While a dedicated home theater is a financial stretch for many clients, a media room in which to watch movies, play video games, and listen to music is more likely within reach. But even a media room design needs a strong project team like Schrapper’s Fine Cabinetry & Design.
Multiuse space: A media room is often a multiuse space connected to other parts of the home. The home theater is a separate room with elements such as staggered seating, walls built to control sound, and lighting controls to take the room to a complete black setting. While lighting and sound are also important considerations in a media room, there are always limitations.
The room: A well-designed room can make a midlevel system sound good. The best technology is often wasted in a space that is not specifically designed for optimal sound. We have a team including an electronics integrator from Bang & Olufsen who can help you make the right technology and design choices.
Our designers will find out exactly how you intend to use the space. How many people should the space be able to fit at one time? Will they be gaming? Watching sports? Films? Listening to music? What size collection do you or your children have?
Sound: In a dedicated theater space, you create a decoupled room-build walls within walls to isolate noise and vibration. But in an open media room it’s more difficult to achieve sound isolation, keeping sound inside the room and unwanted noise out.
It takes more time and thought to find the right doors, which should be fairly inert and eliminate air gaps. Generally, you can’t just go buy an acoustically correct door system for large cased openings. You may have to modify or manufacture customized doors. You might want to put in a soffit and walls to support a sliding or folding door system. Some (of which) have acoustically isolating properties. If the media room is next to a bedroom, floor mats under the carpeting will help to isolate and absorb sound.
Lighting: A media room must be flexible. Two people might want to socialize on the sofa while others watch televised sports. Lamp light and natural light might detract from the visual experience.
We try to look at the seating and select and position light fixtures so you can light the seating areas will and not have a lot of light on display devices. This improves the contrast ratio and improves a person’s perspective on the display quality. Motorized blinds and shades help block natural light and also can help control heat gain.
There are many exciting technologies and fun products out there to enhance your new family or personal space. Don’t cheat yourself and not include features or design elements in your new entertaining space that you will wish you had included after you’ve completed your project.
Contact www.schrappers.com for more information.