D-Box at the Tysons Luxury Expo!

I think we had more exhibitors sitting in the D-box chairs than actual customers. Sunday traffic was a bit slower than it typically has been in previous years, but it was still a great show overall.

It's amazing the difference a week can make...

This is the before picture of the hallway. Our client (Tony) wanted to do something to "jazz up" his space. His theater room was built about 8 years ago and we had already done a few upgrades to the system.

It was nice for the time, and it still had some appeal- but it wasn't as good as it could be. In our initial walkthrough I made some suggestions for the future- (because I didn't think he didn't want to spend the money- after all, a few days prior he told me that he and his wife got into a fight about spending money...)
The faux painting on the walls was very well done, but not suited to my tastes, the projector was about 2 years old, and he was happy with the sound system... So what could we do on a budget to improve the aesthetic of the room? My suggestions were to replace the carpet, and create some appeal when you're entering the room so that before you even walk into the room you know it's something special! He also wanted to raise the back row higher, so there was an unobstructed view of the screen.

As you can see from this after picture, I believe we have accomplished our desired effect! The walls were painted a dark brown, gold painted trim was added to make the halllway more elegant, remote controlled, color changing LED lighting was added to create a color wash on the ceiling. The walls have some shadow boxes made for moovie posters, curved marble tiles add some elegance, and my favorite part is the suede-leather porthole door!

This normally would not be a big deal to complete this project in less than a week- but going from concept to completion in less than a week was an amazing feat! (Tony wanted to surprise his family and have this all done while they were on vacation) So with the initial concept in place on Tuesday, and the deadline set for next Tuesday evening, I had my work cut out for me!

I didn't do all the work on my own- I'd like to thank Ramzy Andary for having his team take care of all the construction with zero notice, and a very special thanks to Taylor of Nic-lor floors, for getting her installers to drive down to Richmond (and back to Clifton) at 3:00 on a weekday, so that the carpet could be installed when it was promised. She went above and beyond to help us get it done! Good service is hard to come by these days, so when you get awesome service, and people followup and do what they say they'e going to do- they deserve some recognition!

This is the before sightline-it's fine if you're sitting up in the backrow- but when you recline in the back row, the fromt row chairs block the bottom of the screen. Moving the screen up was not an option due to the bulkhead iin the room- so the only option we had was to raise the seating platform even higher. By adding another 7" only underneath the seating- Tony now has a perfect view.

This is the new back row configuration- For a smaller room, I'm surprised that we were able to fit 10 chairs total in here! The prime seating here is a pair of leather D-Box Motion simulator home theater recliners with motorized recline! If you've never heard of D-Box, check the back of many Blu-ray DVD's... If you love action movies, you have to at least look at it.

Another D-Box Theater Completed!

Our client didn't think we would get it done, but as we typically do- we prevailled! A truly state-of-the-art home theater system, complete with a Panamorph anamophic lens, 2.35:1 wide screen Cinema Design Group Acoustics, Isky starlight panels and the highlight feature- four D-Box seats made by Fortress that move in sync with the action on the screen!

Everything is able to be controlled from the Control4 universal remote-including the 4 preset lighting scenes. we even made it so that when he pauses the movie, the lights automatically raise. As a little bonus feature, we are using the control4 system as a water leak detector- to notify the homeowner if there's any water in the basement.

Our clients first reaction- he loved it! I bet he's going to be watching movies all week in there....

A special thanks to Mike Carr of Carrmichael construction for taking care of the trim work and painting.

Why we do what we do...

Seven years ago when we started this business, we focused the business around what we knew best at the time- Computers! PC and Mac hardware and software support for small business and residential clients.

After getting a few years into the business and developing it to some extent, I decided to take the business in a different direction...enter the home theater business! Why home theaters? Because it's cool! Home electronics, automation, and all kinds of gadgets! Not only do we get to "play" with cool technology, we make people happy and we make their lives easier! I've always thought it would be neat to be an "imagineer" that's Disney-speak for the wizards that put the rides and scences together- they make the magic happen.

We run a service based business- we provide the knowledge, and the people with the right experience to help save time and money.

If you've done any research on home theaters or home automation systems you know that there are a plethora of choices and brands and features and you could spend weeks and weeks doing the research yourself. That's where we can help you make the right choices.

I enjoy what I do, but still find it tiresome at times. Demanding clients who want everything but don't want to pay the price, employees, and the neverending stream of calls and to-do lists... It's the life of a small business owner facing growing pains due to success. On the bright side, being busy during a recession is one of the best problems to have!