8 Home Cinema Design Trends of 2022

With home cinema installation on the rise, we’ve put together a list of some of the best home cinema design trends that we would recommend for any of our clients!

For many years, home cinemas have been considered a luxury home addition that only the rich and famous would have, but thanks to developments in technology and accessibility to thousands of new gadgets that are affordable, a luxury home cinema is no longer out of reach.

This financial accessibility, combined with a significant increase in spending more time at home (remote working, etc.) has encouraged people to make home improvements with the addition of outside bars, games rooms and home cinemas.

When picturing a modern home movie theatre the main components you consider initially are the home theatre projector, cinema screen and sound system. But for a bespoke luxury home cinema that really hits the WOW factor it’ll take a little more work than that.

In order to achieve that cinematic feel, you must create an ambience in the room through decoration and styling such as colour scheme, furniture, lighting and layout. Careful consideration for each of these elements can really transform any space in your house into an immersive cinematic experience.

Multi-purpose features of a home cinema

Whilst having a room dedicated to watching movies on a big screen with huge comfy seats is a dream, home cinemas don’t always have to have the sole purpose of simply being a home theatre. Where there is limited space in a house, transforming one room into a more transitional space with multiple uses is a fantastic idea.

When we say multi-purpose you really can go pretty wild with your function of choice – your home cinema can combine as a games room, bar, entertainment space, gym, your home office, or even in your bedroom.

Installing a large projector screen allows you to see better not just for movies, most of the projectors you see these days will have a feature to plug in your own laptop. This makes online meetings easier to sit in on, gaming a more immersive experience or your workout video feel like you have a personal trainer there with you.

Another benefit to a multi-purpose home cinema is that when it comes to the resale of a house it isn’t likely to impact the price negatively as a multipurpose room can be transformed into a multitude of things, as opposed to just being a home theatre.

Multi-purpose home cinemas are becoming more popular and sought after for those who don’t have much space to play with in their home but want to create a luxurious space to enjoy either alone as an escape or with the family.

Dim lighting and dark features

A fully immersive home cinema requires the creation of an atmosphere, which is often done through the use of dim lighting and dark features. Using darker colour schemes for the walls can help to increase the intensity, emotion, and emphasis on the projector or the TV. Popular colour contenders for this tend to be grey, black, and dark brown.

Combining the dark features with dim lighting can really help with creating that ultimate cinematic feel. Adding dark-coloured LED lighting is also a fun way to enhance the cinematic atmosphere. The lighting features themselves will also have a huge impact on the overall atmosphere – consider whether you want a big feature light or simplistic wall lights that blend in with the rest of the decor.

The ceiling style is probably the last thing you think about when considering what you should and shouldn’t include in your home cinema, but certain ceiling styles can actually be a great contribution to the cinematic experience. Trey/step ceilings are one of the most popular ceiling styles people opt for in home cinemas due to their ability to make a room feel bigger than it is, helping to produce that cinema experience at home.

Custom artwork in home cinemas

Many will opt for an art deco style home cinema to relive cinematic experiences from the 1920s and 1930s, features are characterised by precise and bold colours and geometric shapes. To achieve the art deco style you can paint the walls with darker colours like greys or browns to create a cosy space – perfect for relaxing. To break up the dark features and bold walls you can add mood lighting such as spotlights on the walls to create a cinema style atmosphere.

To really get the nostalgic ambience some people will opt for the classic red theatre seating. Luxury is often at the forefront of plans for home cinemas which is why many people will opt for ottomans and bold art deco accessories to go with the theatre seats to create a contemporary twist.

Sliding walls and dynamic seating

The entrance to your home cinema doesn’t have to be grand, but if you can make it grand then absolutely do it! One trend that has become more popular over the last year is the use of sliding walls and hidden entrances to home cinemas. We’ve even seen some projects where a room completely transforms into a home cinema whenever you want with moveable seating and furniture.

Having sliding doors and hidden entrances to your movie theatre space is a fun way to make the space feel like it’s not just a room within your house and adds to the cinematic atmosphere of stepping into an entirely new space!

