Creating a cozy movie room offers the perfect escape for unwinding and relaxing, whether as a personal sanctuary to watch your favorite shows or for hosting family and friends on movie night. However, a cluttered and disorganized home theater can quickly disrupt the tranquil atmosphere you have aimed to design.
Regardless of if your movie room is big or small, having the right storage solutions can make all the difference in ensuring it is an easy-to-use and tidy space that will keep your focus on the TV or projector, rather than the visual clutter around you.
We asked interior and organizing experts for their tip storage ideas for a movie room. Below are the 6 things they recommended.
Storage ideas for a movie room
Before investing in storage options, consider whether you want your movie room to look sleek and minimalistic or you wish to display your movie memorabilia for a maximalist aesthetic. This will guide whether you should opt for mostly closed or open storage, so you can create an organized space that suits your style.
1. Custom shelving units
Customized storage – perfectly tailored to the room's layout and dimensions – can optimize every inch of space and create a cohesive aesthetic that complements the overall theme of your movie room. Plus, these bespoke solutions can help you to locate and access items.
- 'You can choose adjustable shelves to fit the size of your equipment and collection,' says Gabriella Dyson, Head of Solved at Homes & Gardens. 'Raise shelf heights for accommodating larger items like speakers and amplifiers, or use smaller shelves to house DVDs, game consoles, or smaller accessories. This will create a purposeful storage display while guaranteeing no space is wasted.'
- LED lighting can be added under shelves to enhance visibility or highlight your favorite films. You can find lights with adjustable color temperature and brightness so you can change it according to whether you need to look for certain items or set the mood during movie nights.
- For ease of navigation, consider labeling the shelves or sections.
While bookshelf wealth may be trending in the world of interior design, for those who take pride in their movie room collection, opting for customized open shelves is the ideal way to both display and store your items. Additionally, using glass cabinet fronts lets you show off your collection dust-free.
However, you may want to be selective about which items you store on shelving to avoid visual clutter making your music room look messy and ultimately feeling less relaxing.
Gabriella Dyson is Head of Solved at Homes & Gardens, editing and writing practical advice for homeowners in the process of cleaning, decluttering, or attempting home improvements and DIY projects. Gabriella previously worked on Homebuilding.com, writing features about issues surrounding historic and listed building projects.
2. Hidden furniture storage
'In a media room, you want an atmosphere that is warm and cozy and very focused on the TV. This means all the items that make this room work need to be hidden or very organized,' says Anne Haas, interior designer and Founder of Anne Haas Design.
Perhaps the best way to achieve this when designing a movie room is to select furniture with discrete storage, ensuring a clutter-free environment while keeping essentials within arm's reach.
'Multipurpose furniture can be a great asset in maintaining a smartly laid out movie room. These enable you to store more items without taking up extra floor space,' says Dawnn Hilton-Lito, General Manager at One Less Thing.
'Store your necessities for a movie night in such as blankets and spare cushions, movies, remote controls, or snacks in a sofa, ottoman, or coffee table with built-in storage capacities.'
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This cozy ottoman is the perfect multifunctional item to reduce clutter in your movie room.
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Keep unattractive items out of sight in this storage coffee table.
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This versatile sofa has a seat that can be lifted with a toggle to reveal plenty of discrete storage space.
3. Under furniture storage
One often overlooked space in any room that can keep items discreetly stored is under-furniture storage. This can be especially valuable in small movie rooms where space is limited, utilizing areas that are often overlooked to keep your collection organized and out of sight.
You may want to design your movie room with this in mind, choosing elevated furniture or built-in benches with storage drawers beneath them (like in the image above).
If you want to integrate these ideas into your existing setup, you can find a wide range of flat, wheeled boxes that slide under existing furniture ottomans or sofas in different sizes and styles.
4. Media cabinets
'For electronic equipment like speakers, projectors, and gaming consoles, consider investing in entertainment centers or media cabinets with cable management features to keep cords organized and out of sight,' recommends Gabriella Dyson. 'This helps reduce clutter and ensures a clean and streamlined look for the movie room.'
These can be as big or as small as you need, depending on your storage space requirement and design preferences. For example, if you just need a space for media boxes, remotes and spare wires, a floating media cabinet or console table beneath your screen could suffice. However, if you require more space and have limited storage options elsewhere in the room, investing in an integrated entertainment center can accommodate all your needs.
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5. Rolling carts
If you have a large movie room, or you find yourself rearranging your room's layout frequently, rolling carts can be a convenient storage solution. You can use rolling carts to store and easily move items around the room as needed. You can even choose one that also can be used as a side table that can be easily relocated depending on where you are seated.
'The idea is to utilize the space around and on top of the cart as well, by placing additional storage boxes or baskets,' says interior designer and founder of Knobs, David Mason. 'For instance, use a basket to hold remotes or controllers while keeping them easily accessible.'
Additionally, David Mason suggests getting creative when looking for rolling cart storage: 'Consider incorporating a vintage-style popcorn cart that doubles as storage for DVDs, Blu-rays, or streaming devices, adding a nostalgic touch to your movie room.'
6. Storage bins
Utilize decorative storage baskets or bins to corral smaller items like cables, gaming controllers, and snacks.
Additionally, if your movie selection is a physical thing, storage boxes can be the perfect way to keep these organized: 'When it comes to categorizing DVDs, Blu-rays, and other assorted items, consider acquiring some labeled bins or baskets to place them in,' says Dawnn Hilton-Lito. 'You can sort them alphabetically or by genre but the system should be consistent. This reduces the amount of clutter in the room while bringing a sense of order to proceedings.'
When choosing storage bins, consider finding both practical options and aesthetically pleasing ones that can be kept on show. For example, convenient clear plastic boxes can be used in closed storage while a rattan box can be kept on open shelving to disguise unsightly objects.
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'Once all is said and done, your storage should aid you in locating all of your items with relative ease. This will result in a smoother movie selection experience when you want to watch something,' says Dawnn Hilton-Lito, General Manager at One Less Thing.
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