How to Build a Home Theater in a Family Room?

A home cinema is a luxurious addition to any large habitation with space to spare, and provides amazing opportunities for entertaining at home – or just enjoying your favourite movies in the tranquility of your own space.

Creating a domicile cinema isn't as complicated, loftier tech or expensive as information technology sounds – although you can spend thousands if yous desire. Withal, you exercise need to become the pattern and technical details right, especially ensuring that the surround audio noise emitted from information technology doesn't disturb the residuum of the household.

Read our guide to create your own home cinema – the perfect project that tin grade part of a house renovation.

(Image credit: John Lewis)

Defended home cinema room or multi-purpose infinite?

When planning a cinema room, first consider how many people will apply the infinite at a fourth dimension – will it but exist your family unit, or will you be inviting guests to enjoy the latest blockbusters with you? The answer to this question volition determine the amount of seating, and therefore, the space, yous need.

'One of the most of import questions to ask yourself is whether it will truly be a defended home cinema or a multi-purpose room capable of transforming from a cute living surround into a individual cinema,' say Mike Beatty at Pulse, consultants for the luxury home  cinema marketplace. 'The ii are very dissimilar and, although both tin can provide a truly immersive feel, a multi-purpose room will always take a degree of compromise.'

At the same time, you need to consider the cinema room'south layout, taking into business relationship factors such as screen size, viewing angles, the project method, seat comfort, speaker placement, equipment storage and acoustics.

'At the very minimum you lot'll desire to include a high-quality screen, speakers, an AV receiver, mood lighting, a dedicated control system, and comfortable seating,' says Robin Bailey, from GadgetMyPad. All this will, of form, be more difficult to go correct in a multi-purpose room.

Left For pure indulgence, combine a home cinema with a games room.

(Image credit: Coleccion Alexandra UK)

The room'south size and shape will make a existent difference to its success. Rectangular rooms make better cinema rooms than square rooms because they allow you more flexibility with seating positions.

Working out seating positions versus screen size

A luscious cinema room featuring Boca practise Lobo article of furniture

(Image credit: Boca do Lobo)

Working out home picture palace seating positions can be easily accomplished with a unproblematic equation (or geometry).

Start by drawing two lines from the estimated seated position to the edges of the estimated screen size; this is your viewing angle, which should ideally be no smaller than 33-35° to 40° maximum (any larger and you will feel uncomfortably close to the screen; any smaller and it volition experience more like a Tv-watching experience than a home cinema care for).

Telly screen or projector? And how big?

Which to choose: a Television set or projector screen? And what size? Utilise these tips to determine:

Choosing a Idiot box for a cinema room

• OLED TVs, 4K TVs, smart TVs? Which to choose? Find the best TV in our buyer's guide.
• Slimline TVs are easy to mount on walls.
• Don't exist an early on adopter: the newest models chop-chop reduce in cost over the course of a year, so paying for the very latest design is unnecessarily expensive. Browse our TV deals folio to get a Boob tube at a great toll
• Can be watched comfortably in a light-filled room, so a practiced selection for multi-purpose spaces where the super-sized TV is also the family unit Tv set.

Choosing a projector for a picture palace room

• Looking for a screen larger than 100 inches? The but way to go is with a projector.
• For all-time sound results, information technology's worth because placing speakers backside the screen; this will crave an acoustically transparent screen, which will be more expensive than a drop-down screen.
• A drop-down screen can exist convenient in a room that's used for other activities; that way, the dwelling cinema needn't dominate the space when not in use.
• It is more of import to get the light levels correct in a room with a projector, and so ensure window dressings block calorie-free effectively.
• Entry to mid-range projectors are adequately quiet, but some of the larger, high-end projectors are noisy and produce rut. If yous choose one of these yous might like to consider mounting yours in the ceiling and venting the heat exterior.

• Need assistance choosing? Read our guide to the best projectors

For the ultimate home picture palace, condolement and lighting are nigh as important as project and acoustics. Loud & Articulate offering a bespoke service creating cinema and multi-media rooms, taking the worry out of getting this all correct

(Paradigm credit: Loud & Clear)

Considering sound-proofing and acoustics

'Retrieve about where the cinema room will be located in relation to other rooms in the house, as soundproofing volition be required if there'south a chance of racket agonizing other spaces in the home,' continues Robin Bailey.

When it comes to acoustics, the surfaces demand to blot sound rather than reflecting or transmitting information technology. 'Lightweight audio-visual boards and carpet tiles are groovy for the walls, while audio-visual tiles are platonic for the ceiling,' says Robin. 'A second layer of insulation also helps. The flooring of the room should exist thickly carpeted.'

