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With my original Black Widow™ screen I had a back lighting system built into it that I enjoyed very much. Here are some of the original shots of that screen with the lights on and off for comparison purposes.
Disclaimer: The proper way to do this would be to have a neutral wall color and to use Ideal-Lume lighting behind the screen. Unfortunately my wall color is a dark purple - I had no choice in the matter. If I did it would have been a very dark gray or black. Since my wall color is not neutral, I chose to stick with an LED rope light from Lowes. And Ideal-Lume lights are very expensive!
I have used 4 different screens since I have been bitten by the Home Theater bug. The first screen I used was a piece of Parkland Plastics Polywall. The second was a sheet of Fashion Grey laminate from Wilsonart. The third screen was Black Widow™ sprayed over my Fashion Grey laminate. And the fourth has been an Elite EzFrame Cinegrey screen. Ever since I changed to the Elite, I've always missed my back lights and I spent a lot of time thinking about how to get them back in place behind the screen.
My solution was to build a simple wood frame behind my screen that would bump it out approximately 3.5 inches. The wood used was some oak that I had left over from a previous project and poplar that I purchased at the local Lowes. The size used was 1X2" and 1X4". Here's a simple sketch of my plan:
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The 1" side of the 1X2" would rest on the wall.
The 1X2" pieces will all be white and the 1X4" pieces will be black. Everything is getting at least a primer coat to help prevent any warpage due to humidity levels.
Here's a shot of all of the pieces primed:
The 1X4" framing was then put together using a pocket hole jig and screws:
The 1X2" pieces were then attached with screws. The holes were pre-drilled and countersunk.
This is what it looked like with the 1X3" I used to attach the frame to the wall attached
Now the lights were attached with the ends passing through a gap I left on one side of the frame. When I finished my basement I wired an outlet with a dimmer switch specifically for this purpose.
Here it is before mounting on the wall.
And here are some final shots.
It turned out well and I'm happy to have my back lighting in my room again!
Sorry for the cell phone camera shots. Some day I'll try to remember to get some with my DSLR.
Disclaimer: The proper way to do this would be to have a neutral wall color and to use Ideal-Lume lighting behind the screen. Unfortunately my wall color is a dark purple - I had no choice in the matter. If I did it would have been a very dark gray or black. Since my wall color is not neutral, I chose to stick with an LED rope light from Lowes. And Ideal-Lume lights are very expensive!
I have used 4 different screens since I have been bitten by the Home Theater bug. The first screen I used was a piece of Parkland Plastics Polywall. The second was a sheet of Fashion Grey laminate from Wilsonart. The third screen was Black Widow™ sprayed over my Fashion Grey laminate. And the fourth has been an Elite EzFrame Cinegrey screen. Ever since I changed to the Elite, I've always missed my back lights and I spent a lot of time thinking about how to get them back in place behind the screen.
My solution was to build a simple wood frame behind my screen that would bump it out approximately 3.5 inches. The wood used was some oak that I had left over from a previous project and poplar that I purchased at the local Lowes. The size used was 1X2" and 1X4". Here's a simple sketch of my plan:
The 1" side of the 1X2" would rest on the wall.
The 1X2" pieces will all be white and the 1X4" pieces will be black. Everything is getting at least a primer coat to help prevent any warpage due to humidity levels.
Here's a shot of all of the pieces primed:
The 1X4" framing was then put together using a pocket hole jig and screws:
The 1X2" pieces were then attached with screws. The holes were pre-drilled and countersunk.
This is what it looked like with the 1X3" I used to attach the frame to the wall attached
Now the lights were attached with the ends passing through a gap I left on one side of the frame. When I finished my basement I wired an outlet with a dimmer switch specifically for this purpose.
Here it is before mounting on the wall.
And here are some final shots.
It turned out well and I'm happy to have my back lighting in my room again!
Sorry for the cell phone camera shots. Some day I'll try to remember to get some with my DSLR.
