Taking a trip to the cinema isn’t anywhere near as cheap as it used to be, especially if you’re bringing the whole family. That’s a real shame if you’re a movie lover, but you could just bring the cinema to you instead.
If you have a loft area or basement room that you aren’t really using for anything, you could turn it into your very own cinema room. You could even do a garage conversion and set it up in there. Most people think that you’ll need to make huge changes to the house and spend thousands on expensive equipment to create your own cinema room but that isn’t the case, it’s actually fairly easy to do and it shouldn’t cost you too much. Here’s how to create your very own cinema in your home.
Get A Projector
The first thing that you’ll need is a screen to display the films on. You’re not going to get a full sized cinema screen in your house unless you’re lucky enough to live in a huge house. But you can get some great screens and projectors that are far bigger than your average TV and they’ll display films in cinema quality. You can even get a projector installation to fit it all for you and put in a hidden screen that unveils itself at the touch of a button. When you’re trying to choose a projector, it’s best to avoid the high end ones. They’re more designed for professional use and they create a lot of noise and get quite hot, so they need their own dedicated room. There’s no need to spend that much anyway because the mid-range ones are perfectly good for home viewing. Just make sure to check the reviews and make sure that you get a good one for a reasonable price.
Other Equipment
As well as getting a projector, you’ll need something to play the movies. You’ve got a few different options here; a DVD player, a Blu-Ray player or you could use a games console if you’ve already got one in the house. If you’ve got kids that use a games console, this is a good way to go because the room doubles up as somewhere for them to play as well. If you’re choosing between DVD and Blu-Ray, it’s best to go for Blu-Ray. They’re more expensive but the quality is a lot better and DVDs may be phased out in a few years, which means that you’ll have to upgrade anyway. It’s best to just spend the money now so you don’t have to buy more equipment in the future.
If you’re going to get the full cinema experience, you’ll also need some surround sound speakers. You don’t have to go overboard because you can get some good mid-range sets that will give the desired effect. Remember that you’re not trying to fill a huge cinema with sound so you don’t need to buy professional level speakers.
Seating
You’re going to need good seating in the cinema room so you’re nice and comfortable when you settle in to watch a movie. Before you start choosing furniture, you need to consider the seating distance. If you’re too close to the screen, you’ll strain your eyes and you’ll struggle to see what’s going on in the film. But if you’re too far away, you’ll have too much of the room in your peripheral vision and it will take away from that big screen cinema experience. When it comes to calculating the right distance, you should measure two lines from the seating area to the edges of the screen. The ideal angle should be about 30 degrees.
When it comes to picking furniture, comfy sofas are the obvious choice. Get a few in there but make sure that you can always see the screen from all seating positions. It’s also a good idea to get a few bean bags that you can put around the room if you’ve got more people coming round to watch a movie.
Colour Scheme
You’ve got to be careful when you’re painting the cinema room because you don’t want to choose colours that are going to interfere with the film. If you pick bold bright colours, they might be distracting when you’re trying to watch the film so you should go for something a bit more understated. However, it’s important that you avoid anything like a bright white or cream because they can reflect light and cause glare on the screen. Different shades of grey are best for a cinema room because it’s unobtrusive and it doesn’t create any glare on the screen.
Follow these steps and you can turn an unused space in your home into an amazing cinema room.