We will have a dedicated home theater in our new house. Plans are pretty well in place. The room is 14X21, walls will be dark burgundy, carpet and ceiling dark brown. The question is how much lighting do I need?

I plan to have six small can lights, three on each side of the room. Basically, these will only be for illumination of posters on each side wall. I also plan to have 4 sconce lights. So the question is, is this enough lighting or do I need additional can lighting that will provide stronger additional lighting. I'm not trying to make it "family room bright" but I will need to read the titles of DVDs when I get one out.

So what have your experiences shown?

Thanks in advance.

Carl

Theater mood and theme lighting is what you'll use the most. But, you also need adequate lighting for periodic maintenance.

We will have a dedicated home theater in our new house. Plans are pretty well in place. The room is 14X21, walls will be dark burgundy, carpet and ceiling dark brown. The question is how much lighting do I need?

I plan to have six small can lights, three on each side of the room. Basically, these will only be for illumination of posters on each side wall. I also plan to have 4 sconce lights. So the question is, is this enough lighting or do I need additional can lighting that will provide stronger additional lighting. I'm not trying to make it "family room bright" but I will need to read the titles of DVDs when I get one out.

So what have your experiences shown?

Thanks in advance.

Carl

You have pretty much the same colors as my 15 X19 room. Dark Burgundy walls (except mine is black below 36", Brown carpet and ceiling. You didn't say how the ceiling was shaped. Mine starts at 7ft on sides and rises to 12ft in the middle. Since the six small cans are going to be focused on posters, I think you definitely need some recessed can lights over the seating area. I have 4 in mine and when I want the room bright for work/reading and such, they must be on full. I also have 7 sconces with a 60 watt bulb in each and rope lights down both sides behind the crown. A Lutron Spacer dimmer system allows presets each type of light for a particular usage.

Don't skimp here because you will always be able to dim it down when not needed. Really tough to add once it is all built.

Mike

Thanks to both of you.

My ceiling will be 9 ft. flat. I will have a slight soffit area, 9 to 12 inches wide, that will hide the wiring/cans for the poster lights.

I appreciate all views on this as Mike said, this would be a lot tougher to fix after it is completed.

Carl