Creative Themes for a Media Room
Jasmine Albriton writes for http://www.walldecorandhomeaccents.com/, a site featuring: wall art plaques and metal fish wall art.
A media room lends itself to theme decorating even for those who are not usually attracted to theme decorating. This is because a media room is devoted to fun and entertainment and because media equipment has a generically sterile look that easily lends itself to virtually any theme.
Techno Modern
A clean, angular non-fussy look with bold colors provides the basis for this look. Instead of hiding audio and visual equipment place it center stage on a modern open console that corrals all your components but flaunts the electronic look. Hang speakers directly on the walls or build simple black cubes or floating shelves to support them. Let the wires create a circuit board pattern on the wall by using black wire clips to run the wires at right angles. Paint additional cable lines on the wall, along with transformers and conduit to fill in the wire pattern. Black lines will really stand out if you paint the wall circuit board green.
Sleek modern sofas and chaises complement the look and let you enjoy your movies in comfort and style.
Hollywood Legends
Create a post-modern Hollywood room and accent with posters and Hollywood memorabilia circa 1958. For furniture, think back to the low-slung sectional sofas and post-modern look of the original “I Love Lucy” sitcom. Tall Oriental statuary, Danish modern furniture, and pole lamps are good place to start. Although your modern flat screen TV will likely hang on the wall, refurbish an old TV console cabinet and use it for a liquor cabinet or DVD and CD storage.
You can make your modern flat screen look more appropriate to the era by building faux speakers on each side. Cut a 2×10″ board to mount on the wall on each side of the TV; cut them long enough to run alongside the screen from top to bottom. Wrap the boards in brown or black sparkle fabric that resembles the fabric cover of an old TV screen; staple the fabric to the back of the board. Then run a black or brown elastic cording on a diagonal in both directions across the board, in a series of X shapes and staple them on the back of the board. Dot the intersections of the Xs with brass tacks. If you can find them, glue old TV knobs and radio dials across the bottom of the speakers or recreate them from wood knobs.
Then accent your walls with period appropriate movie memorabilia. Do an online search for old movie and movie star posters from the era. In addition to Lucille Ball, early Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and Charleton Heston are mainstays of this time period in movie history.
Other possibilities
1. Try a 50s theme: Bring in a retro jukebox, chrome Chevy bumpers to outline your TV screen, naugahyde ottomans and bubble lamps. Accent the walls with framed black and white posters of James Dean, Bobby Darin and the Fonz.
2. Choose a favorite movie, Broadway show or TV show as your theme: From New York, New York to M.A.S.H. or South Pacific, it is very easy to create a room around a theme that takes its cues from iconic films and characters.
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