Home remodeling can be very expensive, not to mention a hair-pulling project. If you have recently done some remodeling and followed Diane's advice about planning a home theater but have nearly run out of money, don't despair; all is not lost. All you need is $100.

Seriously, if you have gone broke buying the projector for your home theater and don't have a $1000 to spend on a projection screen, you can make a 100" projection screen for under $100. The projector screen is relatively easy to assemble and install, and should give you great results. The article gives full step by step instructions, complete with a list of tools and materials that you will need for your project.

To make the projection screen, you'll need to visit a camera supply store, your local lumber and hardware store, and a fabric store. You will be constructing a wood frame, wrapping it in velveteen fabric, and then attaching white seamless paper to the back of the frame. Much better than a plain white wall, don't you think?

Now, in the olden days of, say, the 1980s, we thought a La-Z-Boy recliner was the height of indulgent relaxation. No longer. Now you've got your specialty home theater seating, meaning super-adjustable, huge, comfortable theater-style loungers complete with cup holders. Mmm. Comfort. And a mere $1,499.99 for a three-seat set of leather loungers. Yikes! Oh, and check this out for the ultimate in lavish living. At the other end of the spectrum, though, are budget-conscious DIY makeovers like this one for under $500, proving you don't have to be super-wealthy like Tony Soprano to theater-it-up. (Remember those episodes where he installed a home theater in the downstairs den, complete with an old-timey popcorn machine?)

Thinking of taking the plunge? The home improvement website Home Time has a really useful feature on home theater planning. It covers everything you'll need to consider, like the space you'll need and even suggested room layouts, to maximize your viewing pleasure. Need inspiration? Visit Projector Central for tons of makeover pics.

Flat panel TVs are cool. I'm sure you've seen one before, either while you were walking through your local electronics store, or visiting that friend or relative who gets paid eight times more than you; and I bet you've found yourself imagining where you'd put your very own flat panel if you ever found the money to buy one. Well, do I have good news for you: turns out you can turn just about any good, working old TV into a slick flat panel unit with little more than a Sawzall and some spare wood.

Believe it or not, the TV you see above is a full-size, space-hogging CRT. "But where's the rest of the television," you ask? Continue reading to find out...

Now that we've been in our new house for a month or so, my home theater room is starting to take shape. I'll be writing more on it as I slowly transform our finished basement into a fully functioning battle station, er, home theater. because I'm using a front projection system, normal ceiling lights can't be used at all during shows. Recessed lighting offers the perfect combination of room filling lighting that's directed everywhere but the movie screen. Here's an easy way to to install lighting in a pre-finished room.

For older homes, it can be a chore to wire up existing bedrooms for cable TV, satellite TV or just about anything else related to punching holes in walls and fishing cables through attics. There has to be an easier way, right? While wireless Internet routers have made it easy to share an Internet connection wirelessly throughout a home, can the same be done for audio and video signals? Sure!

Using products like the Recoton DSC-IR100A and X10 Audio/Video sender, you can transmit that audio and video signal from the TiVo, cable DVR, DVD player or anything else out of the living room and into the bedroom without duplicating equipment like satellite receivers and DVD players. The X10 system can transmit a complete audio and video signal through walls from that living room setup to an existing TV in a kid's room or other bedroom, and the Recoton infrared/RF pair can let you use a regular remote control to work in that separate bedroom to control all that living room equipment through walls and such. Without an "infrared extender," that remote would become useless when it is out of "line of sight" from the main equipment. But, the Recoton unit solves that problem.

Using both of these items is an easy, fairly inexpensive and enjoyable way to get those audio and video signals from the main living or den area and into some other room while saving you time, a backache and the dirty job of attic crawling or wall holes and cable fishing.