How to Select Furniture for a Home Theater

Guest Blogger #442, Entry #1059, March 30, 2012

Just about every home has what could be considered a standard living room, a place where family members and friends go to lounge and enjoy their leisure time. Often the accommodations in this space are comfortable and inviting and there are multiple forms of diversion to relax and amuse inhabitants, from television to video games to music. But if you’d rather reserve this space for family time that is not impaired by a multitude of electronics, you might be considering turning that extra room or unfinished basement into a home theater. Or maybe you consider yourself a cinephile and you simply want to display your favorite classics films in a theater-like environment. Either way you’ll have to include the proper furnishings to outfit your space for functionality. So here are a few tips to help you select the right items to flesh out your home theater.

A non-traditional look at theater seating

Image via: Anna Lumley.Pinterest

Finding home theater components

If all you have to go on in terms of inspiration is the local movie theater (replete with sticky floors, glaring lobby lights, and seats that are torn and stained), it may be time to take a closer look at what goes into making a great home theater setup. This could require some research on your part, but luckily the internet can offer you plenty of help when it comes to regurgitating what others have done with their home theaters. Why not start with the biggest and best by doing a search for celebrity home theaters? Although many of the amenities could be well out of your price range, it’s always fun to see how the other half lives. And some of these truly spectacular temples of technology could give you some great ideas to mimic (although likely in a scaled-down fashion).

Once you’ve gotten an idea of what you like and what you could leave behind it’s time to get the ball rolling on furnishing your own home theater space. But there are still a couple of things you need to consider, such as comfort, style, and cost. All three will play a role in the type of furnishings you choose, especially when it comes to seating. Some people put a premium on comfort while watching movies; they want cushy, cozy sofas and recliners that make them feel like they’re floating on a cloud. Of course, this option is probably amongst the most expensive and it is not easy to find a lazy boy that doesn’t look like it came straight out of dad’s den.

Choose seating to match your style

Image via: Comfortable Home Design

Choose a style for home theater seating

If you want a space that pays homage to traditional theaters, on the other hand, you could look for cinema closures (or check listings on eBay and Craigslist) as a way to pick up real-deal antique rows of chairs to restore. But classic doesn’t necessarily equal comfort. As a middle-of-the-road option you could also purchase seating specifically designed for home theaters. This is more like what you might find in the high-priced movie houses that have sprung up of late with their assigned seating, wide armrests, and overabundance of leg room. Again, this is a more expensive option.

In truth, it’s a toss-up. It can definitely be pricy to outfit this non-essential room, especially considering all of the expensive electrical equipment involved. But when it comes to home theater seating and storage you have many options that fall into a wide range of prices. You may have to sacrifice style for comfort or vice versa, but you can find the furnishings that suit your style at a price you can afford if you simply do some homework and look at all of your options.

For more home theater room ideas on Stagetecture