All the makings of a cinema room.

The home cinema has been formally known to only belong in those houses only the rich and famous could afford. With a home movie theatre setting you back almost over 55k – ‘Oh how the other half live’ . However over the last 6-10 years home tech has become a lot more affordable and accessible to us mere mortals. Which means even an owner of a two up two down mid terrace, can feature a block busting film on their very own silver screen. In todays blog I talk about how we came to create our very own home cinema complex.

The popularity of cinema rooms;

The home cinema has become more popular within the modern day house. With garages, basement, and even garden cabins transformed into home movie theatres. Having most homes extending their kitchens to create a kitchen family room, the classic living room is also a popular choice to create a theatre style make over.

With our home we did just that, the latter. We have a kitchen-dinner with an attached snug that is ever the hub of the house. We found that our living room was a neglected area. The only time we we used the space was if we wanted to watch a film without the interruptance of the fridge freezer.

The orientation of the living room is north facing too, therefore it is forever dark with lack of light. Confused with what to do, we tried brighten the space with lighter hues to no prevail. With our north facing space doomed to be forever dark and dreary. And then penny dropped. If the living room is is where we only watch films, and the space is always dark, why not follow trend and create a home cinema. So we did just that.

But how much do cinema rooms cost?

I think how your home theatre setup turns out, really depends mostly on your budget. While some people will consider a big screen as a home theatre screen, however to most gaming and movie enthusiasts this isn’t enough.

To us or really I should mention to me (hubby would say differently) A home cinema is a space with a dark room a large tv and a good sound system. Now I can understand that perhaps larger spaces and bigger budgets its more complexed than that. However in our modest family home we have created a cool feature that has the makings of a modern day media room.

This room although a luxury was really inexpensive to create. It certainly didn’t have the 55k price tag. We spent the bulk of our budget on everything electrical, after all the foundations of a cinema is is the tech. This is where we had long night chats falling into google rabbit holes of articles about which options were best. One of the biggest decisions we had to make, was what type of screen to choose. Should you use a TV screen or a projector?

I think using a projector or TV screen honestly is down to personal preference. We decided to go for the Sony 80 inch 4k TV.

Televisions have come a very long way since those pixelated bulky boxes dominating the corner of your room. In present time television sets are no longer the large ugly multi wire box. With most tv’s featuring smart built- in bluetooth features as standard. As the tv screen grows bigger in width and length the depth is becoming slicker with most TVs being no thicker than a glossy gossip magazine.

I am no tech genius I do not really understand the tech jargan. What sound bites I have learnt is from my very tech savvy husband. But what I have noticed is with ultra high definition picture quality, displaying vibrant immersive colour. The clarity of our new television screen can feel like what you’re watching is performing live in your living room.

We also went Sony with the speakers which we had built in. Slightly more work but all of our wiring to all of our electrical tech, we had hidden behind the wall. This is definitely something you should really consider, it creates a seamless sleek finish to the eye. Cinemas have a minimalistic ambiance. And bunches of wires can always feel cluttered and messy. So keep them well hidden.

The next stage was seating. Traditionally cinema rooms have grand leather recliner chairs. For me personally I don’t like leather. Its either to cold in the winter or during the summer a little sticky. (there is nothing worse than your bottom sticking to a leather chair) Again like the screen it is down to personal preference. We like to lay down snuggled up with a soft throw during movie time, so our seating had to reflect that. Our velvet corner unit provides just those things. The velvet texture creates a moment of luxury with the makings of a comfortable bed.

Lighting is another way to create cinema ambiance, make sure they are on a dimmer for that cinematic experience, nothing shouts movie theatre than the lights dimming down to a soft medium glow just as the film starts.

The final stage was the dark pallet of our cinema room. We could of gone for a traditional black hue in this area but we wanted something a little softer and went with my favourite paint brand Farrow&ball’s infamous ‘Railings’. More blue than black this soft dark alternative creates a sophisticated play to the home theatre vibe. Chuck in heavy lined black out curtains and we have our very own movie theatre in the making.

What do you guys think? Would you too convert a space into a media room? Or would you convert your unused space into something else? I’m thinking of creating a more detailed look on how we created this space and what we used. Would you like to hear it? Leave your thoughts and questions and I will answer them in the next one. until then thank you for joining me.

Much Love

S x