Did you know that watching movies can benefit your mental health? If you want to create a home movie theater and a comfortable space for friends and family, we can help.
In this guide, we’ll go over home theater room design ideas.
Want to learn more? Keep reading.
Choose a Dedicated Space for Your Home Theater
A dedicated home theater room is essential for watching videos on a big screen. You won’t use that room for anything else except for screening activities.
Screen different things from Hulu, Amazon Prime, video gaming, and cable television.
If you share your home theater room with other activities, you’ll take away from the movie.
If the home theater opens up into a kitchen, the smells and sounds interrupt the experience. If you have it in your living room, light and noise are difficult to control.
Try to pick a room where there’s enough distance between the seating and screen. If you use a video projector, you’ll need around a 14-foot length to cast a 150-inch picture.
Control the Lighting
Ambient light from windows will need to get controlled. Most of the time, people want to add more natural light. With a home theater, you want to limit the ambient light.
Light will interrupt the video projection images, making the flat-screen viewing less enjoyable. If you have a projector, you’ll need a projector with a high lumens rating if you have ambient lighting.
The best way to deal with ambient lighting is to choose a space with little light. If you don’t have a basement, block the sun with shades or curtains.
Build an A/V Component Rack
Your audio-visual (A/V) component rack is the main point for your source components. The A/V rack is the central brain that will control all the entertainment activities in your theater.
Source components like a BluRay player, cable box, or DVD player will operate from there. Place the A/V rack near an electric outlet.
Ventilate the A/V Rack
You will need to make sure your A/V component rack gets well-ventilated. The components create heat and get damaged if the heat build-up becomes excessive.
Metal A/V racks are available that are open-air in the back and front. Consider building your own A/V rack.
You need a strong rack to hold your electronics. Make sure it’s open in the back, front, and sides. Use a metal grid as the platform to promote ventilation.
Create a Cozy Home Theater
Most homeowners will often visualize scone lights, tiered seating, and a popcorn maker. Others will see a scaled-down version of a cinema. If you didn’t grow up going to theaters, you might have a different vision.
You can build seat tiering. Don’t forget to pick up a popcorn maker and all the toppings. Place a mini-fridge in the back so guests or family can pick out a drink.
Keep the room free of a lot of artwork or shelving. You want the main focus to be the television or screen on the wall.
Create a Plan for the Seats and Viewpoint
No one in your theater should view a blocked screen or be too far away to see.
Tiered seating can only get accomplished in a dedicated theater space. You can solve potential blockage by raising the back seats on a platform.
The distance from the screen gets determined by the size of your room and the size of your screen. If you have a flat-screen TV, a small bedroom with a 55-inch screen will feel too cramped for the first row of people.
Don’t spend thousands of dollars on seating for your home theater. Look for comfortable seating that doesn’t have a high back. This way, viewers won’t obstruct the view from people sitting behind them.
Consider the Sound Quality
Home theater audio will bounce around the flooring, ceiling, and walls. Try to limit the bounce so you can achieve the best home theater sound.
Carpeting will help reduce audio-bounce. Draperies and other soft materials on the walls can also help with the sound. Cushioned seating will absorb sound better than hard furniture.
Consider a Drop-Down Movie Screen
If you have a projector, you can tuck away the screen when done watching your movie.
A flat-screen TV cannot get hidden away. Movie screens can get raised or lowered, or you can invest in an electric movie screen that moves with a remote.
Suspend Your Projector
To protect your video projector, suspend it from your ceiling instead of a flat surface. You can pick up a generic suspension kit that will attach to most projectors.
Another benefit of suspending your projector is that there are a lock and key. You can secure your projector when not using it.
Paint Your Room a Darker Color
You can control the home theater lighting better when you use dark paint for your walls. Benefit your home theater even more by painting your ceiling a dark color as well.
White is the color that most designers recommend for ceilings to reflect light. In your home theater, you don’t want light reflection. You could tone down the color of the ceiling with gray, as well.
Learn more about how to build a unique home theater.
Now You Know How to Create a Home Movie Theater
We hope this guide on home theater room design was helpful. Take your time planning your home movie theater. Pick comfortable seating for your guests.
Keep browsing our other helpful resources on entertainment, technology, and more.