As we’ve seen above, multi-purpose home cinemas are becoming increasingly popular since homeowners want a space that can be functional for entertaining and working. Moveable seating and creative space planning enables you to have the luxurious theatre seating but just on wheels instead.

Home cinema hidden snack bar

This is a trend we think everyone can get on board with! Home cinema bar areas are a brilliant addition to a space, perfect for entertaining with friends or enjoying with your family.

Smaller spaces and budgets do limit your options when it comes to adding a bar area, but drinks carts have become the latest home cinema design trend for those who have limited space in their home cinemas. They are a perfect addition as you don’t have to interrupt the film by going in and out of the room to top up your drink or grab a snack. A mini fridge can be stored in the corner of the room out of the way to ensure you always have cold beverages to hand when you want them.

But if you’re lucky enough to have a bit of extra cash to spend on making your home cinema an entirely immersive cinematic experience then building a drinks and snack bar in the room is spot on. Home cinema bars often try to mimic the real thing by incorporating a popcorn maker, an ice machine or a draught beer.Minimal furniture and simplistic lighting

Some people prefer their home cinemas to flow with the rest of their house decor so the space doesn’t stand out too much, this is often where they’ll use a minimalist approach. Minimalist home cinemas will use neutral colour schemes like white, grey and beige which will help the space to feel bigger and open.

To save space and avoid clutter, minimalist cinema projects use only the necessary furniture required – for example: a large sofa rather than multiple armchairs, a projector screen, simplistic lighting features, and a small side table for storage.

Many modern home cinemas or media rooms can often feel claustrophobic when there are too many cabinets and small pieces of furniture taking up space. Be sure to look for the best storage options that are discreet in size but can store all of your entertainment equipment that you don’t want on show.

When cosying up in the evening to watch a film you want to feel relaxed and comfortable, minimalist aesthetics help to do just that. Blankets and cushions can be used to incorporate colour into the room without it feeling too bold and causing a distraction from the neutral scheme.

In terms of lighting in a minimalist but modern home cinema a popular trend is the addition of strip LED lights or fairy lights, whilst they may be the standard option they are unobtrusive light features that will help to enhance the space rather than dim the space. LED lights are great for reducing energy costs too, you can illuminate your space to produce an ambience that won’t cost a fortune!

Open Concept and Adaptable Space Planning for your Home Cinema

Again retracting back to the point of people wanting home cinemas to be a multifunctional space, the design and layout of the room should reflect this. An open floor plan is important to provide space for people to use as they wish, whether it be room for exercise, a desk for working, or free space for playing interactive games.

Form and function come together perfectly in many of the modern seating styles that are available; love seats, cuddle chairs, snugs. Rather than the traditional individual theatre seats these modern options are much better suited for smaller spaces.

Adaptable lighting is a great addition for group activities during the day and movie time at night. The traditional colours used in cinemas are dark colours like black, red, and purple. Modern home cinemas that are open plan spaces tend to follow the colour trends of the rest of the home with lighter colour pallets. You’ll often see more neutral colour palettes to create an open and bright space.

Transforming your living room into a home cinema

Most households don’t have rooms that they can transform into an entertainment space in addition to their formal living space. But this doesn’t mean they can’t also have a home cinema! A living room can easily be turned into a home cinema with a little planning.

One of the key elements to focus on when changing your living room into a home cinema is ensuring you have a good entertainment system and light management to create the perfect viewing environment.

If you want a dark cinematic experience you should invest in some good quality blackout curtains, it’s likely you already have curtains or blinds up in your current living space so you’ll just need to add a blackout lining behind the existing curtains for the full black out effect. It may seem small but how the curtains are hung is actually pretty important. If you’re after a complete black out effect you need to eliminate light peeking around the edges of the curtains or blinds – make sure the curtain rod is mounted higher than usual and goes across further than the width of the window.

Bespoke home cinemas design and installation

At Trusted Technology our team of experts specialise in creating bespoke home cinemas for our customers. If you’re looking for a change in your home but don’t know where to start we are here to help!

We’d love to hear from you to help you get started on creating your dream home cinema, get in touch, build your own quote or book your visit to our Experience Centre in Nottingham.