A growing number of homeowners are opting to build a media room inside their home as they are realise the benefits of having their own home theatre system. Here are some of the reasons why you may want to consider building a customised entertainment area inside the home.
Advantages of having your own home theatre system
- Raises your home’s resale value
If you plan on selling your house in the future, building a media room is a wise decision for homeowners. A home media room can raise the value of the entire property. Some home buyers look for a home theatre room as a nice bonus when shopping for a new house.
- Tailors the experience
The look and feel of the entertainment space can reflect much of your personality and your needs. When designing and building the room, you can choose what goes into the space: colour, furnishings, media equipment and lighting among others.
Ideas for building a home theatre system may be found on books, magazines, TV shows or online but the ideas you use and how you mix them will create a unique look to your space and can affect the overall experience of watching a movie inside your media room.
- Creates a social experience
Watching shows and movies inside a specialised media room gives people an experience that is similar to being in a movie theatre. However, what makes the experience unique is that the media room turns the watching experience into a social one.
When watching movies inside the theatre, ticket holders are discouraged from making any noises. Doing so and you will incur the wrath and hushing from nearby patrons. You need to be on your best behaviour and be considerate, especially when being in a public space such as a theatre.
On the other hand, when watching a movie inside your media room, you can be as loud as you want. Homeowners can use the space to entertain and spend quality time with their family or friends. No need to deal with long lines and crowds of strangers. You can enjoy the experience from the comforts of home.
- Enhances the viewing experience
What makes a home theatre system different from simply buying an HD TV, a DVD player or a cable subscription? A home media room is more than just a combination of electronic gadgets. Its design and the ambience can create an experience that you cannot find anywhere else. The furnishings, lights, floor and wall materials can turn room into a gamer’s paradise, a movie goer’s dream or a football fan’s refuge.
- Quality entertainment on demand
With having your own home theatre system, you can enjoy a cinematic experience whenever you want it. You can watch movies, championship games, or play video games late in the evening or during the early hours of the morning. No need to dress up, drive to the movie house, stand in long lines, pay exorbitant rates for tickets, or fumble in the dark to get to your seat.
The media room is designed to replicate the movie theatre experience with none of the mess or additional effort involved. Building your own media room may require a significant investment up front.
But if you are a regular moviegoer, the savings can quickly add up. Other than the cost of the tickets, you can save up on popcorn, drinks, snacks, gas and parking fees among others. These savings can add up especially when you consider taking the entire family to the cinema.
Tips to creating your home theatre space
There are plenty of advantages to having a media room built inside your home. But before you call a team of builders, contractors, TV antenna installers and other professionals to build your dream home theatre space, you need to consider a number of aspects.
Although the expense involved in creating the entertainment space can vary depending on the design and technology that will be integrated inside, it still requires a significant investment in terms of time, money and effort. Here are some of the factors that you need to consider if you want to build that dream entertainment area that suits your needs and requirements.
- Find a spot in your home
Before hiring any contractors or drawing up plans, consider where the home theatre should be located inside the home. Ideally, find a space that has at least 20 square feet. With this size, you are looking at a snug and cosy layout.
Depending on the layout of your home or property, there are several options available where you can build your entertainment space. Some homeowners use a portion of their family room or living room, or an unused bedroom inside the home.
- Soundproofing requirements
Staying in a media room is like being in a bubble. Sounds from adjacent rooms, spaces or the rest of the house will not penetrate this area. It all involves the right selection and use of soundproofing materials. Soundproofing insulates the space. No sounds from the rest of the house gets into the media room and no noise from the entertainment space will escape or get out.
When working with builders and contractors, you can work out what your options are when it comes to soundproofing to create the theatre experience that you want. Media rooms are insulated throughout. Insulation materials will be applied to all the walls, the entire floor and ceiling. This will keep all the sound from the speakers and sound system inside the space while keeping other environmental noises out.
Additional soundproofing can be applied after the lights have been installed and wired into the system. Drywall is one option. Some brands and models of drywall come with their own soundproofing properties. If you opt to use regular drywall, you can combine it or apply it over a layer of insulating material such as high-density vinyl.
After installing the drywall, make sure that holes have been made to accommodate the electrical wiring. This will allow you to install, hang or add your media and entertainment equipment such as high-definition TV screen, projector, speakers and more.
- Pre-wiring the sound system
Home theatre systems typically utilise 7.1 surround speakers. This setup includes a subwoofer with seven separate speakers. A typical layout involves placing one channel speaker at the centre, the left and right, two along the sides and another two at the back.
The central speaker is commonly found and installed above the HD TV screen or a projector screen. One speaker can be found on each side of the screen. Another two channels are placed along the sides of the room while the last two are installed at the back of the space. This setup is what creates the high quality surround sound experience.
- Lighting needs
To create the home theatre experience, you may commonly find spaces with recessed lighting. Other possible ideas include low-profile lighting features such as sconces along the sides or walls of the entertainment room. Opt for an RF dimmer if possible. This will allow you to control the amount of light the illuminates the space at any given time.
For bigger media rooms with stadium type of seating layout, you may need to consider including floor lighting. Much like in a movie theatre, the floor lighting can help your guests navigate themselves to their respective seats or around the space.
- Furniture selection
The furnishings you choose for your media room can help make or break the look you are going for. There are plenty of options available when it comes to furniture for home theatres. For instance, when it comes to seating, you can opt for a few individual plush chairs with an armchair design. If you have ample space and you intend to entertain groups of people, you can also opt for bench types of seating. It depends on the comfort level and features you want as well as your budget constraints.
When creating your entertainment space, you may also want to consider the overall design. Hire a designer if you are going for a specific look, style or layout. Your chosen designer can make sure that the wires are hidden, the right colours, materials and furnishings are used in building your media room.
Having your own media room can provide you and the rest of your household with an entertainment experience that is similar to going to the cinema. However, there are plenty of aspects to consider.
This includes space constraints, the equipment involved and your available budget. By working with professional designers and builders, you can take off some of the stress associated with building your entertainment space. Their expertise can help you bring your ideas of creating your dream media room into reality.
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