How crazy and unsafe the world can be is one of the reasons why a lot of parents are investing more in their home. They want to keep their loved ones in the convenience and safety of their own home so they can keep an eye on them as much as they can.

One of the most common investments parents make for their home is the creation of a family entertainment room.

According to a lot of parents with growing children, the entertainment room means that the young ones would normally opt to have their fun activities — such as movie watching, playing video games, pool and other types of games — with friends right at home.

And speaking of creating a great entertainment room at home, there are so many ways you can deck it out so that your family can get the fullest enjoyment out of it.

Here are some ideas to consider:

1. Install a home theatre system

Movie marathons, the latest video game phenomenon, the newest season of “Stranger Things” – all these can become huge events for your family and friends if you have a fancy home theatre.

A home theatre installation may cost you some but it will be completely worth it in the long run.

Just think about the money you can save by avoiding the cost of going to the cinema.

It’s not just the film a person pays for most of the time, the “going to the movie theatre” cost includes the price of a bag of popcorn (or nachos with all the fixings) and drinks sold at the concession stands. Add the transportation cost, too, as well as the effort of getting dressed up and taking the time to go to the movie theatre itself.

With a home theatre system, you can watch your favourite film over and over again without incurring extra charges.

More importantly, you can also prevent your children from going to the noisy arcades. You can just buy the latest video games and hook them up to a console and the giant screen. Keeping children away from the video arcades is a smart parenting practise, especially after reports that such venues are hotspots for shady, unscrupulous characters.

 

2. Create your own concession stand

To give your private theatre a cinema feel, prepare a bunch of munchies that everybody can have quick access to. Set up a rack full of chips, candies, and other treats. Perhaps you can also buy a fridge for the entertainment room, and fill it with pop, ice, and other beverages.

If you buy the items for your concession stand from the dollar store, or even the Japanese 300 yen store, you can save a lot of money. Most of them offer the same things that kids can buy at the theatre concession stands but all at a much lower price.

 

3. Clean the room

Another advantage your entertainment centre can have over the theatre or video arcade is that you can clean it much better.

You know how people often complain about the sticky and stinky theatre floors?

Make your floors so sanitised that people can just plop down on it to find a comfortable position for playing video games or watching movies. Also, scent up the room using aroma diffusers and even a few scented candles.

And don’t stop with just cleaning the room. Make sure that there are no creepy crawlies and biters lurking around, especially since you will be keeping food in the entertainment room.

Every once in a while hire pest control services to banish pests because there’s nothing like pests to ruin movie night for everyone.

 

4. Install decorative and mood lighting

You need the right lights when watching a movie or playing video games. Dimmable LED lights are perfect for creating the right ambiance for your entertainment room.

As for decorative lighting to make the entertainment room even more visually appealing, flexible neon lights or LED strip lights that you can form into words and other creative figures are ideal.

 

5. Invest in a few beanbag chairs

You may already have a huge couch in the room but provide additional comfortable seating for those who actually like to “spread” their body while watching a film.

Beanbags are the best option because they are the type of seats, small and big, and young and old people can use. Also, they are easy to tuck away after.

 

6. Put up a theatre marquee (you can make one yourself)

This will make the room look more authentic in a theatre-like way.

Plus, you can put up the different activities scheduled to take place in the entertainment room on it. It’s a little decorative element that signals to family and friends that there’s something good to look forward to.

Creating a home entertainment will not just turn your home into a hub for fun.

Clearly, it is also a wonderful solution in making sure your family members are enjoying themselves in a place where it is safe, and not having to spend on things that they do not really need.