Friday night, the plan is a movie. Forty minutes later, half the room is on a phone, one person is asleep at the wrong end of the sofa, and the glare from a window is bouncing off a TV that was mounted without a second thought. The screen is not the problem. The room is.
That is the quiet shift behind this year’s media room boom. Yelp reported that project requests for home theater installations soared 562% in 2024, according to Axios, yet the way designers describe the winning rooms has little to do with the giant, windowless screening room of the 2000s. The new target is a cozy, flexible hangout that happens to be great for movies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, which is why I will be upfront that a few links below go to things I would happily put in my own cart anyway.
Here are seven upgrades, backed by what designers and installers are actually saying, that turn an ordinary TV room into the place everyone fights over.
Why the dedicated theater is giving way to the media room
Installers are watching the same pattern. In CE Pro’s 2026 home entertainment survey, 23% of integrators installed zero dedicated home theaters in the past 12 months. Dan Abramson of Simple Home in Boston put the shift plainly: “It’s moving away from the home theater dedicated space and into the flex space.” Anthony Petrone of Petrone Technology Group in Wellington, Florida, said that “more than 90% of our big-room installs are multipurpose rooms.”
Designers arrive at the same place from the opposite direction. Interior designer Claire Keane wrote in Dezeen that “what to do with the TV is among the most challenging design problems in today’s American home,” and that “social spaces that are not dominated by TVs encourage more interaction.” Her fix is a den: a room slightly removed from the main living area, often a darker one, where the screen can be the star without taking over the house. Designer Jourdan Fairchild told her, “We are all craving cozier spaces, actual rooms, and a cocoon in a crazy world.”
Cocoon is the right word to keep in mind. Every upgrade below serves it.
1. Color-drench the room and add theatrical curtains
The fastest way to make a TV room feel intentional is to stop treating the walls as a backdrop. Livingetc’s May 2026 roundup of snug design trends calls out color-drenching with velvet curtains, and Maria Kachramanoglou, co-founder of Meraki Design, explained why it works: “The weight and richness of the curtains add a quiet theatricality.” Designer Peter Mikic described one snug this way: “The walls, seating, and floor are wrapped in rich navy, with every texture and tone part of the same design language.”
Dark colors also solve a practical problem. Keane’s advice in Dezeen is to pick a room without much natural light and lean into the contrast, and a dark room also means less glare on the screen. Curtains help twice: they add softness, and Axios’s coverage of the Yelp data lists blackout curtains among the budget-friendly additions people are making alongside full theater renovations.
Heavy, lined curtains block daytime light, absorb some echo, and give the room a real sense of occasion. Look for a pair wide enough to stack back off the window so the fabric looks full.
Velvet blackout curtains in a deep navy, forest green, or burgundy are the easiest way to start.
2. Swap the sectional for a deep, cinema-style sofa
Seating is where media rooms are won or lost. Edo Mapelli Mozzi, CEO of Banda, told Livingetc that his team “evolved this sofa design by adding ottoman elements and deepening the color,” and that the result “creates warmth and weight, the kind of comfort that makes you want to lie down, switch off and stay a little longer.” That last phrase is the whole brief for a movie room.
You do not need a custom piece to get the effect. Prioritize seat depth, soft cushions you sink into, and fabric that feels good against bare arms. Austin Carrier, co-founder of Hommeboys, used scaled-up ottoman pieces in a small living space and said of the result, “The rich colors and mix of textures create a jewel-box effect.” An oversized ottoman doubles as a footrest, a coffee table with a tray on top, and hidden storage for the throws you will absolutely need.
Storage ottomans are the smart pick for small rooms because they hold blankets and remotes without adding another cabinet. Oversized storage ottoman options with a flat top work well with a serving tray for popcorn.
3. Size the screen for the room, not for the showroom
Bigger is not always better, and some of the best-known designers say so. Richard Mishaan, an ELLE DECOR A-List designer, described the tension to the magazine: “It’s a tug-of-war. They want the biggest TV they can possibly get, but it’s not always optimal for viewing.”
The industry says demand for size is real, with 64% of integrators in CE Pro’s 2026 survey reporting more large-format TV installs this year. The practical answer is to measure first. Sit where you will actually sit, check the distance to the wall, and choose a screen that fills your field of view without making you look up.
