The Media Room is changing the shape of American interior decorating as the economy skyrockets and prices on home theaters drop. Once found only in the homes of Hollywood heavy-hitters and corporate high rollers, the media room has become a selling point in upscale homes.
Perhaps it’s part of the cocooning effect. As the pace of life accelerates, fewer and fewer want to go back out into the world after a stressful day, so people are bringing the theater home. Whether it is a dedicated media room complete with seating or a multi-use room, sight and sound are taking over the scene and demanding attention from designers to architects.
Bob Coffer of Premiere Systems has worked on a myriad of new homes in the Dallas area and retrofitted more than a few upscale homes. “The costs range from $35,000 to any number you can think of. We worked on one home where the electronics, not the speakers or the projectors, just the electronics — cost $66,000,” he says.
But with six or more sound channels, projectors and screens, the media room is not where one would want to trade on excellence. The media room of the 2000s has become the family room of the 50s — lots of parents are enticing teens to stay home with popcorn machines, concession stands and movies galore.
From a decorating standpoint, no one wants the focal point of the living room to be a TV (which is tantamount to admitting that the focal point of your life is a TV, however true). They are blank, gauche and nobody wants to be perceived in that light.
So why not move them into a room of their own? And make it soar.
Jillian Bradshaw Smith is the artist for Premiere Systems who makes the design work aesthetically. Smith, who designs sets for major ballet companies, knows the technology and the appearance need to work together in harmony. In multi-use rooms, screens are given covered faces not unlike entertainment units.
Hometheaterinteriors.com gives a whole different slant for those wanting to do their own design, down to picking luxurious seats complete with cup holders. In the $300 range, authentic 35mm motion picture reels are transformed into lamps and heavy gauge metal is cut into film strip shapes for coffee tables in the $600 range. Or browse through the posters at Stage and Screen for ideas, but remember as you go along — a media room is definitely not a do-it-yourself project unless you are really into research.
Robert Ocnaschek of Liberty Technologies says: “We don’t even use just one brand of speaker for a project. Different rooms, different angles demand different types of speakers. And with video that can be done 10 ways, you need to know what you are doing.”
The quality is increasing as are the options, says Ocnaschek and for a professional look, a professional feel — he says “let the pros do it.”
SOURCES
Liberty Technologies 972-230-1776
Stage and Screen 214-219-3263
Premiere Systems 214-320-0232
Hometheaterinteriors.com
