Hi everybody
I'm making plans for a trophy room as an addition to my existing house.
So far I have six fullmounts (mostly small ones from Africa), a couple of pedestals and appr. 10 shouldermounts. As well as a collection of Euro mounts and sculls/flatskins..

My plan is to make a room for "the future". I don't need a very big room yet, but hopefully I'll be able to add quite a few mounts during my life.

So I have made some scetches of a room around 65-70 square meters (appr. 650-700 square foot) with 15 feet ceilings and 8-9 feet on the sidewalls. The room will be L-shaped (seen from top), but with a "main room" of appr. 60 square meters (600 square foot).
I will try to reduce numbers of windows as much as possible, and also try to place the ones I need were as little sunlight as possible will enter.

In the plans I also need to take into consideration heating, humidity control etc.

Any inputs?
Anything I've missed?
Many of you might have big rooms and have experience with planning such a project.

If I get started next summer I'll keep you posted..

Anders,

This sounds like a nice size. If at all possible, I would recommend raising the side wall height to 10 feet, minimum. It will be very hard to hang eland, kudu, or any of the larger species from 8 foot walls without consuming a lot of space. The height really helps for moose, etc.

Lighting is a critical issue. Controlling the lighting in zones can have a dramatic effect on the display.

Also think about how the trophies will be hung. The conventional wisdom is to use 1/2 plywood behind the drywall so you can mount trophies anywhere. This can be quite expensive, however, so you might consider spacing studs on 12" centers as a cheaper alternative.

Good Luck,

Bill

My only suggestion is go as big as you can - you'll fill it.

I have just finished my "trophy" room. About 55 square meters. 5 meter ceiling at max. BUT its way to small for a vast number of trophies. For a trophy room only I would have a average ceiling at 4 meters with two walls about 6 meters. In Norway the standard ceiling is usually 2.4 meters..I measured a Kudu shoulder mount to 185 cm. and my giraffe to 3 meters.I only have a few trophies but more will come. I just dont like it when it too crowded.

My advise, im no expert, would be : go large.

Thanks for input, guys!
I have thought about downscaling a bit, maybe down to 50-60 square meters. Maybe I should rather stick with my first plan..

Do you have any photos, Odin?

I will take some pictures this weekend and try to post them.

Thanks! Looking forward to them..

Anders:

I sheathed my TR with 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) plywood; that helps a lot. I would agree on the side wall height of 10 feet.

My trophy room has 14 foot ceilings; the great room in our house has 24 foot ceilings. I do not have any animals in that room (not my style) but I would say you can get too high. If had to build this house again, I would lower the ceilings in the great room - hell, anything much above 12 or 15 feet is hard to see.

The bigger the mount, the better it looks high up (but not too high); I think 14 feet is ideal. Small stuff actually looks better lower.

I would not be afraid of light. Our entire house uses glass that filters out UV light. A TR light up by natural light looks much better, trust me (I can see the diff at night).

I just made another thread with some pictures of my room. Will fill in some text later if wanted.

Take into consideration the weight and support needed to hang large mounts....instead of studs 16" on center, maybe 8" on center. Several ways to make a more solid anchoring point. Have seen guys cover everything with plywood then cover it with sheet rock.

Lighting can make or break a trophy room, some of the best use plenty of directional can lights or track lighting.

If you need more ideas, get the "Great Hunter's Trophy Room" book collection from Safari Press.

If you sheath everything in plywood, then you can use some wing type bolts to hold anything. It is also better than using a lag bolt.

Good inputs guys!
Will try to get 10 feet side wall height, and probably keep the 15 feet ceilings. Plywood is ideal, but maybe I need some extra support were the heaviest mounts is supposed to be hung.

Great room, Odin!

Use 3/4" plywood and no worries.

My arcitect are making scetches now.
He's suggesting ceilings at 17-18 feet, and sidewalls that will go a little over 10 feet.
Size is still around 65 square meters (inside).
Looking good so far.
If everything works after my plan it would be up in a couple of months! Can't wait!!

whoever said lighting is key is spot on. My wife and I live in a WW2 era home and I have had to add alot of recessed lighting to make the trophy room reflect the animals favorably. Good luck with the addition and let's see some pics.

The best is to put up 5/8 plywood on all the walls and then cover it with sheet rock or whatever you are covering it with and then put in canned lights in the ceiling aiming at the walls. Hang all your mounts on the walls with lagbolts-more support. Put in a shelf in your wall for small life mounts or a big one for bigger mounts and that will save on the floor space...Have fun....

www.african-montana-taxidermy.com