A night in, at the movies

If 2020/2021 has taught us one thing, it's that your home is your sanctuary. A safe place where you can relax and unwind, an escapism from the craziness on the other side of the front door. So, as a result, many of us have spent our extra free time over the last year or so adapting and renovating our homes to make them the perfect haven for our families.

Maybe unsurprisingly we've seen a huge increase in popularity of the home cinema or entertainment room. A space where you can kick back and immerse yourself in a truly cinematic experience, without leaving your home. This dark space, stuffed full of mod cons and technology would probably have once been thought of as the man cave, but move over gents, that's not the case not any more! Whether for personal relaxation, family bonding time or socialising with friends, not only can the home cinema be enjoyed by everyone, it could also be a wise investment, adding significant resale value and appeal to your property.

Once only seen in homes of the rich and famous, advances in design and technology have made the entertainment room more attainable for all. From simply adding black out blinds and a projector to your existing lounge to going all out to achieve the full cinematic experience, we have some great tips to help you get started!

Where are you going to locate it?
Well, the two most important things you must consider when creating your home cinema are light and sound. With this in mind, the ideal location would be a basement, as it’s often windowless and segregated from the rest of the home, meaning less disruption to others. Also, as the basement is not part of the ‘everyday’ section of the house, you can really focus on creating the best cinematic experience, rather than keeping to the existing design scheme in the rest of your home. But, let's be honest, probably only a small proportion of us have an accessible basement in our home. All is not lost, however, as you can easily convert pretty much any room in your house as long as it's quiet and won’t interfere with the general business of the home when you use it. Ideal rooms would be the existing living room or a spare bedroom.

What about the TV?
Probably the most important addition to the cinema room is of course the TV, but don’t be tempted to ‘go big or go home’ here. It's very important that the TV is the correct size for the wall it's to be mounted on. Not only do you need to measure the available width and height of the wall – and make sure the TV fits – you also need to consider how far away you'll be sitting when you decide on the screen size... Bear in mind that there's a reason why the front rows in the cinema are usually empty… The position of the TV is also very important. Remember how frustrating it is when you’re trying to catch up on your favourite box set on a bright day and all you can see on the screen is a reflection of yourself, sitting in your pyjamas, dunking biscuits in your tea? You should try to avoid this in your home cinema by not positioning the TV or projector wall across from any windows.

And the lighting?
Next most important is the lighting. Basically, the less light the better when it comes to home theatre, so we'd suggest darker coloured walls and flooring, but remember that if you're choosing to use a projector, this wall will need to be kept white and clear of any disruptions such as pictures, plants and furniture. If you have windows in your nominated space, invest in a good set of black out blinds and curtains to ensure no light can seep through the folds and joins in the fabric. However, you'll need some light for safety reasons or if you're socialising in this area and not watching a movie. Dimmable lights which can be controlled via an app (smart lights) or by a remote control are the perfect solution and are readily available online and in stores.

Manage the sound
We've touched on sound a little by highlighting the importance of setting up in a quiet, self-contained room, but this alone will not be enough. Not only do you want to contain the sound within the cinema room, you also need stop outside noise from coming in. The key to extraordinary sound is to cover the room from top to bottom with a noise-busting material. You know those fiberglass tiles you see in dropped ceilings, usually in offices or shops? Yes, that’s right, those ones, well they're perfect sound insulation for the ceiling of your cinema room and they're cost effective too! Most homes these days have walls made of either drywall or plasterboard and neither offers anything even closely resembling acoustic properties, but you can buy acoustic boards from most hardware or DIY stores. Cover these boards with thin carpeting – as they do at the cinema – for great acoustic performance.

Also, it's a common misconception that the more money you spend on the sound system, the better the acoustic performance will be. This is simply not the case. You could buy the best sound system on the market, but if you listen to it in your bathroom it'll sound as if you are listening to it in your bathroom! Spend time getting the acoustics in your cinema room just right and you needn’t fork out on the fanciest system out there unless, of course, you want to...

Let's get technical
In our modern world, you'll need to give careful consideration to the technical configuration of your room. Can you get a strong WiFi signal, for example? Are there enough plug sockets? Have you hidden all lighting, video and audio cabling in the walls or subtle trunking? Not paying enough attention to these details could affect not only the overall look but also the performance of your room.

Are you sitting comfortably?
So far we've considered the light (or dark in this case), the colour scheme, some technical notes and the acoustics, so now it's time for the furniture! The boom in home cinema and entertainment rooms means that the choices are now plentiful. Proper cinema-style seating is usually expensive, although nowadays it's available in super stylish and comfy designs. However, there are also more budget-friendly options. You could just use your current sofa or buy an ‘ordinary’ sofa to suit, but we avoid U-shaped or corner settees to ensure you create the best viewing positions. Large adult bean bags, reclining chairs or a combination of all of these might suit your needs better, but if you're looking for a true cinema-style experience a quick search for ‘reclaimed cinema seating’ will provide you with a plethora of affordable options. If you're lucky enough to have space for two rows of seating, why not build a simple wooden box about 6”-12” higher than the existing floor level and cover it with carpet, add more seating, throw in a popcorn machine and a bar, et voila, it'll be just like the movies!

Leigh Hall from Strive for Design is an interior designer in Cambridge, so if you'd like help designing and creating the perfect cinema or entertainment room for your property, call us on 01223 622 688 or complete our enquiry form.