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Q. I’m trying to design a home theater in a room that will also serve as a living room. The seating will be approx. 14 feet from the screen or flat panel. Should I go with a projector and screen or a Pioneer 60” plasma to get a theater experience? If the way to go is a projector, placement is an issue. Can it be on a sofa table behind the sofa, or will the fan noise be annoying? - Bruce, FL A. I am… View this story
Plasma • Video Projectors • Living Room • Home Theater • Ask a Pro

This room was in complete electronics disrepair before the Techorator took over the design. As part of a relationship with LG Electronics, Doug Wilson, TLC’s famous interior designer, was able to transform the cramped, unruly space (see image below) into a sensational living space that the whole family could enjoy. The first order of business was selecting the right type of gear. “We wanted to capitalize on bit of space that was available,” says Wilson. And with just 250 square feet to work with, a… View this story
Living Room • Info and Answers

Mark Wiest has lived in his home in Rockville, MD, for more than 30 years; his wife Joan, has lived in the home her entire life. “Before, we had a media room, but we never used it as a living room,” says Mark. “So I asked my wife if I could turn the living room into a home theater.” Shockingly, she said “go ahead.” We’re not talking about a multipurpose theater with a few black-out shades. We’re talking a full-on dedicated space meant solely as… View this story
Dining Room • Living Room • DIY Home Theaters • Home Theater • Cool Homes • Slideshows

According to TLC’s Doug Wilson, there’s a right way and a wrong way to incorporate technology into a space. Do it poorly and “you can easily feel overwhelmed by all the electronics in your house,” he says. LG Electronics understands this too, and has teamed up with the interior designer to help consumers by offering tips and ideas on how to “techorate” their homes. “It’s all about melding technology and decorating together,” Wilson explains. In years past, it may have been difficult to marry the… View this story
Living Room • Home Theater • Info and Answers

When your entire house stands as a work of art, you don’t want electronics cluttering the view—even if it’s a sleek-looking 65-inch plasma screen. For these London, Ontario, homeowners, the massive fireplace concealing that plasma TV receives as many oohs and ahs as the big screen itself. And that’s just one of many eye-bulging views in this ultramodern home. Certain building restrictions in the area were lifted when the neighborhood developer moved out of town a couple of years ago, relates Rick Ho of electronics… View this story
Plasma • Shades and Blinds • Bedroom • Living Room • Media Room • Rec/Play Room • Home of the Year Awards 2008 • Home Theater • Multiroom AV • Cool Homes • Slideshows

Who wants big behemoth speakers disrupting their view of movies, TV shows and sports in their home theaters? OK, maybe several of you raised your hands on that one, but a lot of you these days are saying “not me” too. In-ceiling and on-ceiling speakers are becoming hot commodities in home theater installations these days, thanks to their space saving and aesthetics features. Pinnacle’s new OC HT 1 on-ceiling speaker falls right into this desirable trend. Its discrete circular cabinet design of varying depths helps… View this story
Location • Living Room • Media Room • Speakers • In-Ceiling Speakers • On-Wall Speakers • Speaker Systems • Home Theater • Audio • Product News

Do you love your dedicated home theater but aspire to bring entertainment options to other rooms in your home? It is possible. Here are some stylish, high-tech spaces that will motivate you to come up with ideas for your own home. Just keep an eye on that budget. Curling Up in the Living Room - View slideshow You don’t need a dedicated room with formal rows of seats to have a home theater. Any family room will do. And for some, the more casual the… View this story
Bathroom • Deck and Patio • Kitchen • Living Room • Rec/Play Room • Home Theater • Multiroom AV • Cool Homes • Slideshows

“We live a fairly low-tech life, with as little electronics as possible,” says Kim Donvig of the Dubai contemporary tower residence he shares with his wife, Patricia Ljungberg, and young daughter, Sienna. Such a minimalist perspective might be expected of someone in a nontechnical field, but Donvig operates a speaker and audio solutions company. It’s just that his company, Artcoustic, reconciles the need both to have high-quality home entertainment systems and ... well ... the desire not to have them. Artcoustic doesn’t make the stuff… View this story
Flat Panel • On-Wall Speakers • Cabinets • Equipment Racks • Home Theater Accessories • Living Room • Home Theater • Audio • Cool Homes

When it comes to optimizing a home theater, townhouses can be tricky. This Florida resident thought outside the box—in this case, his 13-by-13-foot box of a living room—to make way for a 60-inch plasma and surround sound system. To create about 4 more feet of viewing depth so the screen didn’t overwhelm him or the room (his old TV jutted out almost two feet in front of the railing and virtually hid the nearby fireplace), the owner wanted the plasma mounted onto a staircase wall.… View this story
Plasma • In-Ceiling Speakers • On-Wall Speakers • Structured Wiring • Equipment Racks • TV Mounts • Entryway • Living Room • Media Room • Installers • Home Theater • Cool Homes

Building off of its retractable arm that gave consumers both a love seat and a common arm for their theater seating option, Fortress has introduced its Pocket arm for added variety. Consumers can have good old theater style seating with the look of a sofa, the company says. The Pocket arm is a fully upholstered stationary housing between the backs of two chairs that accepts the retractable arm—whether the arm is up or down the seating looks like a sofa, with a continuous back cushion… View this story
Furniture • Home Theater Accessories • Seating • Living Room • Media Room • Home Theater • Product News

Ultra-modern furniture might be nice if you want to show off your industrial-design speakers and black-box A/V components, but if you’re looking for a more traditional room decor that favors understating your electronics, elegant wood would be the way to go on furniture. In that respect, Bell’O has added the WAVS-315 to its traditional, wood lineup of A/V furniture, created to complement your classic home environment and show off your flat-panel TV or other electronics without having them overwhelm the decor. Elegantly crafted to fit… View this story
Furniture • Cabinets • Location • Family Room • Living Room • Enhancements • Product News

It takes a good imagination, close collaboration and strong determination to pile a mountain of electronics into a home without disrupting any of its natural beauty and tranquility. The electronics design team at Art and Automation in Wailuku, HI, demonstrated those qualities by infusing this 25,000-square-foot Hawaiian rendezvous with miles of cabling, dozens of speakers, several flat-panel TVs, and one control system intelligent enough to manage the operation of everything from a music server that can hold as many as 250,000 songs to an assortment… View this story
Power Management • LCD • Plasma • Video Projectors • Video Screen • In-Ceiling Speakers • Subwoofers • Amplifiers • Multiroom Audio • Climate Control Systems • Home Control Systems • Pool and Spa • Touchpanels and Keypads • Routers and Switches • Deck and Patio • Living Room • Media Room • Home of the Year Awards 2007 • Home Theater • Audio • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Enhancements • Cool Homes