Or possibility expand the follow up to include ideas for options in reducing the budgets, Say, 50% reduction of budget, or other equipment options that would compare to what the did get.  As talk to the owners about the decision process they went through in both material and ascetics, in design and materials,

  Another idea, follow a home theater being built over the entire process, discussing everything from placement of the room, and equipment and other issues involved in building the complete room. Talking to both the owners and installers. Discussing various options at every stage and why the chose what they did.  I realize that would be a whole new series of stories if done right it could be very enlighting.
Just some another ideas..

Ken

Paul, that’s a great idea! We could just present a pie chart so readers can get a flavor of the breakdown.

I think we’ll also plan a followup story on the homes of the year, inviting dealers to tell us what they would do with a budget of 15% more and 15% less.

How does that sound?

Perhaps it might be possible to breakdown the costs into four catagories? 

For example:Gear, furniture, building materials/construction costs, labor.

I understand that some homeowners may not want to share the breakdown of expenses, but perhaps this is a happy alternative in reporting how much a given project costs, as us readers could see where the funds were spent, and possibly where we might be able to save or splurge.

Yes furniture, particularly seating can be a place to either splurge or cut back.
Also a lot depends on the look and feel your trying to go for,
Adding extras such as a bar in the back of the room, or dinner theater type seating with small tables would defiantly influence the style and feel of the whole room and movie experience.

Putting in more basic seating with a eye towards updating the seating later, would tend to leave more money for the major tech equipment.
Another thing that should influence the seating budget and type is the eventually end use of the room, is it a dedicated home theater, or a central family room doing triple duty as a family room, media/tv/music room and on occasion totally home theater?  All of this would dictate furniture placement type and equipment choices and type and placement.

Those are just idea thrown out there to consider when looking the overall budget, particularly in relation to furniture style and cost.

  Thats not even counting if you have a nice piece you already have and really love, adding that to the mix makes more interesting and cuts cost.

Ken Lawson

I vote for keeping furniture in the budget considerations—it can be a great place to either splurge or save and is an integral part of the theater.

In fact, in the July issue of EH, we have a story on an $84k home theater, with a sidebar from the installer explaining where you might want to skimp if you don’t have a budget like that.

Homeowners had spent about $12k on customized seating. Installer suggested you could slash $4k off of that and still get a good experience, but you won’t get the exact look and feel you’re after.