Bang! Media Closet.
April 15th, 2009 | Published in Design, Interior, Media, Technology | 5 Comments
A personal pet peeve of mine is electronic and media equipment all over a house. Being a minimalist, but also a big tech-head, having electronic devices strewn all over the house is a difficult thing to avoid. A great thing about this house is the amount of storage space outside of the bedroom closets. Down the hallway there are 3 different closets which will definitely come in handy.
One of the three closets is going to become the home’s “media central”. The closet measures approximately 52″x32″, which makes it the perfect size for everything media that we plan on putting in the house. So far, we have multi-room audio, multi-room satellite video, and some home automation planned. The internet router, satellite receivers, multi-room audio receivers, amplifiers, and home automation controls will hide nicely in the closet.
A couple of things to consider when creating a media closet:
- Make sure the closet is on its own 20 amp circuit at minimum (while most pieces of equipment don’t draw a lot of power, they can add up)
- Make sure the receptacle is rated for the amperage of the circuit (watch out for 15 amp receptacles on 20 amp circuits)
- Use the low-voltage retrofit outlet boxes to tidy up the cables as they come out of the wall (they’re basically frames with no enclosure, which make it easier to manage thick cables like HDMI instead of having to get them through the knockouts in normal boxes)
- Most satellite and cable companies now offer receivers and DVRs with RF remotes (these allow the receiver to be out of sight of the remote and still be able to receive commands)
- Remember, the closet is to store components and equipment. Get products that allow you to hide the main components. You don’t want to be opening the closet multiple times a day to change volume, channels, or music tracks.
While I’ve already started to run a little bit of cable to the closet, I will post details later when there’s something actually worth looking at.
Whether your house is 1 or 100 years old, a media closet helps to tuck away the noisy and annoying devices. It’s a great way of uncluttering your life and gaining back the simplicity and beauty of your home.
April 18th, 2009at 1:51 PM(#)
THIS IS A FABULOUS IDEA! Maybe you can help us out down the line with all our electronic clutter.
April 18th, 2009at 10:30 PM(#)
Sure thing. I’ve already done a little bit, but you can take a look at it once some stuff is up and running.
April 19th, 2009at 5:00 PM(#)
Do you need to install a vent fan to the closet to mitigate the heat generated by the various components?
April 19th, 2009at 6:36 PM(#)
It depends on how much equipment you have. If it’s less than 4 components then it should be okay. With all that we’re planning to do, we’ll probably need some ventilation.
The best part about the closet I chose was its proximity to a vent. The house has vents on the walls so there are duct boxes that run inside of closets and the one for the 3rd bedroom comes down inside the media closet. So, I’ll just run a small duct or vent from it to cool the gear.
Not everyone is that lucky, so there will need to be ventilation and cooling some times. An easy way is to vent the closet with a good, quiet, bathroom vent. Make sure it has a proper CFM (cubic feet per minute) for the space and a sone rating of 1.5 or lower.
This article can explain it just as well as I can:
http://www.diy-home-theater-design.com/media-closet.html
May 4th, 2009at 8:34 PM(#)
Can I get your autograph?