At last! A place for curating your experience on movie-going for your own comfort. Without the loud chewing, irritating talks, and buzzing of cellphones that frequently happens which sometimes make you wonder if the steep ticket price you’ve paid for is worth it.

The one thing that is better than heading to cinemas is enjoying a movie from the convenience of your private home theater. With the elimination of unpredictable crowds or long lines, your own cinema is your much-anticipated piece of luxury. From the seats to the ceiling, your private theater mirrors the manner and style in which your pleasure is preferred. 

If you are prepared in committing or simply starting to learn the process, the home theater renovation tips and design ideas in this article are going to help you build your fantasized cinematic viewing area. 

Interested? Read on to know more!

Home Theater Renovation Tips and Design Ideas

#1 Search for Potential Locations

Your basement is a perfect location for designing your home theater as it is dark and isolated. This makes controlling the lighting and sound performance easier. But if you do not have one or a large enough room, there are other various ways of making a home theater workable.

You can transform a walk-in wardrobe or an extra bedroom where the natural light is minimized by the confined nature. Your other options include the conversion of an unutilized garage, garden shed, or pool house.

#2 Soundproof/Insulate The Space

For any kind of home theater, one needs to consider the sound quality and how much sound is escaping from the area. Disturbance should not be caused to members of the family that are in other areas of your home especially your neighbors. So it is recommended to soundproof your home theater through the following ways:

• Use zero-sound or acoustic sound-deadening drywall.
• Use materials that can dampen sounds such as carpeting, drapes, and sound panels.

For full remodeling or new homes, it is advisable to use zero-sound drywall. These are thick and are designed to absorb sound. And because drywalls are sound barriers, the room can be decorated with typical materials and paint.

For existing spaces that do not need to undergo full renovations, insulating or light-blocking drapes help in deadening the sound along with floor carpeting. Carpeting has sound dampening ratings so look for carpets that can help in soundproofing a room.  

#3 Consider Setting Up Control Systems

In setting up your home theater’s control system, you can use an automation system for your whole house, universal remotes, an iPhone, or an iPad. These help in controlling sound, lighting, and other things that you need.

#4 Optimize Your Wirings

Another crucial step is to get your wirings in check. Get the appropriate wiring for sound, lighting, and your screen and/or projector. Also, you should hide the wires using discreet tubing and keep devices hidden.

#5 Select a Screen

There are numerous alternative and things you should consider in choosing a screen. The most important one is the dimensions of the room. If it is shallow, pick a screen that is not too large. Whatever you choose, ensure that the screen has a player for Blu-rays, game console, and satellite feed. 

#6 Consider Your Sound Options

There are many things you should consider when you design your home theater’s sound system. These include the number of speakers you will need and whether a surround sound should be installed or not. Some choices of designs will also affect the quality of sound. For instance, carpets help prevent echo and suppress the noise.

#7 Consider Other Accessories

Do want your home theater to have a 3D capability? A concealed projector dropping down from your ceiling? High-resolution pictures and audio performance at the professional level? There are a lot of small add-ons which can help in making your viewing experience a truly immersive one.

If your home theater’s walls are plain white, projectors would be great. You can watch films on a large “screen” without the need of actually installing a real one on the walls of your living room.

#8 Enjoy Planning the Layout and Design

This is the exciting part. Once you are done with all of the technical aspects, you can now relax and think about your home theater’s layout and design. You can opt for stadium seating which is cinema-like with love seats or reclining loungers or use a sectional to keeps things in one level. Here are five seating design and layout tips for home theaters.

For the decoration of your home theater, select a theme to work on. May it be a sophisticated one, a design featuring a repeating motif, or something that you want to channel your favorite movie’s setting.

Home Theater Lighting Tips and Ideas

The purpose of a home theater is to create a customized viewing experience and limit distractions. The best choice for this would be ambient lighting. Suspended or hanging lamp lights and fixtures can get reflected on your screen which causes unequal lighting of projected images. The lights you use should be remote controlled and dimmable.

To set your home theater’s mood, below are the preferred options for your home theater lighting.

• Task lamps located next to seatings,
• Fiber optic or LED lighting strips in the baseboards or floor,
• Ambient lighting,
• Recessed lighting, and
• Wall sconces.

If you use table lamps, they should have switches or pull chains that are easy to locate and opaque shades. The lighting style of home theaters should be soft and help in creating the atmosphere in the theater. But make sure that it is also fully capable of illuminating the whole room for other activities such as cleaning.

As with the electrical installations, a professional should be doing it to ensure that they meet all safety codes. Your in-floor lights must always be LEDs and not emit any heat. The best choice would be customizable LED strip lights.

Conclusion

Setting up your own private home theater might not be a simple task but it is ensured that the outcome would be much pleasing to you. Installing the right insulation, system controls, wiring, screen, and other accessories properly will help you achieve this.

The lighting is also an important factor in setting the atmosphere in your home theater. May it be cutting-edge or simple in design, upbeat or ambient, your lighting should supplement the surroundings. In addition, it should help you immerse in your viewing after going dark.

So, that’s it! We hope we were able to help you a lot in setting up your own dream home theater.