DIY Network

Existing Room Conversions Options are explored for upgrading rooms into unique home theaters. From "Home Theater" episode DHTW-102

Guest Russ Herschelmann (upper left) with game-show host Alex Trebek and his family in the Trebek home theater.

Not all home theaters are created equal, and host Corey Greenberg takes you on a tour of some other options in this final segment of the second episode of Home Theater Workshop.

Instead of building a home theater from the ground up, you may want to consider taking an existing room and updating it create your own special movie-watching experience. Designer Russ Herschelmann has made a career of creating high-end home theaters for Hollywood celebrities, and one of his favorite projects was transforming a room in the home of game-show host Alex Trebek.

"I'm happy with the way it turned out because we were dealing with an existing space," Trebek said. "It's a good place to watch movies and sporting events."

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Russ created Trebek's home theater in a grand ball room (figure A), and he maintained an elegant theme when installing the big screen and projector. "We used a very special fixed screen," Russ said, "that had a hand-painted proscenium arch around it. And the video projector was concealed in the coffee table."

Even though Russ designs home theaters that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, he also says any do-it-yourselfer can create a magical movie theater on a modest budget. "You don't have to spend a lot of money to great home-theater experience," he said. "I've seen home theaters put together for as little as $2,000 that give you that incredible magic where you completely lose track of where you are." And Russ believe you can achieve a great home theater whether you build it from scratch--as in the DIY project--or use an existing multi-purpose room.

For example, you can put a home theater in an existing family room (figure B), or you can have one tucked into a guest bedroom or master bedroom.

Figure A

Figure B

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