Not very long ago, only a few lucky homes could boast a home theater system. Having a theater-like environment in your own home was a real luxury that only a few people could afford. But today, even regular people like you and me can afford a decent home theater system without breaking the bank. What if you can't figure it all out or you only have a small spare space for your home theater? Well, you can always seek professional help for your home theater design.

A professional home theater design consultant will be able to assess your home theater needs and make recommendations specific to your space and wallet. A home theater design consultant can measure out your space to determine the placement of various home theater components from speakers to home theater seating arrangements to optimize your listening and viewing experience. Major retailers like Best Buy or Circuit City often have in-house consultants to provide guidance for their customers. Even furniture retailers now have entire sections of the store devoted to home theater and can refer a professional home theater design consultant to you. Your home theater designer should be knowledgeable about the latest components and will be able to design the home theater with everything you need for your ideal home theater.

What if you can't afford the services of a home theater design consultant or if top of the line components are not in the budget? If you have a small budget, visit some showrooms to get an idea of what's available. Ask the salesperson for recommendations in your price range. This is the ideal situation for the home theater do-it-yourselfer.

Keep in mind that the listening rooms in most stores may be acoustically enhanced, so some speakers that sound great in the store may turn out to be awful when you set them up at home. Find out your store's policy for returns and make sure you can return or exchange before you commit to a purchase. This is true with online purchases as well.

Once you get an idea of layout and costs, you can proceed with your own home theater design and save money in the process by shopping online for your home theater system components.