When planning and building a movie room in your home, some things are obvious. You know – electrical, projector, projector screen, sound system, seating. But even with all those top-of-the-line fixtures, you might start to notice as you use the room that there are details you still need to iron out. And it’s easy to do with some simple accessories for home theaters. Whether you want a central “command center” for the audiovisual tech, or a place to set your wine glass to prevent spills, there’s a way to do it.
Here are our top ten suggestions for home theater accessories that can take your media room from awesome to… more awesome?
10. Luxury Theater Seating
Yeah, you could keep those old man cave La-Z-Boys; they are worn-in just right. But if you want a true, immersive movie-watching experience, or a comfy chair to watch the game, luxury theater furniture is where it’s at. You could get traditional elevated rows of theater-style recliners, or you could get a home theater sectional sofa and keep those couple of beloved La-Z-Boys – the best of both worlds.
Later in the list, we’ll talk about accessories to elevate your theater seating even more.
9. Surround-Sound Audio Equipment
We love a good Sound Bar for small home theaters, but if you’ve got the room, and especially if you’ve got more than one row of theater seating, you should spring for an audio system that offers surround sound. Hearing sounds from all sides of a room helps you really get lost in an action movie or immersed in a thriller.
8. Acoustic Panels and/or Heavy Curtains
Another way to boost the audio quality and clarity of your sound system is to deaden the acoustics in your home theater. You can achieve this by installing acoustic panels around the room. Or, if you’re still early in the process, by insulating the walls with sound-proofing. If it falls within your design aesthetic, choosing heavy, velvet, floor-to-ceiling curtains instead can add a designer touch that deadens acoustic and stops light intrusion, all while providing a true movie-theater aesthetic.
7. Wine Caddies and LED-lit Cup Holders
It’s dark during movies. Everyone knows what it’s like to fumble around next to you to find your soda at a movie theater. You don’t want to deal with that in your home theater, too. Add LED-lighting to the cup holders in your multimedia seating, or, if you’re a wine person, a wine caddy that prevents spills and makes sipping that Cab Sav during a movie way more convenient.
6. Bass Shaker Speakers and Seats
Besides a flawless sound system-projector set up, nothing makes a movie more immersive than adding bass shakers. The vibrations you can feel in your chest, or in your theater seat, adds an additional sensory experience to movie-watching.
5. Universal Remote and Tablet Holder
You’ve got a lot of different things going on in your movie room, and 0 out of 10 people enjoy juggling 3 remotes and a smart phone in order to watch a movie or play a game. Nowadays, it’s fairly simple to create a little interface that works on a tablet, a single remote, or your smartphone, that can control all the audiovisual equipment in the room.
4. Remote-Controlled Lighting
Speaking of adding everything to one remote – install lighting that is able to be controlled remotely via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. These lighting fixtures also tend to have the ability to change color and are dimmable; another fun and convenient feature.
3. Streaming Box
Streaming services were on the rise before COVID, but pandemic lockdowns made them integral to staying sane at home. Now, most of us don’t know how we’d get by without them. If you have subscriptions to TV and movie-streaming services, and/or live TV streaming for sports events, add a streaming box to your setup. Often, streaming boxes are way better and easier to use than the programs built into TVs or projectors.
2. Power Manager
All those things you’ve got going on in your theater you want a universal remote for? You also need to control the balance of power usage; it protects all the equipment and increases electrical safety. This is an especially good idea in older homes, where a bit of knob-and-tube wiring might still be lurking within the walls.
1. Popcorn Machine
I mean, why go all the way just to stop at the 1 yard line? Everybody loves a retro popcorn machine.
Elevate your space by adding one or two of these accessories, or if you’re really trying to trick out your movie room, all of them!