How to Integrate a Home Theater with Home Decor

Every guy wants to have the latest and coolest pieces of technology. Every woman enjoys having a home that is fun and elegant. The key for both desires to coexist is to integrate them together. There are a couple of ways to integrate a home theater with the rest of the homes décor; you can either work around a room that you already have or, if money permits, you can build a new room that matches the rest of the house but still provides the home theater feel.

Home theaters are no longer just a luxury for the rich; it is becoming more and more common place with every passing year. A home theater can be anything from a T.V. and sound system setup all the way up to a special room designed for viewing movies. In all the possible scenarios, a key thing to do is to match the home theater room with the rest of the house. The next few sections will talk about what to do and what to add to make a room that is right for you.

Simple Setup
No matter what you do, planning should be your first step. Plan out what kind of T.V. you want; if you are in a more open room with windows, you should stick to a traditional LCD T.V. instead of buying an LCD/DLP projector. Also plan where the audio equipment will go. T.V.'s and audio equipment are not the only thing you need to think about, your seating is another huge thing that you will need to spent time on. With a simpler setup you may want to buy a nice soft reclining sofa set.

The décor is very important; again if the room you are using flows from another room, you will want to preserver the color scheme. When it comes to lighting choices, pick lights that are similar to the ones throughout the rest of the house. You may want to add some display cabinets to add to the over all décor. If you do this make sure they will not distract the occupants of the room. You may also like to add some plant life to the room or add a fish tank; these too, should be out of the way and mot distrusting. The décor is really up to you, pick what you like as long as it looks good.

Plan how everything will connect to each other. With a small setup its fine if people see your cords, but it is always a good idea to keep all the cords out of plane sight. An easy way to do this is by buying cord ties; these will keep all the cords together and make it easier to keep then out of sight.

Complex Setup
A lot of the same principles come up with a more complex room. First off, by complex I mean a special room dedicated to enjoying your television, this room also should have limited amount of windows. Once again, you need to plan what you will buy and where it will go. With this kind of room being most likely in a basement, you need to focus on lighting. The lights should be place in the ceiling or on the wall. They should be connected to a dimmer so you can enjoy the room more. The room will provide more darkness, so a LCD/DLP projector may be an option or you can do with a wall mounted LCD T.V. These should be mounted to the ceiling and there should not be any lights in front of it.

So this room matches the rest of the house, have as many things as possible places in the wall. An audio system for instance should be place is the walls so they appear hidden. Think of creative hiding places. One nice way is to make an opening in the wall, place the speaker, and then cover it with a ventilation cover; everyone will think the ventilation cover is part of he house and not specific to the home theater. In this kind of setup you should not see any cords. One thing you can do is run any cables you have through the walls; this way nothing is taken from the overall experience.

When choosing how to decorate the room, choose wisely. The couches should be comfortable, because you will most likely be sitting in it for 90+ minutes. They should be set up so all can see the screen. Try not to get tall couches because they will absorb some of the sound, but this is you call to make. The room in general should match the rest of the house, but it also should be different enough to suggest that this is a special room. The décor will vary from person to person depending on there wants; guys, you need to consult with any females in your lives before deciding on the décor.

No matter what you wind up doing, remember that this is your room. You set it up how you want it and that is what really matters. Just make sure that everything ties together seamlessly. Also one last thing you need to do is enjoy the pride that comes with having setup your own wonderful home theater.