Set the mood for all your watch parties with stylish lighting design and flawless control

Lighting design is just as vital to your overall home theater design as equipment selection is. Home theater lighting does more than provide general illumination before and after a movie. It defines your space, creates ambiance, and brings greater comfort to you and your guests while you’re enjoying the theater room. 

Home theater lighting will blend flawlessly with your theater room’s architecture and interior design if designed and installed correctly. If you’re at the beginning stages of a theater project in your Westchester, NY home, now is the time to design a lighting layout. Consider the following tips to help you get started.

SEE ALSO: 3 Critical Considerations for Any Home Theater Design

1. Design the Basics

First, your theater room needs overhead task lighting. Bright, overhead lighting is a simple and convenient way to illuminate your entire theater for setting up, cleaning, and any other activities that don’t include watching a movie. Recessed, in-ceiling lighting fixtures are a common choice for home theaters. Because these fixtures are flush with the ceiling, they provide a sleek and elegant aesthetic. Hanging light fixtures are another option. Hanging fixtures are more visible than recessed lights and bring unique flair and style to your theater design. Be careful not to choose lights that hang low enough to interfere with your projector or TV screen.

Whatever style you choose, we highly recommend dimmable LED bulbs. With dimmable overhead lighting, you can lower and raise the lights slowly around the film, just like you see at a commercial theater.

2. Add Safety Lighting

There’s nothing more disruptive during a movie than someone needing to use the bathroom and fumbling around in a dark theater to find their way out. LED strip lighting is a great addition under seats, along the central aisle, and on steps or risers for safety if someone needs to exit the theater during the film. Decorative strip lights can be set at a dim level so as not to shine any light on the screen. Additionally, you can buy LED strip lights in tons of fun colors to brighten up your theater room.  

2. Add Custom Touches

Accent lighting brings unique style and ambiance to your space. There are a lot of great options to incorporate into your home theater design. Wall scones cast light upward and downward, adding subtle illumination to your theater room. They don’t cast light outward, meaning they can be left on at a dim, warm glow while you’re watching movies or TV. Column lighting and cove lighting also bring soft illumination to your space and highlight the architectural features of your home theater. If you have vintage posters hung on the walls, backlighting them with colored LED strip lights can draw your guests’ eyes. Finally, add a gasp-worthy touch with a fiber optic star ceiling that turns every watch party into a movie night under the stars. 

3. Consider Motorized Shades

If your home theater has windows, consider installing motorized blackout shades to prevent ambient light from disrupting a movie, TV show, or video gaming session. Motorized shades are a fantastic addition if you have a projector because ambient light can wash out your screen images, resulting in a subpar viewing experience.

4. Simplify Control

Bring your lighting design together with a home automation system like Savant. Savant automation offers centralized control over all the lighting fixtures in your theater. A tap of a button on your smartphone or touchscreen tablet can dim the lights as a movie begins, change the color on your strip lighting, adjust the dimness levels of accent lights, or turn off all the lights as you’re leaving the theater.  

Home theater design is a significant undertaking on your own. Why not reach out to the team at Electronic Concepts for expert help designing, installing, and customizing the home theater of your dreams? Call us or fill out an online form to schedule a no-obligation consultation with our designers. We look forward to helping you!