A quality home theater blends the best in design, technology, equipment, and professional installation – but to achieve the complete home entertainment experience, you might want to do with a few awesome home theater accessories, a list of which we’ve compiled below. Indeed, these extra gadgets and decorative accessories can put the finishing touches on your magnum opus – and make your home theater the envy of friends and neighbors.
Home theater seats: No, that old hairy couch in the living room won’t do – not if you want to enhance the look, feel, and experience of your home theater. Indeed, where you sit is just as important as what you watch or what you listen to. Our guide to home theater seating may give you a good idea where to start, but remember: plan ahead. We guarantee that carefully arranged home theater seating will do wonders in maximizing the value of your home entertainment room.
Popcorn machines: And why not? These help you tremendously in capturing the authenticity of a real movie theater. Trusted popcorn machine brands include Gold Medal, C. Cretors & Company, Waring, Paragon, and Nostalgia Electrics. If you have a sweet tooth, there are a bunch of other alternatives, such as cotton candy machines, snow cones, hot dog steamers, and shaved ice machines. They’re all pretty yummy, too, making for great home theater snacks for the whole family.
Movie posters, props, and replicas: If your home theater follows a specific cinematic design theme, you might want to touch it up with awesome movie collectibles, like posters, movie props, and movie character replicas. These ought to turn your home theater into the ultimate movie buff’s hub – they are relatively inexpensive, too. Stores worth checking out include Prop Store, All Movie Replicas, Hot Movie Props, Sideshow Collectibles, Monsters in Motion, Movie Poster Shop, and Movie Goods.
Custom remote controls: One way for your home theater to make a lasting impression is to showcase – with one touch of a button – the technology that runs behind it. That’s why we’re a big fan of custom remote controls. One of the products we use here at Hooked Up Installs is the Logitech Harmony, which features support for over 225,000-plus devices and comes equipped with awesome features that are designed to work the way you watch. Alternatively, you can check out the Universal Remote by Lutron.
Custom movie intros: Sometime in between walking into the theater and enjoying a great movie, you get to see exciting new trailers. Or catchy ads. Or even games or movie goofs and bloopers. Well, thanks to retailers like Stargate Cinema, Cinema Shop, HT Interiors, and Custom HT, you can now have your very own custom movie intro for your home theater. Typically in DVD format, these personalized introductions set the movie-watching mood for everyone.
Curtains: Yes, curtains. If you’re serious about achieving the authentic – and best – home theater experience, you might want to install special curtains designed to provide light control, noise suppression, and appropriate thematic theatrics. If you ask us for best practices, we’ll say go for darker, lined, blackout curtains; avoid bright colors and shiny fabrics.
3D Glasses: Watching “Avatar” on HD 3D TV will be so much cooler with a pair of non-geeky 3D glasses. That’s why you might want to check out the new – and stylish – premium 3D glasses designed by Look3D, Oakley, and Gucci. Even if you do forget to take them off after a weekend movie marathon, you’ll still look awesome.
