Doesn't
it seem like every time that you go on Fandango to purchase some
movie tickets, the price of admission goes up? Who ever thought that
we'd get to a place in life where we'd actually need to save up a
Benjamin Franklin just to take our family to a midday matinee? (With
the price of snacks, that's no exaggeration, by the way!) It's enough
to make you want to have your own theater at home.
And
you know what? With a few tips, you can do just that.
Get
some good (used) equipment.
In designing a home theater, it might surprise you how many people
make this last on their priority list. Yet, what's the point in
having theater seating if you're watching movies on a 13"
television set? Under the good equipment list, make sure you have a
wide screen television (with high definition), surround sound
equipment (including a home theater receiver, speakers, subwoofer and
cables) and lights that you can dim (just like they do in the movie
theaters during previews). Where does the budgeting part of this come
in? Look for these items on Craigslist and eBay for starters.
Go
on the dark side.
Have ever noticed that when you go to the movies, the inside of the
theater isn't pastel-colored? If you're not able to totally renovate
your home theater space (yet), at least make sure to purchase some
earth-toned color curtains or blinds that you can pull together (or
down) once it's time for the credits to roll. If your furniture is
already a bit darker in hue, that's an added bonus.
Price
out some home theater chairs.
No home theater is complete without proper seating. If you think that
the retail price for chairs is high, you would be exactly right. The
good news is that there are places where you can purchase discount
theater seating.
You might want to check with local furniture stores to see what kind
of sales that they have available. But if you would prefer to go the
online route, WholesaleTheaterSeating.com, SeatAndChairs.com and
Preferred-Seating.com are all places that have a variety of theater
chairs on sale too.
Purchase
some movie-themed decorations.
Movie theaters and hotels seem to have one thing (relatively) in
common: they both have pieces of furniture that you might not be able
to afford to get on your own. After all, who doesn't like sitting (or
reclining) in a theater seat or sleeping in a hotel bed? Yet, when it
comes to having the full cinematic experience, do you know what else
is great about it? All of the decorations from the movie posters and
wall decorations, to the area rugs and movie reels that are usually
on display. A lot of these may sound expensive, but not if you know
where to look. HomeTheaterInteriors.com is a one stop shop in
cyberspace for all of these kinds of things.
Consider
building one yourself later.
These are all some "in the meantime" tips for designing a
home theater, especially if the budget is really tight. But if you
want to be able to go all out by actually redesigning a room in your
house, there are plenty of websites like HGTV.com, DIY.com and even
several series of YouTube videos that can give you step-by-step tips
on how to build a home theater from scratch for less than around
$2,500. The benefit is that if after reading this, you went and
bought some equipment, you've knocked about $500-1000 of the building
cost right there! Talk about the beauty of wise budgeting and good
things coming to those who wait.