Media Room Seating Ideas

One of the first design elements you'll want to explore if you're planning your own home theater or media room installation or redesign will be media room seating ideas. Your options for comfortable and stylish media seating will be diverse, as media rooms have become quite common in modern homes. Guests' enjoyment of your media room experience can be significantly enhanced by a well-planned seating scheme, so you'll want to put the style and layout of your media room seating at the top of your design list.

When it comes to media room seating, your first choice will be whether to reflect the feel of a traditional movie house in your media room, or to employ seating that's a little more "family room" than "mega-plex movie experience."

If you choose to configure your media room space in a way that hints at an actual cinema—if it will feature elements like stadium seating, dramatic curtains covering the walls and projection or TV screen, and cinema-style floor and wall lighting, for example—then you'll probably want your seating options to feel like a traditional movie house's as well. If an authentic cinema feel is what you're looking for, you could choose to feature real movie theater seats, with classic flip-up seating and velour or velvet upholstery—or go even farther back and explore vintage wooden theater seats. Seats from every movie-going era are available via online and walk-in antique shops if you want vintage seating to have a starring role in your media room.

For a more contemporary seating scheme that still retains a cinema-like feel, there are many options for modern media room seating. Many media room aficionados choose a classic cinema layout, with rows of seating that are potentially arranged in a stadium style. The seats themselves are often plush, arm-chair-like single seats or rows of seats, often featuring individual cup holders, trays and other convenient accessories to enhance guests' experience. Pricing varies for these media room seats, from quite affordable models with fabric or faux-leather upholstery to top-of-the-line models in high-quality leather, featuring electronic adjustability and even the ability to respond to the action on screen with vibration or movement.

If your media room is a more modest affair, stadium seating and multiple banks of theater-style chairs may be a bit too dramatic or thematic for the space. You could consider a more traditional approach, featuring a familiar array of couches and armchairs. For smaller spaces, a large, comfy couch complemented by armchairs can provide plenty of seating options for guests settling in for that double bill or director's cut.

See Also: Media Room Furniture & Accessories