Mounting matters as much as size. A TV on a full-motion arm can swing toward the sofa, tuck flat for guests, and keep the screen at eye level, which avoids the neck-craning that comes from hanging a TV too high.
A sturdy full-motion TV wall mount rated for your screen size and wall type lets you fine-tune the angle once the furniture is in place.
4. Make the TV part of the wall instead of a black rectangle
A dark screen can dominate a room even when it is off. Bilal Rehman, founder of Bilal Rehman Studio, told Martha Stewart Living: “Build out cabinetry, paneling, or an architectural feature so the TV becomes part of a larger visual moment, rather than a lone black rectangle.” He adds: “Incorporate art, shelving, or sculptural elements around the TV so the wall feels intentional and grounded.”
Livingetc’s snug roundup shows the same instinct with wall-to-wall wood paneling and plush carpet, a combination that wraps the whole room, TV included. You can do a smaller version of this over a weekend: hang a gallery of framed prints on either side, add floating shelves, or paint the wall behind the screen the same shade as the screen’s bezel so it fades back.
For the quick version, a set of floating wall shelves in a dark wood finish, mounted in a symmetrical grid beside the screen, frames the TV and gives you somewhere to put objects.
5. Fix the sound before you buy a bigger screen
Ask an installer what clients forget and the answer is usually audio. In CE Pro’s 2026 survey, architectural in-ceiling speakers topped the list of audio categories, and Dan Abramson said clients are rediscovering a feeling: “People are remembering what it’s like to be dazzled.” That is an audio and video story, not just a screen one.
In-ceiling speakers are a renovation project, but a soundbar with a separate subwoofer gets you most of the way for a fraction of the cost and no ceiling work. Curtains, a thick rug, and upholstered furniture also soak up the echo that makes dialogue hard to follow.
If your living room TV currently sounds like it is talking from the bottom of a bucket, a soundbar with a wireless subwoofer is the single cheapest upgrade in this article.
6. Let the room do more than play movies
The multipurpose room is the real headline of 2026. Francis Nicdao, principal of Pembrooke & Ives, told ELLE DECOR, “It’s not just about a single screen anymore,” and described how the room doubles as an office: “My husband uses it as an office. He can have CNBC playing on the big screen while he takes calls.”
Nicko Elliott, cofounder of Civilian, said the point of these spaces is social: “It’s about having a meal, a drink, talking to people, and analyzing what you just saw.” That favors flexible furniture over a single row of recliners. Think a few movable ottomans, a console you can eat off, and a side table within reach of every seat.
A slim media console with closed storage keeps remotes, game controllers, and cables out of sight while still giving the room a surface for drinks and a lamp.
7. Layer the lighting, and give the ceiling a moment
Overhead light is the enemy of a good movie room. The better approach is layers: a low lamp, a wall light, and a soft glow behind the screen. The rooms in ELLE DECOR’s media room feature leaned on wall lights and arc fixtures rather than a single ceiling fixture.
Dimmable bulbs on a smart plug or app give you scenes without rewiring. A color-matched LED strip behind the TV takes the harshness off the screen and, as a bonus, makes the whole wall glow.
Then look up. Alicia Meireles of Own London explained how a ceiling can carry the personality in a dark room: “We wanted to embrace an expressive and playful approach above, allowing us to be a little more daring without overpowering the space.” Livingetc’s roundup calls these talking-point ceilings, and wallpaper, paneling, or a deep paint color all do the job. Her team chose a wallpaper with “a soft, fabric-like quality, which felt appropriate for a cozy room designed for relaxation.”
For the lighting layer, smart dimmable LED bulbs let you set a movie scene from your phone.
What to do first
You do not need to gut a basement to get the new media room. Start with the three moves that cost the least and change the most: pick a deep color for the walls, hang heavy curtains, and replace whatever seating makes you perch rather than sink. Add a soundbar, put the lights on dimmers, and treat the wall around the TV like a design feature.
If you only have one weekend, spend it on the room before the screen. Designers across Dezeen, Livingetc, and ELLE DECOR kept coming back to the same idea, that a media room works when it feels like a cocoon and does a second job on weekdays. Get that right and even a modest TV will feel like a premiere.