Design Considerations

As you plan your home theater, consider all the ways you plan to use the room. Are you mainly interested in quiet movie nights with your immediate family, or do you plan to host large gatherings? Is this a restful escape for you and your spouse, or are you looking to build a place to watch sports and host group activities? Your goals will drive your overall design of the space, from choice of furniture and seating arrangements to requirements for your video display and sound system.

Building a home theater is a very personal home improvement project. Make the design choices that fit your home and the people you share it with.

A key consideration when planning your home theater is the size and shape of your space. While some people want a dedicated home theater room with optimized acoustics and seating, others just want to create the best movie watching experience possible in a multi-purpose room or an open space in their home. If you have a large open space, it will be more challenging to minimize ambient noise, or sound transmission, in and out of the room. And while a large space can host more people, you’ll also need a bigger TV or projector screen to give everyone a great view of the movie.

If you have the opportunity to build a dedicated home theater room, you can minimize noise from outside sources, including noise coming from or through the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

As you design your home cinema / home entertainment space, think about all the activities you want to do in that room in addition to watching movies. Perhaps it will also serve as a video gaming room. Keep in mind that video game consoles have different video display requirements than movie playback systems. So, if video gaming is important to you and your family, you’ll want to make sure that your TV or projector is capable of a handling a frame rate / refresh rate of at least 60 FPS. TVs are generally better for video game consoles, as they can often handle higher frame rates of 90 or 120 FPS.

Will you also use the room as a quiet place to read a book, play a board game, or just sit and talk with family or friends? You’ll want your seating to pivot, letting people face each other, as opposed to being anchored in a fixed position with all seats facing the video screen. Will you use it as a home office? Include a webcam setup and a desk and desk chair that can be positioned comfortably.

As you plan your home entertainment room, whether it’s a dedicated home theater room or a multi-purpose living room, think about ways to personalize it. You might hang framed posters of your favorite movies on the wall. Or you could create a room that is designed to look like the set of your favorite movie. This is your chance to create an atmosphere that sets the mood for a good movie or a fun night with friends.

When you’re ready to make your home theater a reality, you don’t have to do it all yourself. There are many firms specializing in home theater design and construction, and many more who specialize in equipping home theaters with complete sound, video, and home automation systems.

To find a home theater integrator near you or to be paired with a Kaleidescape dealer, visit our Find a Dealer page.

Of course, one of main considerations when planning your home theater is your budget. Our guide is designed to help you maximize your home theater experience at any budget. The best way to do this is to plan ahead, understanding all of the aspects to consider, and balancing your spending in a way that delivers maximum enjoyment when you have finished building or upgrading your home entertainment space. You don’t want to spend all of your budget on a great audio system, and then watch your movies on a small, cheap television, or spend everything on a big screen and projector, with no money left for a good sound system. The key is to balance your budget to get the best result overall. We’ve developed some suggested home theater designs at different budget levels to get you started.