How to remodel your entertainment area for under $750
A remodel to your entertainment area can cost a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
If you would like to remodel your entertainment area, here are some tips to keep it under $750.
Keep in mind that with a smaller budget, remodeling your entertainment area is going to consist mostly of creating a new space for your television and electronics, and freshening the look of the room with paint and possibly new rugs to cover your existing flooring. You probably can't afford to do new wiring, or a surround sound, etc. at that price.
A new HDTV tends to be the driving factor behind many entertainment area remodels. Since the HDTV sets are bigger and heavier, they require more expensive decorating. You can purchase a nice stand from Wal-mart for around $300. However, the best option you have is to build one yourself. You can purchase a steel kit for around $100. A steel kit is pretty strong and you can construct it in about an hour. The steel kit will hold the TV, DVD player and a cable box.
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Most TV stands will hold around 200 pounds. Building a stand out of wood won't take too much time and will look really nice when its completed. Go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy 2 ninety centimeter by sixty centimeter planks of cedar wood, 2.5 centimeters thick. Cedar is great because it doesn't require staining, though you should apply a semi-transparent stain to finish the wood.
Starting at the bottom, use a saw to cut a curved pattern. You want to cut a shape that is similar to a folk guitar. The curve will add strength for support and give your stand a unique design. Once you have this cut out, sand the edges to make it nice and smooth. Next you will groove the wood a centimeter and a quarter inch deep, more than a few centimeters from the top. You will then make additional grooves to hold DVDs and games. A router or a gouging tool work perfectly for making the grooves.
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Helpful Resources:
saving money on home improvements
This site offers great information on how to save money on home improvements. It helps you to be able to learn how entertainment areas can be improved and remodeled to make your home better.
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The shelves need to be cut to the width of your TV. Set the shelves in and screw in four L-shaped supports below each shelf for added support. That is pretty much it! The cost of all the wood and tools will run you about $150.00 from both Lowes and Home Depot.
With your left over money, you should consider a fresh coat of paint to your entertainment room. Painting is the most affordable and quickest way to improve the look of your entertainment room. Depending upon the quality of paint you purchase and the color, you are looking at $100-$300 for paint and all the supplies from the Home Depot. If you aren't picky about the color, check out the Home Depot miss-tint section. You can probably find a decently colored paint for around $25.00 for 5 gallons.
If you are painting with oil-based paint you will want to purchase a few natural brushes, if not, stick with synthetic brushes, they work great for water-based and latex paints. You will need to purchase some foam brushes and rollers. The foam brushes come in several different widths and are great for touch-ups and those hard to reach corners.
Drop cloths are a must-have to protect your flooring. You can purchase plastic drop cloths for less than $5.00. The best material is of course a heavy canvas cloth to protect your flooring, but they cost a bit more. Most paint jobs also require the use of primer. A paint job looks much better if you apply a tinted primer or base coat. You should have the primer or base paint tinted to match your surface paint color. For your ceiling, you can purchase a paint that is specially formulated for the ceiling. Some brands will change color to a light blue when they dry, so don't be alarmed.
Painter's blue tape is another must-have when you are doing a painting project. The blue tape will allow you to paint multiple colors without them blending into each other. The blue tape will also protect windows and the edge where the wall touches the carpet.
The entertainment center should run you 300-500, the paint 100-150, so now add a rug with the additional money you have in your budget to help spruce up your flooring.
Here is how to remodel your entertainment area for under $2,500.
There are several reasons why people remodel their entertainment rooms. One big reason is due to the lack of needed space for entertaining family members and friends. Many entertainment rooms are being transformed into home theaters. If you would like to take your ordinary entertainment room and turn it into a home theater, and if you have the budget to do so, you can do some of the following:
- Remove the drywall and wire the room for surround sound. Perhaps it is more budget friendly to just wire externally and hide cords along the corners of the floor or ceiling. The cost to do this will depend on the contractor you use, but will usually run you $500 plus equipment.
- Soundproof the room. This will enhance the audio environment and also hold the sound within that room and that room only. Soundproofing is very important for a home theater. This is usually done by adding extra insulation, the cost is going to be close to $1000.
- Consider purchasing a prefabricated entertainment center, or having one custom built for your room. Obviously, having one custom built is going to cost a few more pennies.
- Consider stadium seating for a more enhanced video/audio experience. Do so by building a 9-12" platform at the back of the room.
Building a home theater yourself can cost you about $2000. If you opt to hire a professional, you will be looking at a much higher cost, around $5,000, and this does not include the electronics, seating, etc.
Your ordinary entertainment room can be transformed with just a simple coat of paint. Depending upon the quality of paint you purchase and the color, you are looking at $100-$300 for paint and all the supplies.
Entertainment rooms are often synonyms for game rooms. You can purchase dartboards, pool tables, ping pong tables, pinball machines and video games for under $1,000 if you shop around, buy second hand, or hit sales. A pool table costs around $1,000 on its own, so take a look at your budget to determine if you can afford other gaming tables after the pool table. Pool tables and ping pong tables do require more space than a dartboard, so be sure you have enough room to add them in.
A last piece to add to your new entertainment room is a mini-fridge. These fridges can be purchased for around $200.00 from Lowes. The mini fridge is great to have in the game room for storing beverages for your friends and family to enjoy when they come over.
Obviously, you only want to add things like your mini-fridge and game tables to the cost of your room if you do not have to make any expensive structural changes, or do not have to replace the flooring. Carpet is always the best option for an entertainment room as it helps to absorb sound, so if you have to replace it, you will probably not fit within your $2500 budget very well.
Sound systems will run you close to $1000 for a basic one with installation. Paint will be $100-$300 depending on if you do it yourself or have someone else do it. If you add shelving, etc. as shown in the $750 budget one you are looking at another $200-$300. In addition to that you can add fun elements, like the dart board, to fill in the rest of your $2500 budget.
Here are some ways to remodel your entertainment area for under $5,000.
Start with the carpet. Most entertainment rooms get a lot of use and the carpet becomes worn fairly quickly. Some sub-contractors will install nice carpet with a decent pad for around $1,600. The average cost from the Home Depot to carpet a 200 square foot room is $2,400. Carpet is a great way to update the look of your entertainment room, and give it a plush feel.
In addition to carpeting, you will want to make sure you wire the room for entertaining. You can get an electrician to come out and put in the outlets you need, wire your surround sound, etc. usually for around $1000-$1500 plus the cost of the equipment. Equipment will run you $500 or so.
Of course a fresh coat of paint can do wonders for any room, including your entertainment room, and most design magazines, experts, etc. agree that a television looks better on a colored wall because it really helps the picture to pop. You are looking at $100-$300 for the paint, brushes, drop cloth, painter's tape, etc. If you want a professional to paint the walls for you, then you need to select a cheaper carpet or go with the tile so you have room in your budget to pay for the labor. Painters run anywhere from $25.00 - $30.00 an hour. Plus, they will charge you for the use of their spray gun and the cost of paint. Which means your paint will likely cost you $750 or so.
Of course you can always add a little here, and subtract some there. If you don't need to pay someone to put in your surround sound, you could spend more building a great shelving system to hold your movies, games, DVD's, CD's etc. What you do depends on what you need, and what you want out of your home entertainment room.
