On a fall Saturday at Franklin, the lower level is the place to be. The Dawgs are on one screen, another game is on the screen right beside it, and everyone has a sofa and a clear view. Nobody's craning around a row of seats or settling for the corner spot.
"College football Saturday is great in this basement," one of our clients told us. "You can have the Dawgs on one screen or two screens, you can have another game on at the same time." Then came the line every family hopes to say about their home theater: "There's not a bad seat in the house."
That sentence was the whole point of the design, and it's a lovely place to start if you're thinking about home theater design in Atlanta.
It began with how the family wanted to sit
The first concept for the theater was a familiar one, with a single large screen and traditional rows of theater seating. It would have worked. But the family wanted something more relaxed, a room where everyone could sink into a sofa together instead of lining up in rows.
That one change reshaped everything. With sofas spread across a room, a single screen leaves anyone off-center watching at an awkward angle. So the question became how to bring the whole family together without leaving anyone with a poor view, and the answer was to give the room two screens.
Where it started: studs, concrete, and a plan.
The theater now has two 120-inch screens side by side, each with its own 4K projector and its own Dolby Atmos sound system. On a big night, both screens can show the same program for a full room. On a Saturday packed with games, they can show two different things at once, with one group listening on wireless headphones so the sound never collides.
One of the two 120-inch screens during install, before the speaker grilles were painted to match the walls.
Designed and installed under one roof
Every speaker placed by laser before the paint went on.
We designed and installed all of it, including the audio and video. That was a happy surprise for our clients. "I didn't know that we could work with Luxe Style Studio to really build out the theater space, to do the speakers and everything, the sound system," one of them said, "all of the electronics and figuring out how everything is interconnected with really high-quality products. I didn't know we could just do that in a one-stop shop."
We planned the technology alongside the design, so nothing in the theater looks like it was added later. The receivers and the rest of the electronics live in a utility closet on the other side of the basement. All the room shows is the two screens, the projectors, and the speakers set into the walls and ceiling, and even those are painted the same deep aubergine as the room so they disappear. The family never had to manage a separate installer or translate between two teams.
The game doesn't stop at the theater doors, either. Screens around the lower level keep a family day flowing from room to room. "You can have a game on right out here while you're playing ping-pong," our client said. "You can even have a game on in the gym while you're working out." By kickoff, the whole floor is part of the party, and everyone can wander without missing a play.
A theater that feels like a room you'd want to be in
A great theater should be just as inviting with the screens off, and this one is. The walls are color-drenched in a deep aubergine that wraps the room and makes it feel intimate the moment you step in. It's a lovely choice for a theater, too, since deep color keeps light from bouncing around the room while the projectors run. Overhead, a beamed ceiling gives the space structure and warmth. Oversized custom velvet sectionals invite the whole family to settle in, with marble coffee tables within easy reach.
The entrance sets the mood before the movie starts. An arched millwork opening frames the room, and operable curtains close across it so the theater feels completely enclosed when the lights go down. Picture lights wash the artwork on the walls, so even on a night with nothing playing, the room glows softly and feels like a place to linger.
That balance is the heart of the room. It's a serious theater with serious sound, and it's also a comfortable family room where everyone gathers for movie night or the big game. Everything in it was chosen for the way this family actually spends time together, and you can feel that the moment you walk through the curtains.
"Everything in here, I think, is a reflection of Ashley's style," one of our clients said about the lower level, "but is more than that a reflection of our own personalities as a family, as individuals, and our own preferences."
If you're dreaming about a theater of your own, we'd love to help you picture it. You can see more of the Franklin lower level, and when you're ready, start a conversation with us.