Home Theater System Ideas From The Celebrities
Why celebrities have home theater systems
There are many reasons why the homes that celebrities build or purchase often have a custom home theater as a feature. Celebrities use home theaters both for pleasure and for business. Celebrity former couple, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had a beautiful home in California that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. While the home drew raves for its architectural design and beauty, it also contained a well designed home theater. Because the couple had a production company in addition to their career as actors, the professional grade screening room was an important investment.
Another reason that celebrities have home theaters is because of the size of the homes. With a home that may be 10,000 or more square feet, the room that is taken up by bedroom and baths is not enough to fill the home. In a large home, such as the one owned by rapper 50 Cent, the space taken up by 19 bedrooms, 6 kitchens and a fully functional gym is not enough. Adding a custom home theater with reclining leather seats and over 3,000 movies add to the spectacular nature of the mansion.
Many celebrities, weary of paparazzi and fan intrusion while spending time with family, choose a home theater so that they can enjoy movies in peace, either as a family or to entertain. Singers Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s California home has blackout shades to completely darken the room and a drop down screen to watch movies.
Learn from celebrity ideas
If you are considering a home theater system, there is much to learn from the custom home theaters of celebrities. Home theater seating is one of the areas that celebrities do not skimp on, but is often overlooked by the average consumer. While some home theaters, such as those that double as a library, will not have stadium style seating, you should still choose carefully. If the seating will be arranged in a traditional “seating group” style, with the chairs arranged so that they face each other, the seating should be light enough or have casters so that it can easily be moved into a row style format for movie viewing.
If you are adding home theater speakers and other custom options to your home theater, take the time to prepare the windows as well. The darker the room, the more you will enjoy the home theater. Blackout shades are readily available and reasonable priced, and they will greatly enhance the viewing experience.
It is not an all or nothing approach
While many of the custom home theaters of celebrities on the west coast are expansive, and have every available option, take a lesson from the home theaters of the celebrities back east. Many of the celebrities based in New York City live in apartments and town homes that are much smaller than the mansions out west. These celebrities still enjoy the benefits of a home theater system, they just customize in a different way.
Many celebrities that live in smaller homes, rather than sacrificing amenities, simply get creative. Rather than having a dedicated room for their theater system, they build a room that can pull double duty. Libraries and home theater rooms make excellent partners. The dark walls and low lighting that make a home theater room appealing also add ambiance to the library. Books along the walls also help insulate the walls against outside noise, and create a cozy environment to watch a movie.
Think like a celebrity
To fully design a custom home theater that works for you, it is important to know what is important. If the theater will be used mostly for social reasons, a wet bar makes an excellent addition. If you plan on watching movies with your family, a love seat or couch in front of the screen is a fine choice, but if you plan on having friends over, everyone may be more comfortable with individual home theater chairs. The most important point to remember when designing your custom home theater is that only you know what is most important to you and your family. Installing home theater speakers is only one part of the equation. After sound, seating and picture quality and other amenities are all important parts of the equation.
~Ben Anton, 2008
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