Lighting Tips for Your Multi-Purpose Family Room

By Anna Rogers

 

Most homeowners are using their home theater space for more than just a home theater. The selected space may also serve as a living room, man-cave, media room, or kids’ playroom. With home theaters expanding to serve as multi-purpose room, it’s imperative to create a lighting structure that works for all desired scenarios.

 

Check out these tips for ensuring your family room is set to provide the best lighting experience for any desired purpose and any time of day!

 

Plan Ahead

A clear vision for your multi-purpose family room will provide the best results. Take into consideration what the room will be used for beyond a home theater, and ensure the planning starts at the electrical wiring and drywall stage instead of as an afterthought. Bringing in a lighting expert can add significant value to your home theater.

 

Our experts can also work with your builder or existing home to integrate lighting into the architecture of the room, yielding a beautiful and enhanced experience that makes a bold statement and can be enjoyed for years to come.

 

Darken the Room

Using blackout curtains or shades is the perfect way to get the most out of your multi-purpose room that also serves as a home theater. With quality blackout curtains or shades, your home theater doesn’t need to be window-free.

 

Blackout window treatments give you the freedom to choose a room in your home that is well-lit and sunny when desired but dark or dim when needed, making the room easily adaptable.

 

Not all TV viewing rooms require blackout shades. Blackout is defined as window treatments that block 100% of all incoming light, while “room darkening” shades and curtains use a fabric that blocks 95 – 99% of incoming light. These days, most projectors are bright enough to work well under many lighting conditions. There are many options to darken a room that are not completely blackout but will allow you to comfortably watch a TV or projector and still see the millions of colors that were meant to be seen.

 

Not Pitch-Black

The blackout shades or curtains give you a clean slate to set up the perfect ambient lighting scenario for your home theater. Did you know that a completely pitch-black room is not ideal while watching a lit screen? This stark contrast can cause strain to your eyes and head and even cause motion sickness.

 

Instead of pitch-black, create an ambient light setting that is easier on your eyes and allows you to enjoy what you’re watching on the screen. Our team can help you get your settings just right for you!

 

Home Automation

With lighting in place to meet your needs, set up your desired lighting scenarios through home automation. Program different “scenes” into your automation system to effortlessly modify the light in your space for whatever is taking place – game night, movie night, enjoying an afternoon book, and more.

 

Automation can be used to control shades, curtains, lighting, and more. Contact our home automation specialists to integrate and simplify your home automation system today!