Home Theater System

Posts Tagged ‘investment’

So, you’ve bought the big screen TV, the surround sound speakers and various home theater equipment and you have them installed and ready to go. But what’s missing?

If you’re installing a home theater, you need to think beyond the system components and consider the furniture and accessories you want to add to the room to create a really cool environment for your entertainment pleasure.

Just like decorating any other room, the accessories are what will make your home theater stand out from the crowd. Here’s some things to think about when considering your home theater decor:

1. Think about what kind of look you want in your home theater. If the room is a dedicated home theater, you can pretty much pick whatever look you want. If you want to go with a movie theme, you can do that. If you want Old World elegant with a big screen and speakers thrown in, you can do that too. If the room is serving a double purpose, such as an office/home theater or living room/home theater, then you need to keep that in mind when decorating. Most people wouldn’t want giant, framed movie posters for horror flicks within eyesight of their dining room. And if the room is also used for children’s play, safety considerations might dictate decorating.

2. Choose your theme first – maybe you already have a collection of old movie posters and you want to work around that. Or perhaps, you always wanted an indoor garden of sorts. Either way, picking your theme should be the first thing you do before you rush out to the store to buy accessories. Knowing the theme in advance will help guide the rest of your decisions from colors and wall hangings to furniture and lighting.

3. Start a collection. A popular theme for decorating home theaters is to fill it with old movie memorabilia. This can be really fun to collect and it could even be considered an investment as the items you use may well go up in value. Some things you can collect for your home theater include: movie posters, autographed photos of movie stars, an old fashioned movie popcorn maker, movie props and other memorabilia from old movie ticket stubs to real movie theater seats. One thing to keep in mind when collecting anything is that condition is of the utmost importance so buy the best condition items you can afford. It is better to get 1 item in excellent condition, then to get 10 that are in fair condition.

4. Don’t forget the rooms real purpose when selecting furniture and lighting. Make sure lighting enhances the movie experience. If the room is used for another purpose too, think about a combination of lights to make it work for both instances. Low lighting is ideal for movies, but it’s not so hot for kids trying to do homework on a coffee table. You also want your furniture to be of the utmost in comfort. It wouldn’t be much fun to watch a movie on your expensive new home theater system if you are not comfortable, would it? Luckily, with the selections today, you can get both comfort and style in your home theater furniture.

5. Make your home theater feng shui friendly. Keeping some basic principals of feng shui in mind when designing your room can help you attain a relaxing atmosphere. Don’t put seating with the backs to the doors. Try to set the room up with a nice flow and workable space for walking. Don’t try to cram things into the room that won’t fit properly. Make sure to keep your home theater organized, a room that is filled with piles of junk and a mess will not create a relaxing atmosphere. Instead, it will serve to remind viewers who live in the home of any and all work and projects they need to do. Keep the room decorated and nice, but don’t over pack it with junk. Make sure you hide the wires and have plenty of storage cabinets to put your DVD’s in.

The eclectic Austin home owner wants a theater system that can effectively replace the need for public cinema. Many turn to stores that offer q convenient source of equipment that promises exceptionally high resolution video and surround sound audio effects. Getting this equipment to work, however, requires much more than electronics know-how. It requires an advanced understanding of new home wiring, home architecture, how it creates acoustics in the room, and how to make home theater equipment work within the context of a specific setting to yield superior results.

This is exactly what custom homeowners in Austin can expect from Illuminations Lighting and Design home theater specialists. Our unique combination of consultation, manufacturer relationships, and customized home system intergration services are what differentiate us as one-source vendor of both equipment and installation know-how that ensures the best possible results in home entertainment.

The first step in the process is a consultation with the homeowner and a close examination of the home’s interior architecture. Most Austin home theater clients live in homes ranging anywhere from 10,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet. These homes always have several rooms which can be converted into home theaters. However, each room is unique and has its own acoustical qualities. Homeowners are typically unaware of which room will work best as a high-tech entertainment center, and even electrical contractors are often challenged in this arena due to the highly specialize nature of their training in home wiring.

Our team, however, has cross-trained in many different disciplines in addition to home electrical remodeling. One of the most important skills we have picked up is a strong working knowledge of home architecture and interior acoustics. We have also learned to speak the lingo, so to speak, of the industry, and can quickly add in a consultation with the architect or builder to determine which room will best serve as the media center. We include this service with our complimentary consultation and with no obligation to purchase the equipment we subsequently propose.

Once the room location is determined, we select the appropriate type of projector, screen, audio processor, video processor, amplifier, and speakers to compliment the sound dynamics of its interior. While these components are standard to almost all home theater systems and available at a number of retail stores throughout Austin, our equipment comes straight from the factory and is rated at the highest level of specification grade quality. Our knowledge of residential home theater design enables us to efficiently install this equipment with a number of additional options not typically available through stores. We can integrate a home theater system into the home’s lighting control system, or go one step further and install it as one of many subsystems on a home automation network.

Such integration allows for a cinematic experience even better than the one available at public cinemas. Pre-programmed lighting control systems can be activated with the simple push of a button to set the mood for certain genres of film. Horror movies are exceptionally frightening under low, dark red lighting. Dim, but brighter colour temperature lights, can often add an upbeat tone to comedies and action movies.

One of the most important things that Austin residents can confidently expect from our one-source design, equipment and home automation installation services is a much better sound quality than retail equipment typically provides. Since third party installers who actually setup theaters in homes rarely have the time or knowledge to study the acoustics of interior architecture the way we do, they often tune the acoustics to only a satisfactory level. While this is certainly better than the speakers on any television set, it does not justify the expenditure one makes on such equipment, nor does it offer the truly exceptional experience that justifies home entertainment as a substitute for a night on the town.

If you are going to make that type of investment in a home theater system, do it with experts who can customize every aspect of the system to the home and room it resides in, and who can also personalize it with lighting controls and home automation controls that make it intuitive and user friendly for everything from family gatherings to formal parties and special occasions.