Entertainment Essentials: 10 Must-Haves for Your Living Room

Enhancing your living room home entertainment experience can create an inviting and enjoyable indoor set up for guests as the weather gets colder.

With autumn upon us, while there’ll be plenty of days to enjoy the outdoors, many households are focusing more on how to make the best of the indoors in the months ahead through autumn and into the winter.

In this guide, we’ll discuss 10 must-have aspects of home entertainment for your living room in 2024.

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1. HD or Ultra-HD Television

Thesedays, an appealing home entertainment experience needs a HD or ideally ultra-HD TV. The modern home entertainment standard is one that uses a 4K TV. The average 4K TV costs about £250 to £1,000. There also exists a solid range of 8K TVs on the market though they generally cost several thousand pounds.

Ideally, a home entertainment setup should feature a TV that is a flatscreen. You may want to place it atop a stand but if possible, a wall-hung TV may be preferable. In the latter case, you’ll just want to ensure that the TV used can safely be installed and that the wall and the equipment used to hang it can hold it up no problem.

2. TV Stand or Full Entertainment Centre

As discussed, you may or may not wish to include a TV stand. Either way, you’ll need some way of holding up the TV and opting for a stylish, modern choice can help create a more pleasant and modern entertainment experience.

Aside from using a TV stand, it’s worth considering a full entertainment centre. Aside from simply utilising a TV standard, a full entertainment centre can involve going with an entertainment wall unit.

This not only enhances the area around your TV as an entertainment focal point but can provide more storage or/and display space as well as create an optimised and more aesthetically-pleasing viewing experience.

3. Internet Accessibility

Another key aspect of a modern entertainment experience is ensuring your TV has access to the internet including one or more streaming services (e.g. Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount or Amazon Video Prime).

Your TV’s internet access may come in the form of streaming devices/systems such as Google’s chromecast, Roku Streaming Stick+, the Amazon Fire Stick, Xiaomi Mi TV Stick and NVIDIA Shield TV.

Alternatively, you could opt for an internet TV. That is a TV with intrinsic internet accessibility without the need for an extra device.

4. Surround Sound

The use of a surround sound system is also arguably a requirement for a modern living room entertainment experience.

Some of the top surround sound brands in the UK in 2024 include Sony, Samsung and LG. Ultimately, you’ll want to find a surround sound system that best suits your needs, preferences and budget.

5. Fixtures for Guests

Along with the entertainment technology itself, you’ll want to ensure you include fixtures for guests to enjoy.

Some ideas worth noting include cosy seating, a suitable coffee table, other comfort enhancements, refreshments or/and and a home bar.

6. Calming, Sophisticated Decor

Calming or/and sophisticated decor can enhance the look and feel of your living room, adding to the overall experience for you, all other members of your household and guests alike.

Some ideas you should consider include:

• Accent colours*
• Modern minimalist style
• Neutral tones such as grey, white or/and beige hues
• Contemporary and industrial decor
• Use one or more dramatic shades such as Damson
• Consider integrating Earthy colours
• Luxurious art deco (e.g. rich colours, opulent materials, rugs or wallpaper with geometric patterns)

* You may want to add accent colours with throws, blankets, artwork, curtains, ottomans/poufs or otherwise.

7. Universal Remote

To make managing your home entertainment system and experience easier, it’s worth buying one or two universal remotes so that you can control the TV and other systems with ease.

Of course, you’ll still want to verify that a given universal remote is truly universal or/and that it will work okay with all of the relevant systems you need to control from the comfort of your living room.

8. Decorative Lighting

It’s also worth looking at having decorative lighting added to your living room to help complete the home entertainment experience.

Some ideas to consider include sophisticated table lamps, LED strip lighting, pendant lights, smart lighting and other standout lighting choices (e.g. retro-inspired lighting, suitable tailor-made lighting and touch-sensitive lights*).

* Touch-sensitive lights may come in the form of touch-activated LED strips, table lamps or/and wall sconces.

9. Modern Gaming Console

When we think of home entertainment, a cinematic experience (or perhaps one that is music-oriented) comes to mind.

However, you may also be interested in having a new or new-ish gaming console added such as a PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S. If you’d rather go a little old-school, consider buying a Nintendo Wii (fun and will save you money when compared with some of the newer alternatives).

10. Intelligent Media Storage

Whether in relation to physical media or ‘soft’ media, it’s important to store and organise them in an intuitive and accessible manner.

For any physical media, choose a suitable spot (e.g. media cabinets, bookshelves or/and floating shelves) to store DVDs, Blu-Rays and so forth.

Regarding soft media, they could be stored on your TV itself, Sky/Virgin TV box or even on USBs stored in suitable locations such as media cabinets, storage ottomans or a TV stand featuring storage.