and they are all done via projection.

P.S. Most important thing is the sound system. A good sound systems makes any TV setup look good.

paint the walls a darkish color, like a rich red. looks cool with lights up and less reflections when lights down.
get one of these
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&navAction=jump&id=16815151&search=true&isProduct=true&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS&color=24
with a letter that means something to you

old school movie posters? star wars, casablanca, indiana jones ect.

check this out
http://hiddendoors.com/home.asp

try to find a led light setup to wrap around the whole room which you can dim and change color, there the coolest.

put like glass display boxes on the walls and get some cheap but good looking replicas for classic movie props like lightsabers, indies whip/gold monkey or whatever (i just realized im addicted to star wars and jones)

also for reference here's the layout of my basement:

http://www.plusevpoker.com/basement.jpg

WoT

bferst - that hidden door thing is awesome, i definitely want one of those under the stairs

sneakers - good point. any thoughts on how hard it would be to hook up gaming systems to the projector? I'm pretty sure in the old days of 8 bit nintendo and ps1 that was a big no-no but i'd guess times have changed with that? Would those game systems just hook into the receiver and the receiver into the projector?

Toms789 - sick idea. love it. I bet i could get one of those mega remote controls with the touch pad that could control everything?

I would stay away from any built ins for the TV...with how things change so often, and I don't know where you are w resale potential in the future, but built ins for tvs are extra work/money without much return.

My buddy has a 55" samsung brand new and it looks a little plain just hung on the wall however. I would go for a nice wall mount with an extendable arm that way you can angle it depending on what you are doing in the basement.

Love the bathroom idea. It would not cost much extra to secure a flat screen and sound system in your shower...totally the way to mark it as the man shower

Would those game systems just hook into the receiver and the receiver into the projector?

This. My cable box, PS3, 360, and Wii are all connected to my receiver.

Need to transport food or laundry quickly and easily? How about when your baby is upstairs crying and her binky is downstairs? Dumbwaiter ftw! haha

Good Projectors are by far much better than good LCD's and Plasma's. When I started doing research into my new tv I thought the exact same thing you did. It seems like it would be much less clear and not as nice. It somehow can't be farther from the truth. Try forums like AVS. Great advice being thrown around in their and a big community. I did a lot of research and got one of the best LCD's on the market at the time and my GF's father just got through installing a new midline projector. His projector blows my LCD away. Not even close.

All your equipment will hook up though your receiver and then you will route the video from the receiver up to your projector likely through HDMI.

Best advice on home audio is do a ton of research into what you need and what you want. Then get the best you can afford because in Home Audio the correlation between the more money you spend and the better the equipment is heavily positive.

All these ideas are great but I would stress how important it is to get references for whoever you're planning on hiring to do the job. He may be a rockin' dude but if he does the job half-assed you'll be kicking yourself a few months from now b/c you could've prevented it. Member of the family had a bad experience with a contractor recently, and it was b/c they got a bit chummy with the contractor that they just trusted them to do their job and overlooked checking up on his skill level that they were out a few grand b/c you can't refund labor, etc.

Sounds like it will be a kick-ass basement when it's done.

Toms789 - sick idea. love it. I bet i could get one of those mega remote controls with the touch pad that could control everything?

Check out home automation. When u walk into the room get it to say hello and make u a drink, awesome stuff lol.

Good Projectors are by far much better than good LCD's and Plasma's. When I started doing research into my new tv I thought the exact same thing you did. It seems like it would be much less clear and not as nice. It somehow can't be farther from the truth. Try forums like AVS. Great advice being thrown around in their and a big community. I did a lot of research and got one of the best LCD's on the market at the time and my GF's father just got through installing a new midline projector. His projector blows my LCD away. Not even close.

All your equipment will hook up though your receiver and then you will route the video from the receiver up to your projector likely through HDMI.

Best advice on home audio is do a ton of research into what you need and what you want. Then get the best you can afford because in Home Audio the correlation between the more money you spend and the better the equipment is heavily positive.

Wilt, I think this answers your question perfectly. I was thinking exactly along these lines. HDMI connections through receiver to projector/TV. I have done a ton of research on audio/video. By far, good AUDIO dramatically expands any movie experience these days...AND the audio experience/expense is an easy sell (to better half) afterward. Even just-OK movies come to life.

NOTE: if looking at a projector, beware of the price of replacing bulbs vs lifetime. They can be very expensive. (kind of like buying ink cartridges for a printer).

BTW, you're in luck. The pricing on sound systems has fallen dramatically these last couple of years (I've been watching). Personally, I am sold on the ONKYO systems. With ONKYO, you are technology protected for at least ten years, I thinks.

Get at least one pinball machine. Watch Craigslist. I can help you make sure you get a good price (tell the wife it is an "investment" in art. seriously)

I had 7 in my living room before I sold them and moved to Mexico (still have 2).

When I got to 3, out went the coffee table.
When I got to 5, out went the couch.
When I got to 7, out went the wife. (this part is just a pinball joke)

Here's the perfect pinball for your basement project.

World Poker Tour

The designer is Steve Ritchie "The Master of Flow". He is the Steve Wozniak of pinball.