This article is part of our Home Theater Design Series that covers virtually everything about designing a home theater.

Custom painting your speaker grilles allows you to virtually hide your speakers in plain sight - they’ll blend in with your walls, ceiling, or cabinet for a seamless visual appeal. If you’re reasonably handy, this do-it-yourself guide will walk you through how to custom paint your in-wall or in-ceiling speakers.

Step 1: Gather Your Painting Supplies

Before painting your in-wall or in-ceiling speakers, there are a few things we would recommend you have on hand:

• Spray Paint - if you’d like to have your spray paint custom-matched to your wall or ceiling color, we recommend using myperfectcolor.com. MyPerfectColor specializes in creating exact paint color match solutions for all of the name-brand paint manufacturers. Be sure to select the flat or matte sheen option to avoid glares from your screen reflecting off of the speakers.
• 300-400 grit sandpaper or steel wool
• Protective covering for your workspace to avoid overspray
• Paint mask if provided by the speaker manufacturer
• Compressed air
• A good mask to protect yourself and some gloves

Step 2: Prepare The Speaker Grilles

If your speaker contains a scrim cloth, gently remove the cloth from the backside of the grille before painting.

Step 3: Painting Your In-Ceiling or In-Wall Speaker Grilles

Use high-quality spray paint and apply several thin coats of paint instead of one heavy coat. Ensure that the grille perforations remain free of paint — filling them with paint will diminish the speaker's sound quality. This will help prevent the perforations in the grille from being clogged with paint. If any perforations are plugged, use compressed air to blow the paint out of the perforations.

Expert Advice: If you find any grille perforations that are plugged with paint after the paint has dried, carefully use a straight pin, sewing needle, or toothpick to remove the paint.

Be careful not to overcoat the sides of your grills as many are a very tight fit. You will want to paint both sides of your speaker grilles to be sure you get along the insides of the perforations.

Step 4: Painting Your Speaker Frame

Depending on the kind of speaker you’re painting, you may need to also paint the frame that holds the baffle. Most brands provide a paint mask to protect the speaker and cavity while painting. You can paint the frame flange with spray paint or with a conventional can of paint & paintbrush. Painting without using the paint mask risks contamination of the internal connection terminals or the grille attachment magnets. Be careful again to keep the paint thin on the sides so your speaker grills will be able to pop in.

Step 5: Install Your In-Ceiling & In-Wall Speakers

Check out our full DIY guide on how to install in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for your home theater or media room. This video walks you through a live installation of Bowers & Wilkins in-wall & in-ceiling speakers for a home theater.

At Audio Advice, we've been designing and installing high-performance home theaters & smart home systems for our customers in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina, and surrounding areas for decades. In fact, we've delivered more custom theaters than anyone in the Southeast! We are now offering Home Theater Design no matter where you live in the United States! If you are interested in a custom home theater or upgrading your current system, give us a call 888.899.8776, chat with us, or stop by our Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina showrooms. We can't wait to help you build your ultimate home theater!