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Media Room Design

A room you already live in, made to perform like a cinema when you want it to.

A media room is an everyday living room, snug or lounge designed to deliver cinema-quality picture and sound without becoming a dark, single-purpose room. Zebra designs the layout, hides the technology, specifies the equipment and oversees the installer. Our UK media rooms have cost £15,400 to £80,000 all in.

Most of our clients want a room the family uses every day: films at the weekend, sport, gaming and music the rest of the week. The design job is to get the sound and picture right while keeping the room looking like a room, with speakers in walls, ceilings and beams, screens that drop away and controls that anyone in the house can use.

When a media room is the right choice

  • the room has to stay a lounge, snug or family room;
  • there are windows you want to keep, or daytime viewing matters;
  • the budget is under about £35,000 all in, or the room cannot be rebuilt;
  • an interior designer is leading the look and the technology must disappear.

How we design it

Hide the technology, not the performance

In-wall and in-ceiling speakers, speakers set into beams, motorised screens and projector lifts keep the room's character. In the Little Aston fireplace room the speakers went into the wooden beams and the projector into the adjoining study.

Choose the screen for the light

A large TV wins in bright rooms; a projector and drop-down screen wins for size if the room can be dimmed. Motorised blinds and lighting scenes bridge the two.

Dolby Atmos that fits the ceiling

Height speakers are placed for the seats, not for the ceiling grid. Layouts up to 9.2.4 are possible in a living space if they are planned before the decorators arrive.

Control everyone can use

One remote or keypad for picture, sound, lights and blinds. Most of our media rooms use Control4 so the system behaves the same for every member of the family.

Rooms we have designed

Our UK media rooms have cost £15,400 (Walsall) to £25,500 (Barnt Green lounge bar) for most rooms, £80,000 for a reference family media room in Little Aston, and £147,500 for a Steinway Lyngdorf room in Shrewsbury. See every project side by side in our UK home cinema cost guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a media room and a home cinema?

A media room is a multi-use living space with a high-performance system built into it; a dedicated home cinema is a room built only for watching, usually dark, acoustically treated and often isolated from the rest of the house. Media rooms cost less and get used every day; dedicated rooms deliver a bigger, more immersive picture and sound.

How much does a media room cost in the UK?

Most of our UK media rooms cost £15,000–£26,000 all in, including equipment, control, blinds and installation. Reference-level rooms cost more: £80,000 for a Little Aston family media room and £147,500 for a Steinway Lyngdorf room.

Can a media room have Dolby Atmos?

Yes. Ceiling speakers for Atmos can be added to most living rooms. Our media rooms go up to 9.2.4, with the speaker positions planned around the seating and the ceiling structure.

Projector or TV for a media room?

If the room is bright or used mostly in the day, a large TV. If it can be dimmed and you want a bigger image, a projector with a motorised screen that disappears when not in use. Several of our rooms use a drop-down screen and projector lift so the room looks normal day to day.

The next step

Planning a room like this?

Tell us about the space and how you want to use it. We will tell you honestly what fits and what it is likely to cost, with no equipment to sell you.

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