4 Nifty Ideas for Your Home Theater Design (or Redesign!)

The term "home theater" probably evokes a certain image. Perhaps it's a dark room with comfortable lounge seating, a gigantic screen, and a powerful sound system. Maybe you already have such a theater, but you’re thinking, “aren’t there some other ways to take advantage of this space?”

You're right; there are. Home theaters aren't just for movies anymore. Don't get us wrong – today's movies will take full advantage of the visual and aural power of a home theater. But movies aren't the only content. Gaming in a home theater can be an amazing experience, and in some cases they will exploit even more of your screen and sound system than movies. And there's more.

As the premier home theater designer in Cumming and Metro Atlanta, we have a few ideas for enhancing your custom theater to take advantage of even more entertainment possibilities. Keep reading below!

SEE ALSO: Why You Want a Professional Designer for Your Dream Home Theater

The Multi-Purpose Room

While home theaters as multi-purpose rooms are certainly not a new concept, we see it more and more. The reasons are fairly straightforward. Today's lifestyles tend to be more informal, and less formal, more flexible spaces fit current trends. Home theaters can be spaces that take advantage of the high-performance AV system – anything from music videos to gaming to exercise to sports to Netflix binges. Each of those activities benefit from a more flexible approach to theater seating, lighting, layout, screen types, and more.

Family-Friendly Spaces

Tiered lounge seating is great, but it may not necessarily be the best way for your kids and teens to enjoy a gaming extravaganza. Also, rigid seating might be more limiting for a football game watch party with food and drinks. Your theater might also be part of a game room with old-school pinball machines, ping-pong, or a pool table. All of those activities can still benefit from AV entertainment in the home theater, one that is as adept for watching sports and listening to music as it is for movies. Consider more informal layouts that still let you enjoy movies but also other activities for two or twenty.

Change It Up with Lighting

All home theaters need a lighting plan. If your home theater is for more than movies, you'll need multi-faceted lighting for all the activities that it will hold. You can have a fully darkened space for watching films, with path and dim offset lighting for navigation. You may want brighter but still soft lighting for watching sports. You can have area lighting for a pool and ping-pong table with a darker area for viewing the screen (or screens).

You can also add color with tunable lighting for themed parties or even turning your theater room into a dance party. If your room has windows, consider motorized shades with blackout capability for total darkness when you want it and the right balance of natural light for daytime activities.

Wall-to-Wall Screens

Another increasingly popular option is the wall of video. This can be accomplished in a couple of ways depending on the space and room layout with either projection or LED video walls. An LED video wall is a series of flat panels that can present either multiple input sources or band together to produce a seamless giant image.

You can also have a large projected screen that can display multiple video inputs with video matrix equipment. In both cases, you can have one immersive image or various sources for keeping an eye on multiple sports events at once or other feeds. With screencasting from your laptop or tablet, you can also use your home theater to see how your presentation looks on the large screen or see everyone on a large Zoom meeting. Or you can cycle on your Peloton bike and put the class video on the screen for an immersive exercise experience!

Looking for a home theater designer to help you reimagine your entertainment space? GHT Group has been doing it for over three decades. Contact us here, or click the chatbox below to quickly connect with one of our home theater experts. We look forward to working with you!