Home Theater Design Buying Guide:
Home Theater Seating

Besides your HT system, your home theater seating is probably the next most important item in your media room. Whether you're looking to create a room that's built around comfort and design or theme and function, you want to make the right investment -- something that ultimately suits your tastes and needs. In this article, we'll be discussing some key selection criteria you should consider as you decide on what's right for you in your home theater room.


Before you begin the process of finding your home theater seating, you need to take note of your budget. In the competitive space of home theater seating, you'll find furniture products that run the full spectrum in terms of price and quality. This assumes that you are looking to use true home theater seating -- the realm of possibilities expand if you choose to outfit your room with more traditional furniture. Either way, you should know now what you're looking to spend as it will certainly help make the search process a lot smoother.

We're going to focus on more conventional home theater seating in this article. We'll first provide you with some general tips that will help you get the best fit for your theater room. Then, we'll introduce you to the types of seating that are available along with the various amenities that you'll come across as you do your shopping. We'll wrap up with providing you with a catalog of online merchants who sell home theater seating.

General Tips

Many of you are probably asking -- is buying home theater seating really that complicated?....Well, obviously it doesn't have to be. But if you're an enthusiast searching for a pure, optimized home theater experience, then you'll want to consider the things we've taken note of below.

  • This might sound a little weird, since comfort is something that people typically weight highly when they are buying furniture. But if you're a dozer like me, then you might want to think about buying something that's not so plush. To make a long movie short, this could be a recipe for a nap in your darkened room.

  • But now I'm to go and say something contrary to what I just said (I do that sometimes, but justifiably so!) -- the more plush something is, the better it will be at absorbing sound, which improves sound performance. Geez, now what should I do? Simply put (but not necessarily easy to do), I'd try to balance comfort versus how well padded the piece of furniture is.

  • The distance of the seat to the ground will determine the position of the viewer's eyes and ears relative to the speakers and video source. If you're also planning on using risers in your home theater, you'll want to factor this in, as well.

  • A chair with a high back may provide additional support for your neck, but it may also may reflect sound, especially when it's coming from behind you. Chairs with a lower back tend to detract less from the overall experience.

  • Seating with a "wallhugger" features does not have as profound of an impact on the viewer's listening position as much as traditional reclining chairs.

Buying Notes

Before you hand over your cash or credit card, make sure you've factored in these keys to successfully selecting furniture for your media room.

  • Measure the width of your doors, openings, and hallways that lead into your home theater room prior beginning to shop. I'd hate for you to make that big purchase and then realize when it's delivered that you can't get it into your room without taking a chainsaw and cutting off part of it. You should also be cognizant of sharp turns and any other obstacle(s) that could impede getting the furniture safely into your room. Don't forget that you can always unhinge the door to gain a little extra room, if needed.

  • The frame of a piece of furniture has as much to do with quality and durability as anything else. When buying movie theater seats, choose those with hardwood frames as opposed to those made of softwoods or other materials. I've read where manufacturers suggest buying seating constructed kiln-dried hardwood. Wood that is properly kiln dried apparently has positive effects on the integrity of the wood versus those that aren't.

  • All good furniture is backed by a solid warranty. Don't buy without one.

  • For the budget-minded enthusiast, look at furniture pieces constructed of fabric (such as microfiber), vinyl, or leather substitute (often called "leather-match", i.e., not fully 100% top grain leather).

Positioning of Seating

The space you're working with can have a significant impact on what you will select for your media room. For example, if you're leaning towards a home theater sectional (made up of several individual chairs), should you choose a curved or straight arrangement?

The answer? If you’re planning on having one row of seating (four or more seats), used a curved seating arrangement that is centered with the viewing source. The reason why? Think about why you select the middle seat when you go to a movie theater. It's obviously the best viewing angle because you ever only have to make slight adjustments with your head as you watch the movie. A curved arrangement comes closer to simulating the center seat for all seating positions than does a straight row.

Since size has already been mentioned as an important factor, we'll go ahead and throw in a couple of more reasons as to why it's so important. For convenience, ease of access, and viewer comfort, you should space rows in your room at least 3' apart. A little bit more will be even better. Also, you should allocate the same amount of space for the aisle that runs by the end of your seating rows. Furthermore, size also determines how many people can sit side-by-side or in rows.

If you're in need of every inch you can gain, take a harder look at the "wallhugger" furniture designs. These can be positioned as close to 3" to a wall and allows the viewer to still enjoy the reclining mechanism.

For some additional seating planning, check out this interactive tool from Berkline. It's pretty slick and you might find it helpful as you plan your seating arrangement.

Coordinating With Your Design Theme

What's the overall theme of your home theater room? Will it have a more nostalgic or modern flare to it? You'll find many design options available to you as you shop, so decide early in the process how your seating needs to coordinate with the rest of your decor and design objectives.

Seating Options/Amenities

Here's a few of the options/amenities that you'll be able to choose from as you select your seating. These things are all a matter of personal preference and how much you're willing to stretch your budget to have these things as part of your theatre seats.

  • Reclining (including power reclining)
  • Cupholders (including lighted cupholders)
  • Armrests (separate versus shared, wedge versus straight arms)
  • Folding seats
  • Space-saving models (i.e., "wallhuggers")
  • Snack trays

There's also a feature (which can typically be bought separately and installed later) that's called a "butt shaker". In fact, one of the leading brands that produces these units is called "Buttkicker". The units are "tactile transducers", which in layman's terms means they reproduce the feel of sounds you experience within a movie such as explosions, earthquakes, and other sound effects. This effect is accomplished by sending low frequency bass through the unit to produce vibrations that can intensify the overall experience of the viewer. While they're not out of mind, the units are out of sight, as they are designed to fit nicely in the open compartment area underneath the theater seat.

Home Theater Seating Vendors

Here's a list you can use to conveniently access some of the more reputable home theater seating manufacturers and dealers in this competitive space.



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