Setting up a home theater might seem like a relatively easy project. Unlike other home improvement projects, you don’t have to worry about changing your plumbing or electrical systems. You also rarely have to deal with changing the layout of your home or making any other major changes in order to set up this type of room. While a home theater might be fairly simple to set up, there are certain mistakes you should avoid making. Keep the following in mind when you plan your home theater.
Choosing a Room with Too Much Light
When you’re deciding on a room for your home theater, avoid choosing one that has a lot of windows or a skylight. Too much natural light can make it harder to ensure a good viewing experience due to glare. If you choose a room with windows, you’ll need to make sure they’re covered to block as much natural light as possible. Ideally, your home theater should be in a room with no windows or only one or two windows.
Placing Speakers in Bad Locations
If you’re planning to use a surround sound system in your home theater, avoid putting the speakers in the wrong locations. For example, you shouldn’t have all of your speakers in the front of the room. You should also avoid positioning speakers behind the seats. Depending on the type of speaker system you’re using, space them far enough apart to provide high-quality surround sound no matter which seat you’re in.
Putting Seating at the Wrong Distance
When setting up your home theater, the distance between the screen and your seats is highly important. Putting seats too close to the screen means you might have to strain your neck to watch movies, especially on a larger screen. You might also end up with headaches from sitting too close. Putting seats too far away from the screen, especially if it’s a smaller screen, means you won’t have as much of a cinematic experience. Make sure you put the right distance between your screen and seating depending on how large the screen is.
Placing Too Much Furniture in the Room
While you’re going to have seats in your home theater, limit the amount of room furniture overall. Having too much furniture in your home theater can make the room feel too crowded, which can lead to a less pleasant experience watching movies. Keep in mind that furniture can also affect your sound quality. Sound can bounce off of furniture, resulting in poor audio quality. Limit furniture to just the right amount of chairs for you and your family.
Making Device Controls Overly Complicated
If your home theater has multiple devices or pieces of equipment, controlling each of these can become confusing. When you need to use separate remotes to adjust or use various devices, this can make your home theater setup too complex, which can end up being frustrating. Consider using a universal remote to control all or most of the devices and other equipment in your home theater. This helps make your home theater much easier to use.
About the Author
Kyung Kim
Hi, I'm Kyung Kim. I immigrated from South Korea to the United States in 1968 when I was 7 years old. I have seen my mom struggle with the English language and work hard to raise her four kids by herself. Still to this day, I don't know how she pulled it off, but she bought her first home in 1979 for $70,000 and because of that decision, she was able to live without worrying about her financial future. I want that for everyone, to feel the pride of home ownership and to build their financial wealth using real estate as part of their financial portfolio. I feel so blessed to play a small role in helping others reach this goal.
I live in Beaverton with my husband, Richard. My mom, who lived with us for several years, passed away in our home in February 2022. Her first home purchase in 1979 made it possible for her to live to the very end, without worrying about her finances. As of August 2022 with a little downpayment assistance, our four children own their own homes. Being in real estate, I quickly realized that if they didn't buy now, they may be priced out of the market in the future. Whether that would have been the case, we will never know, but what we do know is that they are all realizing some good, healthy appreciation in their home values.
As passionate as I am about people owning their homes, I'm also passionate about giving back to our community. I support Compassion First, a non-profit organization that provides aftercare for sex trafficked girls in Indonesia. My husband and I also feel called to financially support social injustice organizations.
I'd love to assist you. Whether you're in the research phase at the beginning of your real estate search or you know exactly what you're looking for, you'll benefit from having a real estate professional by your side. I'd be honored to put my real estate experience to work for you.
