Use paint to create a screen for your projector.
Instead of purchasing a costly and cumbersome projector screen, take a weekend and paint a screen onto your wall. Painting the screen directly onto your wall is a project that will prove cost effective at the end. While you could paint your wall with an interior paint, using specialty paint will reflect the light and result in a clear, crisp picture. Wall preparation is key to this project; the screen will magnify any imperfections in your wall.
Instructions
1. Turn on your projector and adjust it to the size you want the screen to be.
2. Mark the corners of the screen with a pencil to provide a guide. Line a straight edge up with the marks and sketch a line across. Trace the whole screen with the projector on.
3. Apply painter's tape flush with the guide lines around the whole screen. Use wide painters tape to make sure paint will not get onto other areas of the wall. Use a putty knife to press the painter's tape onto the wall to ensure a strong bond.
4. Apply a layer of spackle around the inside edges of the screen slightly overlapping the tape. Allow the spackle to dry, then sand to a smooth finish. Apply a light coat of spackle to the entire screen area. Sand the spackle after it dries. Apply at least two more coats of spackle, allowing each coat to dry and sanding between applications.
5. Stand to the side of the screen and look at the wall to see if there are any noticeable imperfections.
6. Use a foam roller to apply one coat of primer. Allow the primer to dry before lightly sanding.
7. Apply one to two coats of the specialty paint. Screen Goo requires a base coat followed by a top coat. You should apply at least two coats of the Behr paint. Allow each coat to dry before applying another; sand lightly between coats.
8. Cut two pieces of molding to the height measurement of your screen; miter the ends at a 45 degree angle. Cut two pieces of molding to the width measurement of the screen; miter the ends at a 45 degree angle. Dry fit the pieces over your screen to check the measurements.
9. Use a foam paint brush to apply a light coat of black matte paint to the molding. Allow the paint to dry, then lightly sand. Flip the molding over and apply a strip of Velcro the length of the molding; press firmly to secure the Velcro.
10. Apply Velcro to the edges of the screen, and press firmly to secure the Velcro.
11. Use black matte finish spray paint to apply two light coats to the molding. If two coats do not adequately cover the molding, you may apply another coat. Allow the spray paint to cure overnight.
12. Attach the molding to the wall around the screen. Press firmly into place to secure the Velcro together.
