A home movie room is not just a sofa and a screen in a room. If you want to do this right, you’ll want to meet some bare minimums, like controlling outside light and cast a large enough picture. Requirements apply both to video projectors and screens as well as to large, flat-screen TVs. We’ve gathered the most practical and functional tips to build such a space right.
Make Your Movie Room a Dedicated Space
A dedicated home movie room is a space solely dedicated to watching videos on a big screen. This means that little else happens in that home movie room except for screening-related activities. When the home movie room shares space with other activities, the cinematic experience is lessened.
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a bold and pretty home theater with a Harry Potter ceiling, taupe seating furniture, a leather ottoman and vintage floor lamps
a bold modern home theater with grey walls with built-in lights, hot red seating furniture, a glazed wall and a black ceiling
a catchy and contrasting home theater with graphite grey paneled walls, a screen, black leather chairs and storage units along the wall
a chic contemporary home theater with a light-stained bar, built-in lights and grey seating furniture and neutral pillows
a chic home theater with retro vibes, with pink upholstered walls for better sound, gold sconces, white chairs and a large screen is wow
a chic moody home theater with curtains, a large screen, grey seating furniture, neutral ottomans and a small home bar in the corner
What Are General Dimensions For A Home Theater?
The physical room size has a huge impact on the sound you’ll be able to get in that room. If you’re lucky enough to be designing your dream home theater from scratch, there are some ratios you can use to get your room to a great basic shape. While this is a matter of some small debate, if you get somewhere between a ratio of 1 to 1.6 or 1.7 and 2.3 to 2.4, you will be well on your way to an ideal home theater layout.
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a laconic and stylish dark home theater with black walls, a grey corner sofa, a wooden coffee table, a butterfly chair and a large screen
a luxurious and chic home theater with stained walls and leather seating furniture, burgundy velvet curtains and chair covers
Where To Place A Screen In A Home Theater?
When you’re designing your home theater layout, in general, the screen wall for your screen or video display will typically be the short wall. This will let you have some seating right in the middle of the screen with the main speakers fairly equidistant from the seats from left to right. Obviously your seating layout will affect this, especially in family rooms, but at the very least try to get the screen centered on the seating area with your speakers an equal distance off to each side of the video display if it is a television. If you are doing a front projection system and can fill up the entire front screen wall with the screen, you’ll have a huge wow factor in your great home theater.
a luxurious and refined home theater done in greys and taupe, with a large screen, built-in lights, a large sofa and some chairs is wow
a minimalist home theater with a large screen, grey seating furniture, comfortable chairs and built-in lights is a lovely idea
a minimalist home theater with a large screen, tan seating furniture, a chic stone coffee table and built-in lights is a cool space
a modern home theater in greys, with grey seating furniture, colorful geometric artwork and built-in lights is a cool space
a modern home theater with concrete walls, grey seating furniture, a large screen, an acrylic console table and grey textiles
What Are The Best Colors For A Home Theater?
If you think about the last time you were in a commercial theater you probably noticed there were no windows and the walls and ceiling were not a light color. If you have windows, consider using some sort of blackout curtain or shade. Heavy curtains often provide an acoustic benefit, too.
For rooms with a front projection movie screen, you will want the walls and ceiling to be dark in color. The screen will reflect light off of it in a pretty wide-angle and you don’t want that light reflecting back off the walls. Dark grey is an ideal color, but whatever you choose, make sure you use a matte or flat paint finish.
a modern home theater with graphite grey walls, neutral sofas and grey pillows, a large screen, built-in lights and a side table
a moody and beautiful home theater with a starry sky ceiling, dark green seating furniture, an upholstered wall and an artwork
a moody home theater with graphite grey walls and a ceiling with built-in lights, black chairs and sofas, bright pillows
a neutral and comfortable home theater with grey seating furniture, grey walls, neutral textiles and elegant sconces and built-in lights
a pretty art deco inspired home theater with black and gold walls, black leather chairs and printed pillows is a stylish and chic space
a pretty grey home theater with a starry sky ceiling, comfortable seating furniture with pillows is a lovely space to be
a refined home theater with grey and gold walls, a beautiful ceiling, neutral seating furniture, a stained console table and a large screen
What Lighting Is Needed For A Home Theater?
For home theater, you will want task lighting, accent lighting, and safety lighting. Spend some time thinking about your lighting plan when designing your home theater. Adding remote control to the lighting also adds a super cool wow factor to your home theater as well.
a refined moody home theater with upholstered panels on the walls, red and brown chairs, built-in lights and elegant side tables
a simple and laconic home theater with a glazed wall, a screen, a black media console, a stained coffee table and a grey sofa plus lots of lights
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a welcoming home theater with a large window, a grey sofa, a leather ottoman, a large screen and a paneled ceiling is cool
an airy home theater done in neutrals, with two storage benches, elegant furniture and a rug is a cool space with a Scandinavian feel
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an elegant moody living room that doubles as a home theater, with a large screen and a built-in fireplace, black sofas, glass coffee tables and built-in lights
What Risers To Install In A Home Theater?
If your seating arrangement only has one row of seating, sight lines are not really an issue. For home theaters that have more than one row, sight lines become very important. Putting one row of chairs behind another row without some kind of riser for the back row is a very bad idea. You really must do a riser. The biggest factors influencing correct sight lines are the height of the riser and the height the screen is off the floor. A 6” riser does not cut it, and an 8” one is barely enough. If you have the ceiling height for a 12” or 16” platform you will be much happier. Get inspired by more beautiful home theaters we’ve gathered below and create your own perfect one!
a gorgeous home theater with a large screen, built-in lights, sofas and chairs with cowhide covers, a home bar on one side is an amazing space to spend time
an elegant home theater designed as a real theater, with all neutral everything, burgundy curtains and dark brown sofas and chairs is all cool
a pretty living room turned into a home theater, with a large screen, a corner sofa, a brown pouf and built-in lights around
a dark-colored home theater with deep brown walls, a large screen, built-in lights, a red sofa and brown leather chairs around
a contrasting home theater nook with a black accent wall, a screen, lots of lights around and a black sofa plus printed pillows
a chic and catchy home theater with black walls, a black sofa and striped sofas and chairs, a small home bar that can be hidden with curtains
a chic and cool home theater with a large screen hidden with a curtain, white seating furniture, a fireplace and a gallery wall is cool and great
a vintage home theater with a large screen, brown seating furniture and heavy wooden furniture, floor and table lamps and built-in lights
an elegant home theater room with a screen clad with dark-stained wood, beige and tan seating furniture, a dark-stained table and a pool table
a contrasting living room with a built-in screen, red curtains, catchy pendant lamps, a black sofa and piles of colorful pillows
an elegant home theater with mustard walls, hot red seating furniture, built-in lights is a chic and cool space
a stylish home theater with a large screen, a glazed wall that can be hidden with curtains and a navy floor and matching navy furniture
a neutral living room with a screen, a neutral sofa, gallery walls, dark stools and poufs is a pretty space to enjoy a film