3 Must-Answer Questions for Designing a Home Media Room
Understanding What Clients Really Need and Want
Are you designing a home media room for a client? If so, it helps to start with some basics. For example, let’s start with everyone’s favorite, a car analogy. If your client needs a car that routinely needs to shuttle their family of four to and from many activities, a Corvette simply won’t do. In the same vein, you ask your clients how they will use their kitchen – is it a sprawling home hub for everything from school homework to entertaining large groups or a cook’s kitchen? A similar logic can be applied to the home media room. Narrowing down what your client really needs and wants will help you make the right design decisions.
In the rest of this blog, we’ll cover some basic questions that might seem, well, basic – but the answers matter. If all the answers are “I want all those things,” that’s OK too, but there will still be choices more optimal than most. For example, if your client wanted an SUV that’s as fast as a Corvette, it does exist, but it comes with its own tradeoffs! You understand tradeoffs in design. So here are some questions that will help you and your client design the right media room for your Hanover County, VA project.
SEE ALSO: 3 Hot Design Trends for Your Next Home Theater
Picture and Image Quality
What does the client want to optimize in the media room? Is it watching movies? Netflix? Sports? Video gaming? Cable TV? Of course, there are many TV displays and projectors that will do an excellent job with all of this content, but there are differences. For example, what’s the level of ambient light in the room? If there are windows and they want to watch content with some natural light, some display solutions will work better than others. You may want to consider adding motorized shading to block ambient light for dark movie watching or consider multiple screens – like a TV and projector – for different content.
Sound Quality
Everyone wants great sound quality, but people vary greatly in what they consider great sound. But here are some questions that make a difference. Does your client intend to listen to music in the media room? If so, will it be casual background or critical listening? What type of music do they most listen to? What music sources do they want to hear, from for example, CDs, streaming, and their vinyl collection? Do they love high-impact action movies, or do their tastes run to dramas and comedy? These questions can help select the sound solution that’s right for them. You will be considering décor, seating, and other factors, and the type of sounds system and speakers will influence the room design.
Aesthetics
This part is your area of expertise. How important is the look and feel of the media room? Does everything need to be of the highest quality? Does the client want high quality for the most noticeable things but can compromise (and consider budget options) for other areas? Is the quality of the audio and video performance a higher priority than aesthetics? Do they like to see their speakers and equipment or prefer everything hidden away until used? All these questions will help with the design and integration of the media room, whether it contains high-end audio equipment and speakers or a completely architectural solution with concealed components, with perhaps a hidden TV or screen that appears only when it’s time to watch.
We've only touched on a few big areas here; there's much more to consider! But starting with these questions helps you and your client down the path to the right media room design. Work with the professionals at Sound + Image early in the project for the right media room solution. Give us a call at (804) 741-5816 or fill out our online form to get started today. We would love to work with you!
