Without a complete data sheet, we have to guess somewhat. I think you should design for full saturation of the detector output at 1mA. This implies that the load resistor would be 5.6K ohms. For the emitter, I would first design for 20mA of current, meaning a series resistor on the emitter of 220 to 270 ohms roughly. Your 150 ohms is not a bad choice. These kinds of detectors are intended to work with a carrier frequency of nominally about 40 KHz in order to avoid interference from constant IR sources like your body, nearby lamps and everything else around you. Using a carrier would improve the range. Another thing that would help would be to place a tube on the detector and aim it at the emitter. This improves the directivity of the emitter.