It doesn’t take very long when you visit friends and see some really cool entertainment center layouts that you begin to daydream about how you want your perfect home entertainment arrangement to look.  Sometimes it is just a matter of taking the many little ideas of the perfect components of what you want in your entertainment room and putting it all together into a great unified space that will be that perfect entertainment space in your home.

Along with the electronics that you will need, what you pick as your entertainment center furniture will go a long way to set the mood and create a flow for your family and guests.  And picking the right furniture for this important part of your home is as much an art as it is a science because what you choose fits so closely with how you see your time with family and friends going each time you gather to enjoy a night of great entertainment in that room.

Naturally, you will probably look for only the best in entertainment center electronics so that whether you gather with friends to enjoy the Superbowl or are spending a night with a sweetheart enjoying romantic music, your equipment always is top notch.  But what makes up the best of stereo, television and other entertainment electronics is also a personal decision.  If you feel that the room will mostly be about watching sports and movies, that will call for a different layout than a room devoted to dancing and the finest music.

Similarly, the arrangement of your entertainment center furniture is as much a factor to how much your guests enjoy your home as the furniture itself.  If you will be enjoying times of playing cards and other organized activities, then you want plenty of open space for people to move around as well as quality game tables that will make that kind of social activity easy and natural.  But if you envision a room for enjoying the big game, relaxed chairs and couches may be just the thing.

With these ideas in mind, the best approach to entertainment center design is not to start from the equipment you want and build out from there.  Instead, start with the kind of gatherings you expect to have and design the room around what will make those events the most successful.  Also take into consideration the needs and priorities of your family and guests.  While for you, a good big screen TV may be plenty to watch the game of the week, you might also need to think of how your kids might use the room to preview the latest CD of their favorite pop star with their friends. 

By thinking of the needs of everybody who will use the room, you will be able to get just the right equipment as well as the right entertainment center furniture that will make those gatherings a success.  It will be just as gratifying to you to see your family and their friends enjoy this space as much as you and your friends do.  And that can happen if you make “people first” in the design of this important room in your house.  If that is your approach, not only will the entertainment room get a lot of use, it will be a place where dozens of great memories will be made as well.  And that will make all of your planning for the perfect layout well worth the investment.