Designing a Home Theater Room

Get the best seats in the house - in YOUR house!

It seems like the days of the family sitting around a big tabletop radio listening to "fireside chats" were from the far distant past - but it was only a little more than 60 years ago. Gone are the days when the only home entertainment system was a wooden box with a cloth-covered speaker filled with glowing tubes and crystals. As with so many other aspects of modern life, the technological advances in home entertainment have come quickly, and the results have been staggering.
Today, more homeowners than ever before are taking advantage of these marvels of modern science, style and engineering. Utilizing the latest advances in high-definition television, incredibly realistic sound systems, powerful video game devices and wireless internet capabilities, people are designing home theaters and media rooms in record numbers.
These rooms are marvelous places for the guys to congregate for the big sporting event, for the kids to have their playmates over for a few hours of video gaming, for getting Mom and Dad together with the little ones to watch the latest family entertainment, or for Mr. and Mrs. to snuggle with a glass of wine while viewing the latest romantic offering.
The High-Def Television Redefines Home Entertainment
The advent of flat-panel televisions, taking up no more space in your room than a large painting on the wall, has completely re-defined home entertainment. With contrast ratios now as high as 20,000:1, the hi-def picture is sharper, clearer and brighter than anything that the old CRT technology could ever hope to reproduce. It can be so lifelike in reproducing images and colors, that it is breathtaking in its realism. And now this marvelous technology is affordable to more budgets than ever before.
Following the trend of all modern electronics, high-definition television components have been getting less and less expensive. The state-of-the-art plasma TV of a few years ago is selling today for a mere fraction of its original cost, as newer, more cutting-edge technology has come along, season after season, to take its place. Advances come so quickly it is sometimes hard to make a decision to purchase, so fearful are we that today's high-end television will become second-rate technology very soon - sometimes before we even finish paying for it!
Not too worry. Like every other aspect of home remodeling, home theater rooms are, first and foremost, defined by your budget. Rest assured that even those hi-def televisions at the lower end of the price scale are far, far superior to their predecessors, and miles beyond what they are replacing.
Choosing a home electronics expert whom you trust is paramount, as the variety of options available to you in the high-definition field is dizzying. You've seen it at the big-box electronics retailers - dozens and dozens of plasma, LCD and DLP televisions, in a dozen different sizes, covering every square inch of walls, furniture consoles and shelves. The best advice is to seek the help of a salesman you can get to know and trust, or, if your budget allows, hire a home-theater expert to evaluate your needs, your room, and your budget.
Furnishing Your Home Theater
As flat-panel plasma and LCD televisions have begun to overtake the heavy, bulky and (now) old-fashioned CRT televisions, homeowners are replacing wall units and "entertainment armoires" with low profile consoles. No longer is it necessary to install a television in a large, room-filling piece of furniture; the modern television, in addition to delivering a breathtakingly lifelike, digital, high-definition broadcast, can do it hanging on the wall. A small, unobtrusive console to hold cable boxes, DVD players and recorders, video game systems and stereo equipment is all the furniture that is needed.
Divesting your potential home theater room of that single large piece of furniture provides you more space for other things - like seating. Seating can run the gamut from traditional couches and sectionals to cushioned movie-theater style seats. Your budget, and the size of the room, will go a long way towards dictating the end result. One thing to keep in mind, though, is the fact that you don't want the seating to be too comfortable - snuggling into a plush recliner in a darkened room will often induce slumber. Remember, you haven't expended all that money to snooze - you've remodeled the bedroom for that, right?
Often, a chair is just a chair, is just a chair. But in the home theater room you're designing, this is not the case. Since your new room will undoubtedly take advantage of sophisticated, home theater surround sound system, the size, shape and texture of the chair will be of great importance to audiophiles. For example, home theater chairs with high backs tend to impede the signals coming from the rear speakers, and can change the characteristics of the speaker in front of you.
There is an optimal distance and height the chairs should be in relation to the screen and the speakers, and if hiring an expert is not in your budget, you can get a good education in the technical design aspects on the internet. There are even e-books available at low cost, which will take you step-by-step through the entire process of designing and constructing your new home
As Always, Extensive Research is a Key Factor
There are many, many aspects, both technical and aesthetic, that go into the design and construction of a home theater room. In that sense, research and planning are the first and perhaps the most important steps you can take. Make sure to take advantage of the information the internet has to offer; free articles and inexpensive e-books can be a great help.
Decide whether or not you can afford to carve out part of your budget for a design professional. As always, professionals can be expensive, but can actually save you much grief, and much money, because you will be assured of buying the right components for your room and budget the first time, and perhaps avoid costly mistakes.
You will also find many home theater design magazines on the newsstands and in the bookstores - a few dollars are well-spent on these full-color publications, to get ideas and inspiration. Done properly, a well-designed and executed home theater will not only provide you and your family with hours and hours of great entertainment, but will also be of great benefit to your home's market value.