I recently added a lot more smart lighting and automations to my media room.
And wow, it’s taken it up to a whole new level.
It’s surprisingly easy to set up and automate.
I’ll walk you through my setup and show you what I’m using.
Links to everything will be down in the description.
When you go to a movie theater it’s a fun experience.
The smell of popcorn, the cool lighting, it builds that excitement for the movie.
We wanted to recreate that here, so we have a voice command or a button on my smart home
dashboard to start a scene before the movie begins.
The scene runs several different actions at once, and one of them is turning on the Govee
floor lamp.
Which kind of reminds me of a lightsaber right next to the Star Wars poster.
It can do many different lighting animations and sets a good vibe as you walk into the
room.
Then the cabinet lights up from the lightstrips I put inside, so you can grab some…
VERY healthy snacks... or make popcorn.
Using this popcorn machine has been WAY better than I thought it would be.
Not only does it taste great, but makes the whole room smell like popcorn and it’s fantastic.
The smart home scene also closes the black-out Lutron Serena shades, if they were open, and
turns on the projector so it can warm up.
After grabbing snacks, the light strips on the ground guide you over to your seat with
some more light strips in the front media cabinet.
Not only do they look really cool, but they help me see in the cabinet, like if I need
to use the bluray player.
And don’t worry, I’ll show you more about the lightstrips later in this video.
Now it’s time to sit and watch the movie, and these chairs make it extremely comfortable.
They are from Valencia which I purchased at a discount so I could show them to you.
I actually considered a few other chairs but these checked all the boxes and some more.
I wanted chairs that were wide enough to be comfortable, but not big and bulky because
this room is small.
These chairs were a great fit.
The armrests open up for storage.
I have all the remotes in here, a little table that easily attaches for snacks.
Charging cords, since all these chairs have a USB charger on the side next to the controls.
These are the Tuscany model, which have some extra adjustments I’ve never experienced
before.
Yes they recline but you can also adjust the lumbar in your lower back and your headrest.
Yeah a motorized headrest!
I thought all my home automations would bring me to peak laziness, oh no, not having to
lift my head to watch a movie has surpassed that.
It’s awesome!
To top it all off, they have LEDs in the cup holder and under the chair.
It’s not ideal when you recline because it shines on the screen but if you’re getting
up, it can help you see better.
What’s really nice about these chairs is the high quality leather.
It’s very breathable and you won’t get sweaty like the fake leather chairs out there.
I can sit on these things for hours and never want to leave.
Maybe they’re too comfortable…
Now that I’m comfortable in my seat I can use a voice command or tap a button to change
all the lights for the movie.
The lights in the adjacent room fade off to not be distracting.
As well as all the other lights in here, except for 2.
The snack cabinet turns down to 1 percent brightness and the baseboard LEDs turn completely
off on the left side.
The right side dims to a low 1 percent brightness.
That way I don’t see the lightstrip in my peripheral vision while watching a movie.
But if I get up, the lights are there to guide me.
Just like a movie theater!
But...without the awkward climb over random people or...
Why is the floor all sticky?
The kids did that.
They wanted to create a real movie theater experience.
If I walk out into the kitchen, the lights turn on from a motion sensor.
But what’s cool is the lights turn off faster from no motion, ONLY when a movie is on.
That way it’s less distracting.
The front cabinet lightstrips are off now, but they automatically turn on when the door
is opened to help me see in the dark.
Then they turn off when the door is closed, all using a contact sensor on the bottom.
If I want to eat at the bar behind the chairs, the LED lights help me see better.
They are set to a dim red color so it’s not distracting, but I can still see my food.
To control them I can use the physical button on the side, a voice command, or the dashboard
like the other scenes.
After the movie is over, the lights automatically change when the amplifier is turned off.
The light strips turn on first, and then the overhead lights after a slight delay.
That way my eyes have time to adjust.
The Govee lamp switches to a firework scene.
It’s like a little celebration after the show and my kids love it.
This lamp is actually not out yet, but will be next month.
It’s really bright and the material it’s made out of is flexible and thick.
Which gives a nice soft glow.
You can easily access the Govee scenes when creating an Amazon Routine.
This makes it very convenient to automate them.
That’s also why I used the Kasa light strips for the baseboard and front cabinet.
I can save the cool effects as a scene in the Kasa app, like the light strips lighting
up halfway.
Then I import that scene in the Alexa app and set up a routine.
One of the ways I mounted the light strips is with the little clips I’ve shown before.
These make it so easy to mount.
I only need to put up 6 or so and it holds the light strip great.
I don’t even need to remove the sticky cover on the lightstrip.
That way you can center, and adjust them with very little effort.
The ones on the baseboards are using channel covers.
These help diffuse the LEDs and are very easy to install.
I have two 6 foot or 2 meter channel covers next to each other.
I bought some extensions for the Kasa light strips so it could span all the way across
the wall.
The other lightstrips are from Govee and Yeelight.
There were just some extras I had laying around and any light strips would work well for this.
I also installed them the exact same way.
I’m not the best at hiding wires, but I used the little mounting clips again to hold
the wire out of sight.
Then the lightstrips are just plugged into a nearby outlet.
I try and hide the plugs behind furniture, but if a cord does show I use these covers
from IKEA that make it blend in more.
Cable management is always a work in progress.
This room is only 12 by 17 so about 204 square feet.
Not a huge room but the smaller size actually helps with the sound not being lost in an
open area.
I’m using Klipsch speakers and they sound amazing.
I got a bunch of them from Costco because they were way less money and you don’t even
need a membership to get them.
I also got 4 Klipsch speakers in the ceiling for dolby atmos, and two subs that hopefully
haven’t upset my neighbor.
Actually two subs turned down can sound more even than one sub turned up high.
To power all the speakers I’m using a Denon X4700.
It seemed to have good specs without being too crazy expensive.
I was worried that it would be difficult to set up but it wasn’t bad at all.
It just walks you through the steps and was easy to follow.
For the projector I went with the Optoma Cinema P2.
Which has 4K and HDR so the image quality is unbelievable.
Since it’s a short throw projector, it sits really close to the wall and is very bright.
It feels like a massive TV since you don’t have a bright beam of light shining above
your head like a normal projector.
It shines onto a 120 inch screen, which took me hours to set up.
It was a terrible process but I like the screen now that it’s set up.
Short throw projectors can be tricky though because there’s a minimum height needed
between the screen and projector.
It was difficult to find a media cabinet that was low enough for the projector but big enough
for a center speaker and amplifier.
This one from IKEA has worked great and seems high quality being made out of metal.
Oh and one other thing.
I didn’t want kids or the dog running in here when I’m not around, so we added a
retractable baby gate.
Probably one of the best purchases in this room.
It locks and has been 100% effective in keeping my kids out...so far.
Having this room has been fun to watch movies and go crazy with smart lighting.
I’ll be adding more automations to this room, so make sure you’re following the
channel to not miss future videos.
Thanks for watching and we’ll see you again next time!
Ohhh candy!
Red alert!
The candy cabinet has been breached by a tiny criminal.
Oh no!