What is the difference between a Home Theater and a Media Room?
We like to think that a “media room” is the blank canvas you start with. Empty walls, standard carpet and so on.
The “Home Theater” is the custom, personalized, luxurious, cozy, movie lover’s dream fully realized. After all, thats why you’re reading this right? You want to create that magical place for you and your family to share movie memories for a lifetime. Lets jump into why we believe carpet is an important part of your home theater design.
What is the difference between a Home Theater and a Media Room?
We like to think that a “media room” is the blank canvas you start with. Empty walls, standard carpet and so on.
The “Home Theater” is the custom, personalized, luxurious, cozy, movie lover’s dream fully realized. After all, thats why you’re reading this right? You want to create that magical place for you and your family to share movie memories for a lifetime. Lets jump into why we believe carpet is an important part of your home theater design.
Home Theaters are a place to be creative
Home Theater Carpet can be the ultimate intersection of comfort, style and sound absorption. Selecting the right carpet for a home theater is one of the most fun parts of designing your movie room! Think about it, where else in your home do you get to be fun, artistic, dark, creative and maybe a little crazy with your carpet selection?
Carpet is arguably the first thing your mind subconsciously registers when you walk into a home theater. For example, if you put in a lime green colored carpet – wouldn’t you notice that right away…. and perhaps not in a good way?
On the flip side, if you put in an elegant, creative pattern to match the feel of your room, you may not notice the carpet straight away but your mind notices the carpet and gives you a sense of calm, cool or sophistication when you walk into the room.
Home Theater carpet is a powerful part of the design when creating the ambiance and vibe you’re working so hard to create.
Acoustics:
Does Carpet help with acoustics and sound absorption in a home theater?
Absolutely! Carpet and padding are by far the most sound absorbing flooring materials you can put into a home theater. Most home theater rooms would become echo chambers if you had anything other than carpet installed.
Types of Carpet:
Color Selection:
While light colored carpet might look great in the rest of the house, a home theater carpet with a medium-to-dark color selection will help reduce light reflection (from the TV or projector) and create that cozy home theater vibe you’re going for.
Patterns & Solids:
If you purchased a newer home built in the last few years, chances are your media room came with regular, solid, plush carpet. While this can be fine in the rest of your home, this just doesn’t do the job when it comes to enhancing your home theater design. We recommend selecting a pattern carpet (of which there are many styles and types to choose from). See some of our favorite brands listed below.
Best Brands of Carpet for Home Theaters
Largest Luxurious Selection: Tuftex
Shaw’s Tuftex carpet line offers a large selection of beautiful pattern carpets and a wide range of colors that give an extremely luxurious feel.
Price range: $6-$15 per SQFT.
Click here to view online
Most Durable: Dreamweaver’s DW Select
The DW select line is one of our favorites here at CarpetNow. We are obsessed with their stain resistance, price point and stylistic designs.
Price Range: $5-$7 per SQFT
Click here to view online
Super Creative: Joy Carpet
Are you looking for something no one has ever seen in a home theater? Look no further than Joy Carpets. They have glow in the dark carpet, classic regal designs and many other types of carpets that are sure to be head-turners when your friends walk in.
Keep in mind that some of their carpets are made-to-order with long lead times and minimum orders.
Price Range: $5-$15 per SQFT
Click here to view online
Budget Friendly & In Stock: CarpetNow
Prestige, Dreamweaver, MJS & BBS are a variety of brands we stock locally here in Texas. You can see our selection of pattern carpets that are sure to both enhance your home theater and keep you on budget.
Price Range: $4-$7 per SQFT.
Click here to view online
Memory Foam Padding
Which carpet padding is best for home theater rooms?
There are quite a few different pads to choose from but our absolute favorite is the Green Healthier Choice Memory Foam padding. It is VOC free, 100% recyclable and has a sound absorption rating of 87 IIC. You can learn more by clicking here.
Does carpet padding help with soundproofing?
