Enjoy a Big Theater Experience Even in Small Spaces
Who wouldn’t want a home theater room? A dedicated movie-watching space with theater furniture and a little popcorn machine in the corner – it’s a great place to escape, relax and unwind after a long day. Somewhere to watch all the latest movies, and have big game night parties with friends and family. Nevertheless, many of us simply don’t have the extra room. Just the TV and the speakers take up significant space, and let’s not even start about all the theater seats! The biggest challenge to building out your dream home theater is truly sometimes the space just not seeming big enough to fit rows of entertainment room recliners in—you want to fill the room perfectly, not having it look so minimalistic that it looks like no one lives there. And of course, you need all the other décor and furniture that comes with having a home theater to call your very own.
Worry no more! Home theaters can be built in small spaces – you’ve just got to be a bit more creative than someone who’s blessed with a huge bonus room in their house. With a little innovation and thinking outside of the box, it can be done. And you don’t always have to sacrifice the essentials like those media room couches that are the epitome of luxury and comfort. Every day, more people are building their own home theater without having a lot of extra space. Really, you just need speakers, a screen, and comfy theater-style media room furniture. The rest involves careful planning and measuring out the space to ensure that all of the furniture you want fits nicely into the room and that you have plenty of space to move around your reclining home theater seats without bumping into additional furniture.
In fact, small spaces have their advantages. For example, you won’t need super-loud speakers, because sound transmits well in small spaces. You don’t need as powerful of a projector or as large of a screen, and you don’t need rows and rows of movie theater chairs. You might just need a row of 4 seats, 2 and 2, or a home theater loveseat. You also won’t need to think about getting risers for entertainment room seats because there just isn’t enough room for rows upon rows of chairs. And you won’t be walking out of a store with a cart full of acoustic paneling because you’ve only got a few smaller walls to soundproof. And those blackout curtains got a whole lot cheaper if you’re only getting rid of the sunlight for a couple windows—bonus points if your small space happens to be a soon-to-be basement home theater. Know what all that means? Your budget just got way less intimidating than one for a huge home theater room. Win. While most people think of smaller spaces as a daunting task to fill out and decorate, it’s actually incredibly easy in the sense that it saves you a boatload of money for other things when you don’t have that much room to decorate with. And with a bit of planning and consideration, you’ll be ready to rock a tiny home theater!
How to Make Your Small Room into a Big-Time Home Theater Space
Bringing big-theater energy to a small room is easier than you’d think. Check it out!
- Measure your space: Big or small, this is always a first. You need to know what you’re working with. One of the most important measures is the distance between your planned seating and the screen and speakers. Then, use this handy TV viewing distance chart to calculate your optimal viewing distance. You should coordinate your theater seating with the central viewing cone, and set your speakers up accordingly as well. This is a lot easier in a smaller home theater because you have less options and you don’t have to worry about whether the speakers’ sound will fill the space. You’ll want to keep that tape measure nearby when you start to look at furniture for home theaters—measure out the dimensions for media room seats you’re looking at and see how they might all fit together in your small space. Keep in mind you’ll want to leave enough space between pieces of furniture where everyone is still able to squeeze around without running into other furniture.
- Turn off the lights: For real! This will make it easier to check whether your screen placement works or you’d better place it in the opposite wall. Check if there are any lights that would reflect directly on the screen: these can be either lights in other rooms, or on the street (i.e. through a window). Cover windows with heavy blackout curtains. Oh, by the way, if you haven’t already, make sure your overhead lighting is recessed can lights. It eliminates any light reflecting off the screen when they’re on, and it also doesn’t encroach on people getting up and down from the movie theater chairs, which might be especially an issue if your home theater is in the basement. The lighting is arguably whatt’s going to create that cinematic atmosphere—besides those high-end leather-upholstered reclining multimedia room seats, of course. If you’re really looking to set the mood, dimmable lights will do just the thing. You’ll be able to adjust them to the perfect setting to create a cozy, intimate ambiance without sacrificing screen quality from any sort of light interference. Strategically placing lamps around the room can also add to the ambiance, but in a smaller space, you’re better off making sure they’re up in the ceiling to keep as much space free as you possibly can.
- Use vertical space: This means mounting everything you can. Even if you’re renting, mounting a TV and speakers is easy, and you can easily patch the drywall if and when you decide to move. More floor space = more of an open feeling = room for more home theater furniture. Mounting speakers and using a theater riser for your back row of seating are both great ways to maximize on space for home theatre seating by using the room’s vertical space. That means more room for family and friends for movie nights or the big game on Saturday. By making use of any and all vertical space you have, you’re going to immediately create more space for that row of four luxury home theater recliners that you’ve had your eyes on. And like we talked about above, it’ll create more space for everyone to move around freely and enjoy themselves. Walls are often underutilized spaces in any sort of room design. Not only will it add a ton of visual interest to your home theater by drawing the eyes up towards the walls, but it’s also going to be what really lets you make the most use of the space that you have.
- Find some solid home theater furniture: You need comfort as well as space optimization, and in this regard, you’re in luck. We have developed ergonomic seats that also feature wall-hugging design, meaning you can fit more seats in small spaces. Home theater recliners that back up against the wall are practically designed for this kind of situation, and they’re going to save you quite a few inches of space that you could be putting towards something else. Whether that’s finding other furniture to fit the room or just relishing in the extra space that you never thought possible in that room is up to you. Our technology allows you to comfortably fit seats in your small room, without sacrificing reclining or leg space! We can also make a curved row of theater seats, which optimizes space and viewing angles of wider rows. All of your guests will be comfortable – nobody will even notice it’s a small room. Finally, trying out single chairs for home theaters is also a great way to save on space. With single seating, you’re not locked into any sort of specific configuration, and you’re able to freely move the seating about to fit whichever particular seating situation you need at the given moment. This way, you’re still able to fit home theater seating for up to six people in your entertainment room, but it’s not going to be one big row that might not even fit in your room. There are tons of ideas for media room seating layouts you can look at online that showcase just how well having more modular seating can work out for smaller rooms.
- Get creative with your storage: The biggest bane of small spaces is not having adequate room to store items that aren’t in use or don’t get used too frequently. One of the easiest solutions to the storage dilemma is to get some ottomans that open up and contain additional storage. It’s a win-win. You get your supremely comfortable media room furniture that you can kick your legs up onto at the end of the day, and you get extra space to store things like blankets, home theater essentials, and home theater accessories that might not be currently in use.
- Consider a projector over a flat-screen television: If you have a truly small space and you want to fully take advantage of every square inch available, a projector and screen can be a unique way to view your favorites. Projectors can be mounted onto the ceiling, keeping your precious space nearly unused, and the projector screen itself would go on the same wall that a television would, of course, but when you’re done using it, you can retract the screen, freeing up that wall for something else like a framed art piece.
Now you have no excuses. Even the smallest living room or basement can be turned into an amazing home theater room, especially when you have the right seats to fill it with. Check out our product page for home theater seat inspiration!