Home entertainment has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past decade. Movie rentals became obsolete as streaming services surged. TV screens got larger, thinner, more defined AND cheaper year-by-year. Sound systems offered more advanced features with a whole lot less wiring. Today’s home entertainment experience is instant and immersive.
But what hasn’t kept pace for many homeowners is their home entertainment environment for all this rich and engaging media. Perhaps it’s a huge-screen TV perched on a tiny media console. Or the tangled mess of wires lurking in plain view. These are just a few examples of an all-too-common patchwork aesthetic that evolves when your entertainment space is designed.
Here are some recommendations to create the ultimate entertainment space that can integrate your technology, comfort, and living habits into the perfect environment.
Define your Home Entertainment Priorities
The first step involves determining what home entertainment activities are most important to you. Are you looking for a cozy nook for snuggling with the kids and watching movies? A place for your buddies to enjoy the big game? An ambient music environment where you spend time chatting with friends? The answer might be “all of the above” but deciding which is most important will help you prioritize in the next step.
Sketch a Basic Design for Your Home Entertainment Space
Shopping for home entertainment furniture can be overwhelming, and it’s easy to be wowed by an amazing entertainment center or sectional couch. Having a design sketch as a starting point allows you to refer back to your plan and ensure that each component fulfills its role in the broader design.
You don’t need a degree in architecture, just a general sense of everything you need and where it should go. Taking some room measurements will help ensure you find just the right fit once you start shopping.
It often helps to start with your key media as the focal point. For most people this is the TV. Once you’ve placed the media on your sketch you can add other home entertainment furniture options to ensure everyone has a comfortable viewing spot. For viewing comfort, you typically want the TV at eye level. You can use an online calculator to determine the right distance/size ratio. This approach also helps you plan your speaker placement so that no one has a speaker uncomfortably close to their ears.
Choose the Right Furniture for Your Home Entertainment Experience
With your plan in hand you can more easily acquire the home entertainment furniture that makes your sketch a reality:
Give your TV the right treatment
If the TV is a central part of your ultimate home entertainment center, you have a big decision to make in terms of how you support and surround it. This is an area where furniture design has evolved rapidly to match the growing size and reduced thickness of modern TVs. There is a wide variety of home entertainment furniture options, from the media stand, to the larger entertainment center, to the classic TV console.
Choose seating that blends comfort and style
A sectional or traditional sofa is often the centerpiece for an entertainment area. Comfortable recliners can provide additional seating when company arrives. Look for complimentary styles, colors and fabrics to maintain consistency for your entertainment room.
Add accessories for form and function
Side tables or coffee tables should be placed in the best spot to ensure drinks and snacks are close at hand. An ottoman is a nice touch when you want to kick your feet up for a full-length feature.
Make it your own
With the basics covered, you can let your imagination run wild to add some personal flair. Reflect on your personal interests and consider how you can incorporate those into a theme-based entertainment center. There are no limits here: sports, artwork, music, video games – the only criteria is that it’s something you care about and would like to share.
We’re Here for Your Entertainment Center Needs
At Adirondack Furniture, we have a huge variety of quality, Amish-made furniture to complement all sorts of entertainment center designs. To learn more, browse our online catalog of living room furniture.