Home theatre design must begin with the basics to get the great sound expected from a home theatre

Design your home theatre on paper to save your time and money

Home theatre design is a fairly new field but it is expanding rapidly every day. A home theatre used to be a sign of wealth and affluence, but this room is now found at every level on the economic scale. Home owners are often building additions to house a home theatre. Others are looking for available space that can be remodeled or adapted for home theatre design. This site is not a home remodeling or construction site, but here are a few thing for you to consider as you dream about creating a media room in your home.

Locating the Home Theatre Room

The best choice for a home theater room is a rectangular shaped room. Try to find a space that has as a minimum number of doors and windows if possible. Locating a media room in an open floor plan makes it more difficult to keep the sound effects in. In the same vein, large windows will make it difficult to keep outside noises from interfering with your theatre experience. You will also have to contend with light coming in from the windows and creating glare on your picture screen. Noise and light are factors that can be addressed, but if possible, it's easier and cheaper to avoid these problems as much as possible when you a looking for a location for your home theatre.

Preparing the Room

Acoustics and sound are the components that raise a room from a TV room to a home theatre. Part of having the theatre experience is having a loud surround sound.

Without a properly constructed room, even the highest tech sound equipment won't be able to live up to its promises. You may also offend your close neighbors and be constantly fielding annoying phone calls (unless you invite them over to take part in the fun!)

For new theatre builders with large budgets, thick concrete walls are the way to go. However, most of us are adapting rooms on a budget with a much smaller scale. Don't despair; there are still ways to control sound and vibrations that won't break your bank. Here are some ideas you can explore as you consider your home theatre design:

• Build a Double Wall
  
  If you are converting a basement or garage, you can build an extra wall inside the room. This is a technique used by professional builders to aid in sound proofing a media room. Recording studios also make use of this technique for soundproofing their studios. For more information on how to do this yourself, check out DIY Home Theater Design
• Use Soundproof Insulation
  
  Filling the space between the walls with soundproofing insulation will also help improve your home theatre acoustics. Soundproofing insulation is denser than regular insulation, so be sure to look at the labels and purchase the correct type of insulation.
• Use Double Drywall
  
  By using this technique you add an extra layer of soundproofing to your home theatre. This techniques is also described in the link above, DIY Home Theater Design
• Use Acoustic Materials on Ceiling and Walls
  
  There are numerous acoustical products on the market to help you get the best performance from your sound system. A search in Google will bring you unlimited sources for these products. I'm sure you'll find items you didn't even know existed and many of them will be in your budget range.
• Consider Carpeting as Part of your Home Theatre Design
  
  Carpeting is not only easy on the feet but also easy on the ears. It will prevent harsh echoes from bouncing around the room. Hard surfaces distort sound, so the more surface you can cover with soft sound absorbent material, the better the quality of your sound will be. Low pile carpeting such as Berber or industrial grade is the best choice for a home theatre. Also be aware that many manufacturers now also make static free carpeting. This is a good choice considering all the electrical equipment in your media room.
• Use Exterior Doors for Your Doorways
  
  Thick, insulated exterior grade doors will help contain the sound and keep it from leaking out into other home areas. If you are making a new doorway, consider making it extra large to make the moving of large pieces of furniture and equipment easier.
• Odd Shaped Rooms Hold Sound Better
  
  

  Rooms with nooks and crannies hold on to sound better than a space with four walls. If you don't have odd spaces in the room, they are easy to create with screens and bookcases. Include bookcases and storage cabinets strategically around the room to break up an even room. By doing this, you will get a richer sound from your equipment.

  We're not talking major breakups here. A built in sound system that comes out 12-18 inches from the wall with spaces at each end, a bookcase behind your seating area, a storage cabinet along another wall; these will all break up an even space and help enhance the sound in the room. And while we're talking about bookcases, books help to cut down on echoes (have you ever wondered why a library seems to be so quiet even when people are talking?> and so are a great assessory to include in a home theater room.

Wiring Your Home Theatre

As you are planning and building your room, be sure to include all your wiring in your home theatre design. Equip your room with the proper electrical and phone receptacles right from the beginning. This will save you much frustration and help keep your budget intact. Adding additional wiring later after all the construction is done can be an expensive proposition.

You may not know where you will be placing all your furniture and accessories, but have a basic placement plan or floor plan in mind so that the electrical wiring only has to be done once. Keep in mind, it's cheaper to install extra outlets than it is to discover you don't have enough later on after all the work is completed.

Since you are thinking of wiring, this is also the time to consider what type of remote you are going to use with your equipment. Now is the time for planning for this feature. For further ideas about your remote system, visit More About Remote Controls for Home Theatres