Creating the perfect entertainment room set up for your home can be a very rewarding endeavor. To help you get started, here are a few things that you will want to consider before you start:

1. Know What You Want

Before you start planning the layout of your room, you need to ask yourself what you will be using it for. Is it going to be solely for visual entertainment, like movies and video games? Is this space also going to double up as an office? Will you be entertaining guests in here or is it going to be your private space?

Once you have answered these questions, you’ll be in a better place to planning a budget. Which leads us to tip number two:

2. Know your Budget

Knowing how much you can afford to spend on the project will affect a lot of your design choices and prioritizing. For instance, if having a sweet TV is more important to you than having a comfortable place to sit, you won’t really want to buy the sofa first. So it would be smarter to make a list of what you plan to get for your entertainment room in order of priority.

Once you’ve figured out your total budget, and what parts of your set-up take precedence over everything else, you’re now ready to move on to the next step:

3. Optimizing the Space

Some entertainment spaces may not be as big as you would hope, depending on the size of your home. The distance between your furniture and your TV or projector can also make a huge difference in the way you experience your movies and games.

The optimal method of setting up your room would be to have the furniture on one side of the room and the TV on the other. Alternatively, if there is potentially going to be a lot of to and fro-ing between the furniture and TV, you may want to look at removing possible blocking of the screen by setting up in such a way to encourage movement behind the furniture or behind the TV.

Shape of the room: A square room shape typically presents the most challenges for audio systems. It may be worth building false walls on either side of the room to create a more rectangular shape for better acoustics.

Sound and Light: Entertainment rooms can get quite noisy, so you may want to consider soundproofing your space. Carpets and rugs are a better alternative to flat surfaces since tiles and hardwoods will bounce the sound around far too much.

In terms of lighting, you should aim to allow enough light in to keep the entertainment space from turning into a dark cave. However, when it comes to watching TV and movies, you may want to keep the light out. If you are building your entertainment room in the basement, you can just invest in adjustable lights. On the other hand, if your entertainment room is above ground and has sun-facing windows, investing in blackout curtains can be a sound choice.

Your entertainment room doesn’t necessarily have to be in the house though. If you have a barn or shed in your backyard that is not seeing any use, why not give it a makeover and use it as a detached entertainment center?

4. The Screen

The centerpiece of any entertainment system is no doubt the TV. Regardless of what type of TV you choose to use, the ideal position for your seats will be 1.5 times the diagonal size of the screen away. For instance, if you have a 72 inch TV, you should sit 108 inches away, or around 9 ft.

5. The Sound System

If you are looking for the most impressive sound system, you should consider a 5.1 or 7.1 surround system. This involves a setup of 5 or 7 speakers around the room, with 1 subwoofer.

Where possible, you should look to wire the whole system before installing any drywall to ensure all wires are hidden away. However, if this is not feasible, and you want to splurge a bit, there are several wireless options on the market. Whichever you choose, you should look to place your speakers in all 4 corners of the room for the best effect.

6. The Wiring

As we mentioned, keeping your wiring tangle-free and hidden away is essential. If you can’t get the wiring done before putting up your drywall, invest in some plastic wire clips to keep the wires bundled, tape them to the ground and try not to tangle them. The initial effort will save you time and prevent you from tearing your hair out in frustration for many years to come.

7. Furniture

Like we said before, your furniture and room size are key. You want to avoid cluttering the room and give yourself plenty of space to move around in. Invest in comfortable and sturdy furniture that will last, since this room is where you and maybe your family will be spending the most of your leisure time. You can also invest in some extras like a minibar or fridge so you can cut down the trips to the kitchen. If you have the space, you could even invest in installing an en-suite toilet!

8. Storage/Decor

Even if we do store a lot of our entertainment in the cloud, we do still have our collections of DVDs, vintage vinyls, books and video game consoles. You might also have collected lots of memorabilia of your favorite sports teams or from your visits to various fan conventions. Finding the right storage and display units will go a long way to giving your entertainment space an incredible look.

Your entertainment space should reflect your passions. Hopefully, this guide has helped inspire you to design a room that you will love.