Throw a Killer Movie Night in Your Entertainment Room

Tired of plain ol’ dinner parties or outings to the cinema? Combine the two and host it in your own entertainment room.

Even if you don’t have a specific entertainment room with a TV, we’ll show you how to set up your living room for a movie night your friends won’t forget.

The best type of lighting is dim and directed away from the screen. If you don’t have dimmable wall sconces or recessed spotlights, then mimic this with table or floor lamps beside the seating area. Shop: Ikea LERSTA floor lamp.

SOURCE: ikea.com

Point the lights towards the seats, floor, or snack area; making sure that it doesn’t radiate to a large area of the room, and especially not near the screen. This will allow your guests a bit of socialisation and illumination for snack refills.

If you don’t have table lamps, use candles or makeshift one with fairy lights in a glass jar. To prevent it from radiating too close to the screen, you can place these on the floor by the seating area or table.

SOURCE: lights.com

Your choice of F&B is the main determinant of your chances at the Miss Congeniality title. Up your hosting game by creating themed snacks, then setting up a dedicated station for it.

If you’re watching a Zombieland, serve finger-like sausages, gummy worms, and eyeball devilled eggs, for instance. If it’s a James Bond movie, then Martini’s, and jelly beans for a Harry Potter movie. You can also stick to the usual movie must-have – buttered popcorn!

SOURCE: wikihow.com

Instead of serving the snacks in giant bowls at the coffee table, bring the table to the side to create a faux snack stand. Alternatively, serve your snacks and drinks in a bar cart or even a ladder shelf filled with chip packets. Just keep this area lit – you don’t want your friends dipping sausages into martini’s…or do you?

SOURCE: Instagram user the perfectpalette

The worst types of seating are fastidious ones. If your guests have to watch their wine and crumbs, then they’re going to be too distracted of fully commit to the scene when Rose tells Jack, “You jump, I jump”.

Set up an ultra cosy entertainment room by covering your couch with old bedsheets or cheap slip covers. Those comfy, crumb-catching bad boys will allow your guests to literally put their feet up, and make cleaning easier for you. Shop: Ikea EKTORP sofa cover.

SOURCE: comfort-works.com

If you don’t have enough couch seating, don’t worry. Borrow bean bags, futons, rugs, and oversized pillows from other rooms, or have your friends brings them over for floor seating. Instead of having your guests freeze their butts off like they would at the cinema, provide ample blankets and throws to keep them cosy.

Lazada sells foldable futons like this one.

SOURCE: lazada.com.my

For the sake of the movie experience and your neighbours, you’d want to keep the sound within the room. Opt for blackout drapes and fluffy rugs to improve sound quality and absorption.

If you live in an apartment, then you’ll know that a windy day sounds more like a pack of wolves. To prevent the outdoors from creeping into your augmented reality, buy weather stripping foam tape to cover the top and sides of your door. Then apply a door sweep to the bottom of your door to reduce sound leakage. You can get these items from your nearest hardware store.

SOURCE: aliexpress.com

Additionally, prevent your action-packed blockbuster from attacking your neighbours at midnight by placing your subwoofer on a 1 – 2-inch rubber pad.

Cover image from twinkletwinklelittleparty.com.