Seaforde couple transform basement into movie room

Seaforde couple transform basement into movie room

15 July 2020

A FAMILY of movie buffs from Seaforde are enjoying their own silver screen experience during lockdown after designing a cinema in their basement.

For many, the loss of enjoying the latest blockbuster at the cinema has been a big social adjustment.

Interior designer Jacqueline Hamilton (45), and her quantity surveyor husband Tony (53) were diehards for their regular cinema haunt, often accompanied by their son, Rudi (15), daughter Daisy (13) and niece Dulcie Maguire (12), who all regularly went to the Downpatrick Omniplex before lockdown.

Such was their love for the movies that a plan was devised to make their own cinema at their home last year. 

And the finishing touches have finally be put on the basement move theatre during lockdown.

Jacqueline, who had previously worked in post-production in the film industry and now runs Seaforde Interiors, designed the cinema. 

She said her inspiration came from London’s Soho and the set of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. 

“I used to work in post-production in Soho where we did commercials, features and TV shows. We had the most beautiful Art Deco Vaudeville theatre for celebrities, actors and directors to view their work. So I always loved it and knew I wanted to create something like that when it came to 

designing the cinema,” explained Jacqueline.

Jacqueline reeled in her professional interior design skills, repurposing household items and getting inspiration from the dance show’s judges’ table for her home cinema.

She said: “Tony and I moved back home from London and built our home where we had a basement constructed. But it became a storage area and the kids were sitting more or less in the middle of it. 

“We drove up to Belfast and got wadding to line the walls. When we ran out of wadding, we just used old duvets. We covered the wadding with red velvet. That made the room soundproof.

“We are cocooned watching a movie and a massive thunder storm would pass without us even hearing it. Tony did the building work by and the kids helped. We called them the film crew.

“I also got gold paint and mixed that with glitter to give the old-style feel of the movie room. We made a bar that’s inspired by the judges’ panel table on Strictly Come Dancing. I was watching the show one night and thought I’d like to make something like that.

The Art Deco-style columns were Billy bookcases from Ikea that we painted. I had a mirror bought for me that needed a place to hang it and we put that in the bar where it really suits. A relative bought us a popcorn machine for added authenticity.”

She said that from creating the mood board for the project to when it was completed took four weeks, but it really was not used until lockdown.

“Before the Covid-19 restrictions, the cinema was something we had started and used a bit. When lockdown came and the cinemas closed, the kids were never out of our cinema,”  she said.

“The kids can go in there and watch their Netflix and Disney Plus — we have Sky, Netflix and every other movie and plus channel going now during lockdown so we can get the newly released movies as they are streamed. 

“Now there’s so much satisfaction with it. It’s something special we designed and built as a family and now use as a family. It’s a special place because we all have invested our time, love and effort into it.”

However, there are no plans to rule out trips to the cinema after they are allowed to reopen.

Jacqueline added: “We will continue to support our local cinema. Our home cinema is great but there’s nothing like the real thing;

The movie theatre, whether it be modern or old-style, is a magical place and I hope we all continue going to the movies and supporting our cinemas for many years to come.”