4 Components to a Perfect Living Room Theater

There's plenty of choices when it comes to building up your first home theater system, but to pull it off eloquenty... well, that's another story. There's so many things to consider, from the type of wiring for the speakers to choosing between a projector vs. HDTV, it can easily become an overwhelming experience. Luckily for you, we've got four tips that you just can't go wrong with.

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1. Building a Focal Point: Whether it's having an extra large console or a wallpapered media wall, building a strong focal point for the screen anchors and blends the technology with the rest of the home. So, when anyone asks about why you have so much tech in your home, you can easily argue, "Hey, it's part of the decor."

2. Plenty of Seating: This should be a no-brainer, but we've seen so many homes that tend of neglect that fact that the best home theaters out there has plenty of comfortable seating for guests - all within the TV or screen's optimal viewing angle .

3. Hide the Equipment: Even though individual tech pieces may be fun to look at, the reality is no one wants to see your Comcast DVR or Boxee Box cluttering up the area around your TV. There's plenty of solutions out there that'll allow you to hide components without having them overheat. Just get creative!

4. Plenty of Space Between the Screen and Viewers: While we all know how awesome it is to have that 'immersion' factor in the home theater experience, that doesn't mean stick your entire family a couple feet from the TV. Leave some breathing room.

Got a tip for share? We'd love to hear it!

(Images: Desire to Inpsire and Jimmy Schönning's Stylish Living Room)

Comments (7)

Related to # 4: Don't sit *so* far away from the TV that it has to compete with everything else in the room for your attention (this may be a subjective judgment), and don't put the screen too high (above the fireplace) or too low (practically on the floor)--both are prescriptions for neck strain.

speaking of HT how come you hardly ever see any full sized speakers on here, half these apartments are bigger than most houses yet the speakers are the size of rublics cubes

isn't the tv the focal point? i would think a wall paper or a strong focal point other than the tv would be to distracting.

I do AV installation professionally and one of the things that is often overlooked is lighting control. You need ways to control both light from outside and also lights within the space itself, so you do not have overhead lights (specially spotlights) pointed right at the TV or into the viewers eyes. And you need to be able to dim the lights. Despite what your parents told you all throughout your life, it is perfectly OK (if not preferable) to watch TV in the dark!

Something I'm going to try re: suggestion #2 is to have only as much seating as is aesthetically permissible in the space, plus a thigh-high stack of floor cushions. Not a solution for everyone, I admit, but I'm going to give it a shot and see how it works.