Carpet and pad won’t soundproof a room but they will greatly help with sound reduction and sound absorption. Selecting a dense carpet helps with 50% of the sound absorption and the other 50% of sound absorption will come from the padding installed underneath. We recommend installing a memory foam padding in home theaters to absorb sound, enhance comfort and easy stain clean up.
Does carpet padding help with stains?
Yes, padding might be the most important factor when it comes to cleaning stains from carpet. The reality is, kids have a knack for spilling things when you least expect them to. It’s best to anticipate this by selecting a good padding to ensure that the stain can be cleaned from the carpet and you don’t have to worry about it ‘coming back’ from the padding underneath. You can learn more about carpet padding options on our youtube post here.
How much does carpet cost for a home theater?
Budgeting for carpet in a home theater will vary depending on the size of the room and grade of carpet chosen. For simplicity, we’ve created a guide to giving you rough ballpark pricing for Budget, High End and Luxurious carpet pricing.
There are 3 things that drive the cost of carpet in a home theater:
- Carpet Width & Room Width
Keep in mind that most carpet comes in a 12’ wide roll and most home theater rooms are wider than 12’. So anytime a room is larger than 12’ there will be additional overage that must be accounted for when calculating the square footage.
For example, a 15’x17′ room is 255 SQFT when you multiple length times width. However, because of seam layout and pattern repeats, you could be required to purchase anywhere from 396-500 SQFT including overages. - Pattern Repeat
What is a “pattern repeat” you ask?
As google explains it, “A carpet’s pattern repeat is the distance between two points where the pattern repeats itself”. In short, this repetition affects installation, as the design must be aligned precisely to ensure a seamless, continuous look across seams.
Carpet pattern repeats drive the overage necessary to complete the installation and they can vary greatly in size. For example, a small pattern repeat could be 1″x1″ but a large pattern repeat could be as large as 48″x48″. Each patterned carpet will have a unique pattern repeat and therefore the SQFT required for your project will vary depending on your carpet selection. - Price of the Carpet
Last but not least, the price of the carpet will drive the cost of your project. Carpet pricing will vary depending on brand, design, and ounce weight of the carpet.
Home Theater Price Guide:
The following price guide should be taken with a grain of salt as there are many variables that must be considered when calculating a home theater carpet budget. We are trying to give you a realistic expectation of what you should set aside for labor, carpet, padding, taxes, etc.
What is included in these ballpark prices?
Carpet, Padding, Labor, Freight, Taxes and Overage. These prices do not account for pattern repeats which could potentially increase the SQFT required for the project.
| Home Theater Room Size | SQFT Required for Installation | Budget Friendly Carpet | High End Carpet | Luxurious Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 x 12 | 158 sqft + | $1,000 | $1,300 | $2,300 |
| 14 x 14 | 370 sqft + | $1,900 | $2,600 | $4,800 |
| 15 x 17 | 396 sqft + | $2,000 | $2,800 | $5,200 |
| 16 x 20 | 422 sqft + | $2,100 | $2,900 | $5,500 |
| 20 x 20 | 528 sqft + | $2,500 | $3,500 | $6,700 |
| 24 x 24 | 634 sqft + | $2,900 | $4,100 | $8,000 |
Conclusion:
Many home theater projects are DIY but carpeting should not be a DIY project. While its always great to research carpet designs and educate yourself on the carpet process, you should always bring in a professional flooring company before investing thousands of dollars on your carpet project. There are many variables that effect square foot quantities and we always suggest hiring a professional who has the experience to ensure you purchase the right material (and the right amount of material) for your project.
Lastly, if you are reading this post and in the design phase of transforming your media room, the truth is, you’re probably not just buying carpet for your home theater. You’re buying audio/video equipment, furniture, paint and maybe even a popcorn machine.
While the AV equipment might be the largest part of your budget, you don’t want to skimp on the carpet budget. Splurge a little and install a carpet that matches the vibe of your home theater and compliments everything else you’re investing into this very personal and luxurious space.