Private screening

DULUTH, Minn. — What do we really want? That’s the question John Lawien and his wife, Lizette, asked themselves when they began planning a large addition to their Duluth home a few years ago.

Their wish list included a bigger dining room, another bedroom, an exercise room and a media room with a big television. The more they thought about a room for watching big-screen TV, the more they realized their family would enjoy it.

“My wife and I don’t go out to bars,” explains Lawien, 41. “The kids are teenagers now. The one thing we enjoy as a family is pizza and a movie. And nothing’s better than the comfort of your home.”

So their plans changed from a media room to a bona fide home theater. The result is a 15-by-18-foot theater that sports a high-definition 42-inch plasma TV for everyday viewing. For movie viewing, a 92-inch screen for a front-projection system lowers from the ceiling in front of the skinny plasma television. There’s Surround Sound with seven speakers and a large sub-woofer for low-octave sound, high-definition satellite TV, DVD players, computer hookups and gadgets like wireless headphones. The room’s tiered seating has comfy theater loungers, complete with cup holders and storage compartments.

Minitheaters focused on the viewing and listening experience are part of a growing trend away from family or recreation rooms with a television that can disappear into a cabinet.

“It was made to disappear because they wanted it to disappear,” says Jay Brink, vice president of D.A.D.S. Electronics in Duluth. His company wires many home theaters and has seen growing interest in the past two to four years.

Technologies have advanced, improving the options for big-screen, high-definition television. Now mass produced, prices have come down.

Locally, the staff at Huppin’s Hi-Fi, Photo & Video in downtown Spokane, can attest to the trend toward better and bigger television screens but not necessarily bigger sets.

Arnie Gustafson, a sales associate at Huppins, says typically, customers are looking for the most screen-size for their money. But, he adds, before you buy it’s important to consider all the options.

“You might see a large-screen, picture tube, set advertised at a great price, but do you really want something that weighs 100 pounds and is 26 inches deep?” he asks. “Why would you when prices are coming down on the LCD or plasma models.”

More people are turning to home theaters, largely to watch sports and movies on big, high-definition TVs, Brink says.

An existing 12-foot-by-15-foot room can be converted into a home theater for a minimum of $15,000, Bedford says. Much of the cost is the television itself. A 50-inch plasma TV, for example, costs $4,000 to $6,000, he says.

Wiring for a home theater is easier and cheaper to install when walls are open in new construction or home additions. The music component of home theater can easily be extended to other rooms at the same time, which is another trend, Brink said.

And there’s always a snag:

Gustafson says that when shopping for a new television, it’s important to remember that the picture you get at home may not equal what you saw on display.

“Like most places, we have a high definition feed coming into the store,” he says. “If you don’t have HD, the picture is not going to look as good.”

Theater conversion

Andy Karon, 44, of Duluth hasn’t been out to the movies since he turned his attached garage into a home theater four months ago. The conversion came when he put an addition on to his home that included a new garage.

The cement floor of the old one-car garage was jackhammered out and lowered 8 inches to create more head space in the 15-foot-by-20 foot room. The 110-inch TV screen is on the wall where the garage door once was. The room features in-floor heat, soundproofing insulation, custom cabinetry and wainscoting.

The equipment, costing $10,000, includes an overhead front-projection system, Surround Sound, high-definition cable television box and DVD players.

Karon still marvels at the quality of the high-definition images he gets.

“It’s great to watch movies and great to watch sports,” says Karon, who owns a scrap metal business. “The picture is phenomenal. It’s just like being in a theater.”

That theater feel carries over in the decor that features deep burgundy walls and ceiling along with old-fashioned floral carpeting. With no windows, the sconces and recessed lights dim for movie watching.

In his job as a regional private banking manager for Wells Fargo Bank, John Lawien has seen the growing popularity of home theaters among his affluent clients who are building high-end homes.

His own home theater features sleek black cabinetry and striking bold colors, geometric designs and lightning bolt accents. It complements the contemporary style of his home near the University of Minnesota Duluth.

“A lot of theaters are real drab and boring on the interior,” he said. “We wanted to get back to the art deco of old theaters, real dramatic.”

The walls, in a purplish hue, are textured for better sound. An entry area has a refreshment center that’s separated from the theater room by a glass-block window in the wall.

Windows have heavy black drapes to block outside light. A trayed shelf near the ceiling holds rope lighting on three walls. Theater-style floor lights, art deco sconces and recessed lights are all connected to controls that can dim the lights at varying rates.

Lawien spent months researching home theaters, poring through magazines like Home Theater and Home Theater Builder. The project involved a designer, carpenters from Builders Commonwealth, installers from D.A.D.S. Electronics and expertise from Custom Theaters of Ely.

Lawien estimated the home theater cost $80,000, including $46,000 for the room’s construction, $23,000 for equipment and $5,000 for wiring and installation. The geometric panels on the wall alone cost $2,700, but they do more than add drama to the room: they keep sound from bouncing.

“So much is budget, how much you want to spend,” Lawien said. “We wanted it to be kind of striking.”

With the home theater, Sundays are family night at the Lawien home. The couple and their sons, Christian, 18, and Corbin, 12, share pizza and a movie.

“Even if we’ve had a tough week, we can all sit down and watch a movie together,” Lawien said.

Staff writer Cheryl-Anne Millsap contributed to this story.