Current equipment

The goal of this project is to get up and running as quickly as possible and continue fleshing out the room later and upgrade current components when the room is finished.  Right now I'm going to use my computer (1100 amd, 16 gigs ram, 5770 gpu, Essence ST sound card, HD 600 headset, lots of media) and eventually replace it with an htpc laptop (so it can be used as mobile working with wifi when I'm not at home), along with a dedicated blu ray drive, along with whatever else media might come in that someone might want to watch (I can only thing of VHS tapes currently).  I think I'll still want to stick with headphones and not speakers (no soundproofing spare room) and get a splitter in case I have company. 

This setup also works well for me that I don't have to invest in an expensive speaker system (though will invest in better headphones), don't have to worry about wiring, don't have to worry about soundproofing, or worry about noises a projector or the equipment might make.  I can also turn up the volume without worrying about it disturbing anyone else in the house. 

So, here is what I'm hoping to buy before Christmas to turn a spare bedroom into a killer exercise room/home theater.  The order listed is how I'll buy it.

1.  Curtains - There is one window in the room so will need something to block out the light.  For most other people getting something to help with soundproofing might be a consideration.  As this room is currently a spare room that is being used for storage, I'm not going to care as much about if the curtains are ever open.  They simply won't be.  So if I need to tape the ends up to the wall or stitch the middle so no light comes through that's fine, so long as it's not obvious and tacky. 

Searching for "home theater curtains" on amazon I find something called "blackout curtains".  That's what I want.  Now I need to choose a color.  2 main color thoughts are black and a dark red.  I was trying to look for famous movie theaters pictures but couldn't find anything.  Black is a good color because I like it and most of the home theater chairs I found are black.  It also kinda blends in so it will look nice without drawing attention.  Next color is a dark red.  I've seen a few theaters that have a nice dark red velvet curtains.  Problem is, while it looks really nice, I think it will draw more attention because it's not a standard color here.  I think it will look nicer and more of a theater color (to me) than black, however, if it draws attention it will make the room look more obvious that it's not a real home theater.  I think black will be my color of choice.

In the future, if it doesn't block out all the light, I'll put some screen tinting thing on the windows to help a little.  Again, the window isn't used so won't care much about it.  Also I typically watch movies after 5pm when it's getting more darker out.  I might even start watching main movies (ie blu rays on movie night) after 9p to have late night movie watching while everyone is asleep.

http://www.amazon.com/Maytex-Velvet-Blackout-Panel-Curtain/dp/B002E1AXV4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1312141786&sr=8-2

40" wide each so 2 should cover the window. 

$48 for the curtains + if I need to find more creative ways to help block out the sun during the day time.