Media Room or Home Theater?
The first step is to plan your space. Will you have a dedicated home theater room or will your system be in a multi-purpose media room? Either way can be fantastic. A dedicated home theater is designed specifically for entertainment: enjoying movies, sports, TV, and video gaming. Basements, attics, bonus rooms, or spare rooms are great as dedicated home theater spaces. A media room serves for more than entertaining. A family room or bonus room usually doubles as a media room as well.
Screen Size and Viewing Distance
The next steps are deciding both the location and size for your video display. Both the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and THX Ltd. (a developer of quality standards founded by Lucasfilm) have recommendations on this subject. This step is very important to get right, and is probably the most difficult one to fix if you get it wrong.
Choosing the Right Equipment
This is the fun part for most people. Significant improvements in video technology can give you a great picture for a fraction of the cost only 10 years ago. This allows more room in your budget for great sound. Unlike video, audio pricing has held very steady in its cost to performance ratio. Recent improvements in home theater speakers will make your surround sound experience even more fun. Matching all your equipment up is where Digital Home Design experience will be a big help.
Home Theater Magic
In many cases, spending a few extra dollars on a great remote control, lighting control, or a popcorn machine can add wow to your creation. We've got lots of suggestions and advice about how to create your own personal magic. Other areas to consider are expert audio and video calibration; electrical and power needs; ventilation and HVAC planning; and integrating video gaming. When your installation is complete, we will instruct you in the best ways to get the most fun from your new installation. You can also rest easy knowing if you have a system issue we offer on-call technicians and an in-house service department. We hope you have lots of fun with your future home theatre or media room!
Theater Seating
Theater seating is the finishing touch to compliment any home theater and/or audio/video system. Digital Home Design is proud to feature theater seats from Bass Industries, VIP Seating, Fortress, Cinema Design and United Leather. And if you like action we also carry the D-Box line of motion controlled chairs that are specially choreographed to move you in synch with the on-screen action! If you're designing a dedicated home theater room, you'll want at least a row or two of theater seats. There are many seat covering options available, from highly durable fabrics to the finest quality leathers. Most companies also offer options for drink holders and motorized reclining. We highly recommend incorporating these two.
If you have children, it's likely their friends will be coming over to use the theater and making your home the neighborhood hang out. Something you may want to consider if this is the case is modular seating. It's far easier to fit 10 small kids on a big sectional than in four theater seats. When the kids get older, you can switch the sectional out for theater seats.
Furniture & Decor
Finding the perfect luxury home theater chair helps you make the most out of your home theater room. Just imagine having your absolute favorite chair in the coolest room of your house. The whole point of having a room like this is to make it better than the movie theater and to fashion it after your own tastes.
We carry an entire range of stylish and comfortable pieces inspired by cinema seating. Most are wider and much more generously padded than conventional theater seating. Of course, there is a range of colors and upholstery options so that you can find the perfect piece for your screening room. Many home theater chair models are not actually chairs but sofas or love seats. This is the ultimate in relaxing comfort for movie viewing!
If you are willing to stray from the more strictly theater inspired pieces, there are many contemporary seating options designed for comfortable film viewing without following the conventional theater seat model. Many of these pieces are similar to the modern furniture pieces found in upscale lounges and restaurants.
You shouldn’t stop at seating. Beyond home theater furniture and seating you will want to personalize your home theater with accessories and decor. After all, what is a movie without popcorn, candy and a soda? Add a professional style popcorn machine to your screening room and a classically styled candy case concession stand. Decorate with cinema signs and illuminated poster cases just like the displays you will find in your favorite theater. Choose the perfect home theater furniture, seating and accent pieces from Digital Home Design to create your own private cinema.
Imagine, you are ready to watch your favorite new film in your brand new high-performance home theater system. You walk in, stop by the concession stand for delicious fresh buttery popcorn and a soda to quench your thirst. You plop down on your favorite cinema lounger and recline to stretch out and relax. You press watch movie on your remote. The curtains open, the lights dim and now the movie is about to begin.