You can, of form, create an inner wall of studwork, providing infinite to muffle speakers and to create audio-proofing – but this won't be practical if y'all'll be converting an already small room, peradventure a single garage, into a movie theatre room.

If the movie theater room has windows, automated blinds will reduce glare when you're watching films, and will help with acoustics too, especially if matched with thick, lined defunction. Seats will, undoubtedly, be comfortably upholstered, also – some other good style to help with acoustics. Want a prettier expect than carpeting tiles on the wall? Upholstered walls do a good task of absorbing audio.

Cute homes need elegant movie theatre solutions. This projector, screen and speakers disappear into the ceiling, while subwoofers are subconscious behind the sofas. From £20,000, Pulse Cinemas

Getting the surroundings sound just correct

Any home cinema room worth its salt has to accept surround sound, which means speakers positioned to distribute different layers of sound.

Nearly cinema rooms use five.1 surround audio: the 'five' represents the five satellite speakers (three around or behind the screen (left, right and centre), and 2 at the rear of the room); the 'one' is the subwoofer, which provides the low-pitched frequencies or bass.

You can too opt for 6.1, vii.1, 7.2... surround sound systems, but this doesn't guarantee ameliorate audio. If yous're creating your cinema room on a tight upkeep, go for a good quality 5.1 system, than a bones quality 7.1 arrangement.

Don't miss our guide to the all-time dwelling theatre systems and to the best surround audio organisation.

Getting the correct connections and cabling

What you do here will be largely downwards to your budget, whether y'all're renovating an entire house and starting from scratch, or adding your home movie theater room to an existing organization. Nevertheless, there are some minimum requirements.

For instance, streaming films or programmes requires a stable bandwidth provided by a wired connection to the internet. Ethernet cabling should be solid copper – minimum Cat5e. Cat5 CCA is much cheaper, merely is actually copper-clad aluminium and won't work well. Cat6 is more than expensive as it offers a larger bandwidth, but volition be your all-time choice, particularly if you have a 4K TV.

Whichever y'all cull, information technology'due south more than worthwhile consulting a specialist installer (ideally i approved by the industry body CEDIA) at an early on stage. They volition have into account not just your needs, but the room's potential future apply, will make sure you take aplenty coaxial and internet points and power points, and their drawings can be used by your electrician for future installations.

Considering the room's aesthetic

Planning the room early and in infinitesimal detail volition allow yous to take steps to conceal the projector or speakers, equally well as the cabling.

Bear in mind that speakers don't have to be behind a skim coat of plaster; if you're retro fitting your movie theater room on a upkeep, they can be colour-matched to walls (or walls colour-matched to speakers...) or covered by artwork (endeavor Artcoustic).

You tin keep costs down by choosing wireless speakers over wired ones, or by picking out a good quality soundbar, which can sit neatly below your Television set on a cabinet.

Be creative with cinema room furniture

Otter sofa and stool , Brabbu Blueprint Forces

(Paradigm credit: Brabbu Design Forces)

Function of the beauty of building your own home cinema room is that you lot have complete control over how you'll furnish it. Obviously, spacious and supportive armchairs and sofas will exist your best bet, since you'll want to stay comfy sabbatum in them for hours, simply the exact shape, styling, and heigh is completely up to you. Rows of armchairs will create a more formal effect, while more than breezy groupings of sofas and armchairs will help fashion a more multi-purpose infinite for entertaining.

How much will a home movie theater room cost?

The cost of a home picture palace room really depends on quite how far you want to go. If you've only got £2,000 to £iii,000 to spend, you tin can create a basic room with a good Goggle box, A/Five receiver, speakers and control.

A multi-purpose cinema room with sofa seating, dimmable lights, projector, screen and surround sound will start at around £x,000.

With £15,000 to £xl,000, y'all can create a two-seat luxury cinema in a garage-size room.

Going budget crazy? 'In that location's nearly no limit on how much you lot can spend – a top-terminate projector alone will cost from £100,000, so a loftier-end dwelling house cinema can easily price from hundreds of thousands,' says Michael Holmes.

More home cinema must-haves:

• Considering an outdoor cinema room? Bank check out the all-time outdoor projector
• If your cinema room is part of an extension, find out more most how to extend a firm
• And read well-nigh garage conversions, too

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Source: https://www.realhomes.com/advice/how-to-build-a-home-cinema-room