A home theater is usually on the renovation to-do list, and it’s a very exciting addition to have in your home. Besides the obvious benefits of increasing resale value, a home theater can serve many of your entertainment needs.
You don’t have to limit a home theater to matching what we see at your local movie theaters. There is actually a ton of interesting things you can do with your home theater to make it unique and tailored to your needs.
In today’s article, we will be giving you some helpful tips when renovating for a home theater and setting it up. Additionally, we will share some interesting interior design tips to help make it unique and functional for your family.
What Room Will the Home Theater Be In?
When planning for a home theater, there are quite a few things you must consider before sink your teeth into the project. First thing’s first, what room will it be in?
Your home theaters location matters. This determines:
- The size of the theater and spacing for seating
- Accessibility and visibility
- Insulation and sound dampening
- Electrical work that may need to be done
Size matters. This will determine how large of a television or projector you can use. Moreover, this will be the determining factor in seating capacity. This will depend on your options and what you are willing to reshape within your home to accommodate a theater room. In most cases, seating for 5 to 10 people is the usual go-to. This can fit an average family with a few friends. Depending on if you plan to have this as an entertainment location for lots of people or just a few people, you may not need to worry much.
This is also a place where you may find lots of traffic, so ensure that this is easy to access. For example, it could be next to the family room for quick access. Also keep in mind, if you are worried about privacy, a basement location or somewhere upstairs with dark curtains can help.
If this is a brand new room you are renovating, you might need to consider electrical work to accommodate a home theater. On top of that, if you are working behind the walls, you will want to make sure there is proper insulation for temperature and sound dampening.
Behind the Walls of Your Home Theater
Insulating and having the proper amount of electrical outlets with sufficient power output is key to getting ready for a theater room to be set up. Additionally, if you are feeling apt to it, you can preconfigure the wiring of your sound system. We will touch on that a bit more later on.
When you are insulating the room, ensure you are sufficiently packing insulation in the interior walls. However, this won’t be all you need to do to properly insulate sound. It definitely contributes though.
Wiring should always be done by the experts. This is very dangerous stuff. So let the experts go to work there but be sure to notify them of your plan for the room. This will affect the overall capabilities of the room tech wise. For example, the general formatting of the room (where a tv would be) will help them properly place power ports throughout the room.
Styling of Walls and Additional Sound Dampening
The color of your walls will determine the overall feel and ambience of the room. This is where you should ask yourself what you will be primarily using the theater room for. Are you a horror fanatic, hockey fan, HGTV addict, or a sci-fi nerd? We all have our own interests, so maybe develop a theme for your room surrounding this.
Additionally, you can get drywall built to insulate sound, so use this to help dampen sound. If you are looking to set up a 7.2 surround sound system, theatrical sounds may become somewhat bothersome to those outside. So having the right insulation and sound dampening materials will avoid this concern and allow you to shake the room with a thunderous roar from Godzilla.
Home Theater Tech in a Nutshell
We are either excited or horrified about getting all the tech for a theater room purchased and set-up. There doesn’t seem to be much of an in between these days. So here are some helpful tips and tricks you may want to consider before getting all your tech.
To start things off, determine if you are setting up a TV or a projector. In most cases this is personal preference. However, a projector is better for an extremely large screen view. A 12 foot projector is much cheaper than a 12 foot TV. Trust us. If you have a very large room, simply go projector. If it’s a medium/small room, you can get away with a TV sized for the room. A TV will usually have better quality than most projectors, but a projector can accomodate a large room with many viewers.
Next, you will need to consider your sound system. Are you wanting a surround sound system that envelops you into a movie? Or a simple sound bar in front of a TV? This will determine the wiring of the room if you are wanting to do wire concealment. In order to simplify your decision, consider whether or not you will be valuing sound. And if so, where will you like all the speakers? You can have a floor, wall, and ceiling mounted speakers. So take your pick depending on your taste.
Furniture for Your Home Theater
Here is where some more design flare comes into play. Depending on the theme you chose, this of course varies. The main thing you need to worry about is seat capacity. If you are planning on having guests over for a football game or what have you, seating will be a crucial element. If you throw in theater seats or rows of sofas, this will depend on how much room you have to utilize.
Keep in mind you want enough room for everyone to move around comfortably. Also, have some room in the back for a snack station, bar fridge, or popcorn machine for a nice touch and easily accessible snacks and drinks for you and your guests.
To safeguard future headaches, consider purchasing genuine leather furniture. This will be much easier to clean spills off of and additionally have a longer life span over the alternative faux and bonded leathers.
Start Brainstorming, This is an Exciting Project
With this in mind, you now have some food for thought. So determine what you want the room to function as and how you want it to look. Have some fun with it! A theater room can easily be the best room for relaxing evenings and exciting events with friends and family. Having the proper design, tech, insulation, and furniture can make a world of difference.
However, each room is unique and can serve many creative ideas to utilize. So talk to us today and let’s help create your dream theater room with the right renovation and expert design guidance from yours truly!