What Do Home Theater Designers Do, Anyway?

Do you need a home theater designer? You can likely cobble together a home theater; many DIY enthusiasts do just that. With no shortage of fast playback TikTok and YouTube videos to show you how to build your own theater in 20 minutes, it must be a snap.

Somehow, how-to videos notwithstanding, people still hire us to design and build home theaters. Of course, we're joking that you can build a home theater in 20 minutes, and neither can we, even though we've been at it for over 30 years. The truth is a real home theater is a complicated project. Just like building a home is a big project, a home theater is one too. People hire architects and builders to build a house in Cumming, GA, and people hire home theater designers – like GHT Group – to create home cinemas. 

So, what do home theater designers do? Keep reading below to find out the basics.

SEE ALSO: The Home Theater Designer’s Secret Weapon for Better Sound Quality

Start with the Room

Where will your home theater be in your house? You decide that, but if there are some options for location, we will help you decide which will work best. Most people will decide on a dedicated theater space when building a new house or addition or choose a basement or bonus room. Or they might convert a garage. Regardless, the home theater designer can detail the buildout needed to convert that space to a theater. And we can tell you what's possible within that space based on your desires. 

Seating 

You’ve got the space picked out. Now, how many seats do you want in it? This might be the most critical aspect, as the theater is designed around delivering an optimal experience at every seat, not just the front row or the chair nearest the middle. A great home theater provides a great experience at every seat. To do that, you must design the screen and sound system (among many other details) that will deliver on that promise. If you'd like ten seats, but your space can only deliver that experience to eight seats, we'll tell you. Then you can make some compromises if you want, but you'll know the tradeoffs.

Visuals

Once you know how many seats you'll be designing for, you can think about the visual system. Depending on your theater's size, you can opt for a mega-size flat-panel TV, a short-throw projector and screen, or a traditional projector and screen. Then there is a myriad of options for screen types, projector types, and models for specific content. It isn't very easy to choose. We ask you how you will use your theater, what you like to watch, and if you will watch with some light in the room or not. All those things – and much more – influence the choice of visual equipment.

Sound

Of course, you’ll want surround sound in your theater. Your speaker choices will be vast, as well as the components that go with them. Again, we resort to understanding your desires. What kind of films do you watch? Do you like to listen to music in the theater? Do you love action movies? How about video games in the home theater? All this input will help guide us in presenting you with the right sound system options for your theater.

You will note that we barely covered the most elementary elements for designing a home theater. If we covered everything, we could fill a book with details. That’s what home theater designers do – figure out what you want and sweat all those details to build it for you.

Interview a home theater designer today – we’d love to explain more! Reach out to us here or click the chat box below to connect with us. We would enjoy bringing your home cinema vision to life.