How to Enhance Your In-home Movie-Viewing Experience with Style

For homeowners who are fortunate (and organized) enough to free up a significant amount of basement space, a dedicated media room is a great usage idea.

A basement's very nature - windowless and underground - makes it a perfect place for the light and sound control needed to create a perfect media room environment.

Of course, it's not necessary to devote the entire area to one purpose. If you own one of the larger homes being built throughout many of the nation's suburbs, chances are the square footage of your basement space is equal to that of the floor above it. With a sprawling floor plan for the main living area of the house automatically comes an expansive basement.

As a result, you can divide it up for a variety of uses, only devoting part of it to an intimate but high-tech screening room. But where many people simply set up a new audio-video system and surround it with living room furniture retired from upstairs, there is a way to create a media room with some style.

One of the biggest boosts to the home theater concept has been the technical advancement of high-end front projection and flat-screen TV systems and thunderous surround sound set-ups. That said, keep in mind that all video and sound systems are not created equal, nor are they all created for the same types of spaces.

Consider a flat-screen plasma TV for an area that will split duty as a den or auxiliary living area. They are attractive, stylish and can be camouflaged as artwork when not in use.

For the dedicated media room, though, a great projection system like the Sanyo PLV-Z2 is a must. Reviewers have heralded its high quality image for the price (around $1,995) compared to systems costing $1,000 more and up. The system is also easily installed, highly user-friendly and can adapt well to a variety of distances from the projection surface.

Speaking of the projection surface, don't settle for just bare white wall. Projection screens are specially designed to improve the image from a projector and can markedly improve the viewing experience. Go for a wall mounted model that is either fixed in place with a rigid frame or one that retracts into the ceiling or its own compartment. You might be tempted to go cheap here, but don't.

Orb Audio makes a full slate of surround sound speakers that have received rave reviews for their full and impressive sound, as well as their low price ($999). For a room dedicated to movie viewing, also consider pre-wiring for sound before you finish the walls or add carpeting. The look will be much more polished than having wires running along the floorboards.

Finally, seating is an area of the media room that's often left to the very end. Living room set-ups are fine, but to turn your home theater into a full-scale experience, consider adding reclining theater seating. The Savoy MovieLounger (www.premierhts.com) is so luxurious - featuring deep pillow construction, leather or ultra-suede upholstery and stainless-steel cup holders - a single viewing could turn into a mini-film festival.