Home Cinema Seating - Everything You Need to Know

A true dedicated private home cinema room is constructed with one thing in mind - MOVIES.

Essentially it's a dedicated bespoke space to immerse yourself in another world for a few hours providing true escapism or connection with ones friends and family.

Typical features of a home cinema include:

• Immersive surround sound
• Soundproofing and acoustic treatments
• A high-quality projector with superior image quality
• A (retractable) projector screen
• Central control system
• Automated adjustable lighting
• Blackout shading (if windows are present)
• Specialist cinema seating - possibly in rows

If you do not have an appropriate space or room for a dedicated cinema room, you can have a room that i

s multi-purpose such as a day lounge that converts in to a home cinema room at the push of a button! This is what we would call a media room, and here there is often more compromise on performance, to take in to account the various ways the room will be used.

Home cinema seating comes in various styles, shapes and sizes - each suitable for different rooms, uses and personalities.

Over the years, SONA have completed various luxury home cinema room projects across the country, and seating is often one of the most talked-about topics so we thought we'd dedicate an entire journal entry just to this topic alone.

So find below all our experience, thoughts and advice when it comes to selecting what seating you are going to have in your luxury private home cinema.

More traditional style private cinema seating is often the way to go when you are planning a luxury private home cinema room complete with tiered rows of seating.

This style of home theatre seating offers the full cinema experience, and are typically arranged in forward-facing rows. You can get options where the footrest extends, the backrest rises up or down to a personalised height. You can even get adjustable headrests. Often complete with armrests, swivel trays and cooling cupholders, you are set up ready to immerse yourself in a movie.

Options are often modular, can be motorised (or not) and can include monogrammed seats, bespoke piping, USB charging stations, massage functions, built-in lighting or even motorised storage tables for a truly customised, luxury bespoke experience.

We would highly recommend these if you want a dedicated luxury private cinema room experience. If you'd like to test drive this particular type of seating, we have a Cineak Gramercy in our private cinema demo room in Cheshire. Call us on 01625 541442 to book an appointment if you would like to try it out.

Home cinema sofas are really popular these days, and are brilliant for an informal, family affair where you can all curl up on the sofa with a bucket of popcorn and spend time together.

This is often a popular option in multi-purpose rooms that might be used as a day lounge, and transformed in a home cinema room with a projector and automated black out blinds when it's movie night!

You can also opt for modular sofas, perhaps in a U-Shape which we see a lot of these days - centered around a coffee table for optimal snacking!

A sectional home cinema sofa, arranged in a U-shape, offers the ultimate in interaction, especially when centred around a coffee table. Share snacks and opinions while watching live sports or playing video games.

The beauty of this approach is that the room can be designed exactly around your aesthethic and functional needs, and can be a bit more flexible in budget.

When it comes to your home cinema, it's important you are realistic about how many seats the room should accommodate and just as importantly WHERE they are positioned.

The biggest mistake we see is the seating positioned right up against the corners of the room or against the back wall (in order to cram more in).

Compromise is always a part of any design, however most of the time when we see home cinemas posted to Instagram, they haven't actually been properly designed. The room has been designed from an interiors aspect but performance hasn't been considered as this is an area of expertise that only technical companies like ourselves tend to have.

If you are seated next to a side wall, the audio from the surround sound on that wall will dominate your experience - and probably be quite uncomfortable. Not only that but depending on how your room has been designed, the picture may also look a bit odd. So essentially for this viewer, all the money spent on that room will be a complete waste.

We came across a cinema once, where someone had designed rows of seating - however because they weren't a cinema designer, they hadn't allowed space for people to walk between the rows! And they had specified luxury, bespoke reclining seats... with no room to recline!

Why is any of this important? Because you will still end up paying for all the technical equipment - screen, speakers and possibly expensive seats - that were pointless. Your budget may be the same - but your experience will not be a luxury one.

Our recommendation, even when working with a professional interior designer, is bring an expert Cinema Designer like us in early in the conversations to ensure proper specification, allocation of budget and minimise any compromises.

When it comes to choosing the perfect style of seating here are some things you could consider

Room Size vs. Desired Occupancy

Cinema seating will typically take up more space relative to how many people you can actually fit in the room. Start with working out how many people you want the room to accommodate MOST of the time. Depending on the size of the room, how many people you want to accommodate and the screen size, you can start looking at how far away the first row of seating needs to be.

Who will be using the room?

If the room will mainly be used to catch up on the latest Pixar or Disney release with your little ones, then you may want something to cuddle up on (that is stain proof!) However if you are looking to really indulge in blockbusters with a more adult and luxury feel, cinema seating feels unbelievable.

What are you using the room for?

Is the room solely for movie night? Or possibly to watch live sports or maybe a spot of gaming from time to time? All of this may dictate that cinema seating feels too formal if you'll be using it for entertaining when a match is on.

A more appropriate option might be something more informal.

Impact

If you are looking for wow factor and a dedicated private cinema room - cinema seating gives that impact - particularly if done in rows.

Comfort

The most important factor of all when designing a bespoke space, and investing money in to that - is to ensure it will be loved, used and appreciated. You will never use a room that ultimately isn't comfortable. Even if it looks AMAZING. If the seats aren't comfortable to spend time on, you will opt for your favourite chair in the lounge over your dedicated cinema room.

If you aren't sure whether a cinema room is the right option for you, why not come to our Cheshire Private Cinema to take a test run? Call us on 01625 541442 or email info@thinksona.com to book a home cinema appointment if you would like to try out our cinema, and consult with our experts about what you'd like to create.