3 Lighting Tips for Your Entertainment Room

If you love having friends and family over, an entertainment or media room is the perfect place in your [city] home to watch movies, listen to music, play board games, or just interact with one another.

Aside from adding nice seats, a large TV/projector screen, and other entertainment amenities, it’s important to get your entertainment room’s lighting down pat. It may not seem much, but your choice of lighting and how you set it up can make a huge difference in how the room looks and feels. Below are 3 rules to remember when lighting your entertainment room.

1. Think About the Mood You Want to Create

Entertainment room lighting is mainly used to create a desired mood or ambiance that lets people relax and enjoy whatever leisure activity it is they’re doing without being distracted by too much or too little light. Basically, you want to create a space where guests can immerse themselves in the experience (e.g. watching a movie or playing a video).

To create a movie-house-like experience, for example, you can use ambient lights such as wall sconces or LED light strips to create a cozy atmosphere. Av

Adding bias lighting to your TV or projector screen is another way to create a cool lighting effect and comes with the added benefit of improving picture quality to some extent.

2. Choose the Right Fixtures

Some light fixtures work well in an entertainment room; others, not so much. For example, you should avoid suspended lights or lamps since they often reflect light on the screen or cast shadows if you’re using a projector. Instead, here are a few options you can consider.

• Wall sconces – As mentioned earlier, wall sconces are a great way to have ambient light that’s cast on isolated areas of the room (these fixtures usually emit directional light). These fixtures also come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, acting as decorative pieces in the entertainment room.
• Track lights – Track lights or ceiling lights can act as task lights and decorative lights, used to illuminate seating areas or decorative pieces like art or photos in the entertainment room. It’s also a good idea to use dimmable LEDs on your track lights so you can control their brightness as you see fit.
• Floor lights – Think of traditional movies houses where floor lights help you find your way to your seat. LED strips are the perhaps the cheapest way to get this effect; you can attach strips underneath the couch/seats to create the cool, futuristic glow.

3. Keep the Switch in Reach

Be sure to keep your main light switches accessible so it’s easy to switch on your lights right away. Get a light switch with an indicator light so you can see it in the dark.

Better yet, you can also install smart LED light bulbs, which you can control via your local Wi-Fi network using a smartphone app. Aside from wireless connectivity, smart LEDs usually come with the ability to dim, change colors, and even play music—great for parties or poker nights.

Remember these tips when setting up your entertainment room’s lights and you’re sure to wow your guests the next time they come over.