So, you’re looking to get crafty and build a DIY home theater for the new year. But there’s the cost aspect—home theaters with their sleek leather theater room recliners, intricate sound system setup, and other décor and materials, can quickly add up and be quite the investment once everything is priced out.
Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. Like most things home and design, there are cheaper ways to get the home theater of your dreams, and that includes finding home theater seating that doesn’t break the bank. Read on for our top 5 tips on finding ideas for home theater furniture on the cheap and constructing the best do-it-yourself multimedia room you can.
Embrace Thrifty Finds
There’s no shame in sourcing secondhand, especially when you’re trying to build out a sweet home theater done all by yourself. There are plenty of sources to find budget entertainment room seating—it might not be crafted from premium Italian leather and have all of the latest features, but any good leather recliner can technically serve as a comfortable chair in your home theater to relax in.
Look online on sites like Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp for local listings for anyone trying to offload old entertainment room chairs. Generally speaking, most items being listed on these sites will be in usable condition and might only have a few signs of wear and tear. With a little love and some leather conditioner (or a good fabric cleaner for those microfiber-upholstered theater room chairs) it’ll probably look as good as new.
Other sites like Wayfair, Overstock, and others that sell heavily discounted home furniture are likely to have a handful of offerings when it comes to finding discounted entertainment room seating, so be sure to check out their listings for anything that would fit your home theater’s design.
Know Your Priorities
This is a big one. It’s easy to get carried away when constructing a home theater built entirely by yourself when it comes to outfitting it with the latest and greatest technology and other equipment. When you’re sticking to a budget, take time to make a list of what you consider a priority for your home theater—maybe you don’t want brand new leather-upholstered entertainment room seating for 6 people and you’d rather opt for secondhand theater room seating with fabric upholstery and save some money.
Or maybe you just don’t get audiophiles and feel like it’s okay to skimp on the sound system a little—not everyone is going to need or want the best sound quality. If you can hear it, you can hear it, and you’ll probably save a bunch of money by getting less powerful equipment that still gets the job done.
Think Outside the Theater Chair Box
When you’re building out a DIY home theater, you can get a little crafty—after all, it’s all there in the name. You have full permission to get as creative as you want with your home theater. It might not be deckled out to the nines, but it’s yours, and you did most of the construction.
Maybe you want to build your own speaker stands for your home theater and personalize them. All you’d need is lumber and some general know-how on building stands. Or maybe you don’t want to go with acoustic paneling. An easy DIY solution is to throw some sizeable blankets across the walls and ceiling to help soundproof the area. This applies to the rest of the room too—throwing down rugs and throws across furniture helps improve the room’s acoustics as the fabric absorbs most of the sound.
If premium entertainment room seating isn’t at the top of the list, you can also DIY home theater chairs with a bit of innovation. Find some vintage, cheap seating, add in a reupholstery job with some cute fabric or stylish leather, sand some wood down, apply a little conditioner, and you’ll have some chic chairs to sit in while watching your favorite movies and shows.
Embrace the Darkness
When you’re building out your own home theater, one thing you don’t want to skip over is the lighting. For a home theater to be successful, it needs to be dark in the room. This is one of the many reasons that basement home theaters are so popular. If you don’t have a basement to make use of a naturally dark environment, don’t worry! Investing in blackout curtains for your above-ground-level home theater will keep the light intrusion to a minimum and let you fully enjoy your movies and shows and get a crisp, clear picture of the screen.
If you’re fully making a home theater built by hand, you don’t technically even need to buy blackout curtains—all you really need to do is grab some cardboard, cut it to the size of your windows, and push it in there to keep the light out. Although, we do recommend painting the cardboard black or some other neutral color to make it look like you’re not boarding up your home.
Consider Upgrading in Phases
Masterpieces take time to create, and it’s no different for the home theater built by yourself. Take your time with it, consult your budget, and see what you can get done with your home theater before moving onto the next phase.
Maybe you found a bunch of entertainment room chairs for cheap, but you had to get enough home theater chairs to sit 5 people—that’s still a lot of furniture to get all at once, and it’s okay to check that off the list and save the next phase for a month or two down the line. Or maybe you have your seating, sound system, and screen, but you haven’t carved out time for the acoustics yet. Don’t stress it, and enjoy your home theater as-is before dedicating time to soundproofing your room. Upgrading in phases lets you (and your bank account) take some time off from the project. And who knows—maybe you’ll get some new media room seating ideas or think of something else you can’t live without in your home theater in the meantime!
Building out a DIY home theater on a budget sounds tricky, but when you’ve got the right resources—and trust us, there are plenty of guides out there—it’s a lot easier than it sounds and doable at nearly any budget.