Black ceiling for rental property?

TireeTerror

I've installed a projector and a screen a week ago. I'm going to buy rails from IKEA to have blackout curtains pull around the entire room apart from the back wall behind me. I bought two black rugs to go on the floor to reduce light, but I'm not sure what to do for the ceiling.

The property is rented and I can't make a mess of the ceiling, so I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas of what I could put up there to make it black without painting it, or creating something that will require massive amounts of holes being drilled.

mossym

TireeTerror wrote: »

I've installed a projector and a screen a week ago. I'm going to buy rails from IKEA to have blackout curtains pull around the entire room apart from the back wall behind me. I bought two black rugs to go on the floor to reduce light, but I'm not sure what to do for the ceiling.

The property is rented and I can't make a mess of the ceiling, so I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas of what I could put up there to make it black without painting it, or creating something that will require massive amounts of holes being drilled.

are you sure you need to paint the ceiling? the main reason for dark walls is to avoid a light "frame" of wall around the screen which makes it look smaller and to avoid reflections. neither are really an issue with the ceiling. i have the wall behind my screen painted in a very dark chocolate colour, the walls are a much lighter color, and the ceiling lighter still, but it does use a matt paint instead of a glossy to avoid reflections.

TireeTerror

I didn't mention painting it other than saying I was looking for an alternative to painting, as it would be a nightmare and about a million coats of paint to get it white again if I painted it black.

Im looking for a more temporary solution. I wave been looking loads online and was wondering if carpet tiles could be held onto the roof with small pins? Or maybe some dark foam tiles like you get for garage floors?

When Im sitting watching the screen, the light bounces of the screen out into the room anything light coloured is going to be bright due to this, that's why most people want everything black, like a cave if possible. It gives a much much better contrast.

mossym

sorry, i meant making it black in general, by painting or by other means.

sticking anything to the roof is going to be difficult as gravity is going to be acting straight against them . you'll need more than small pins for sure, those tiles are not skinny so looking at nails. going to make holes, you'll end up painting it at least afterwards to fill the holes if taking whatever you use out doesn't strip plaster.

having had a dedicated room with a projector for 10 years now, and seeing multiple decent setups, i'd never go down a black celing route, unless you are going to acoustically coat the room with proper panels, and can't avoid it.

one option that might work with minimal impact to the roof would be to get light fabric like speaker cloth, you could pin that to the ceiling with light tacks which won't mark much. i think it would look awful though

TireeTerror

Yeah I think that would look bad too. This room is really just what I use for working from home on my PC, other than that its purely for me to use as I like, but I dont want it looking cheap and nasty either. Thats why Im getting curtain rails so it can be pulled back and look like a normal room when Im not using the projector.

I guess whatever I do is going to be some kind of compromise.

mossym

this is mine, you can see the dark end wall, and the lighter walls and ceiling. non reflective paint on the ceiling and not having the projector set up too bright (most like torch mode but it's not good) and i've no issue with light reflection

the picture on the screen there looks rubbish, lights on and phone pic with shaky hand doesn't help

TireeTerror

The light bouncing on the top of the wooden unit would annoy me!

mossym

don't stand up to watch movies, so the angle is different.

batistuta9

what screen are you using?

mossym

me? its a carada

http://www.carada.com/

batistuta9

yeah, looks good. they're pricy enough though. would you recommend a screen like that over a pull down?

mossym

unlike the rest of the equipment, the screens don't get outdated, they don't release ones with new features, and connections, higher resolutions,etc, so it's typically a one off investment, so easier to justify a higher price point. amazes me that people will pour money into expensive rooms, darkening rooms, and then go cheap on a screen, when it has more effect on most of the things they will spend money on.

fixed will always be better than either a manual or motorised retractable screen. if you have the room for a fixed screen it's a definite better choice. it does mean it's always on display, which isn't for everyone though.

minikin

Matt black adhesive vinyl (as used in sign industry) don't go for a permanent adhesive or it'll be hell taking it down afterwards.

Obviously - try a sample patch before buying a lot of it.