Are you looking for ideas for setting up a gaming room in a small bedroom (or any other available space for that matter) for your family? Do you want to make sure everyone has fun while playing games together?
Transforming a spare bedroom into a family game room is an excellent use for the extra space. The setup will require enough space for your gaming equipment, furniture, and display items that will give the room character.
A family gaming room will help you bond with your children and teach them valuable skills such as teamwork, problem solving, and strategy. It also helps you get away from technology and enjoy each others company.
If you’re thinking about building a family gaming room, then read this guide to find out how to set up a great family gaming room. In addition, I’ll share some tips on how to choose the perfect gaming system for your family.
By the way – before we get too far along here, if you want to connect with other homeowners, DIYers, and builders and get more great ideas for your home to make your space the best join my free private Facebook group, Remodel Reality here.
How to Turn a Regular Room into a Video Game Room?
One of the greatest features in older homes is what I call a “formal living room”. You will notice that most new homes built today no longer include these rooms because they didn’t get used very much.
But if you’re lucky enough to have an older home with one of these older formal living rooms, then you have the perfect space to setup a gaming room for you and your family.
The first step is to figure out how you’re going to set up the space.
What kinds of stuff do you want to have in this room in addition to your gaming rig?
- A couch?
- A big screen TV?
- A mini-bar?
- A pool table?
- A foosball table?
Since the purpose of this room, whether it’s an old formal living room, or another space in your home, is to create a gaming space, let’s get rid of anything that’s not going to be used for gaming in this space.
When you say family room, it is kind of like a living room, but with an entertainment center.
However, a video game room for the family will look slightly different. In addition to an entertainment center with the typical movie theater setup, you can set up video game consoles, multiple PC gaming setups, and arcade games too.
What Should I Put in My Family Game Room?
You can put any game-related gear in a family gaming den. If you have a lot of space and the budget, you can even put more games, such as pool tables, a foosball table, card games, ping-pong tables, and more. It doesn’t have to be dedicated for video gaming but it can also be a typical “man cave” game room setup– but of course with a heavier focus on video games.
If you are not sure where to start, here is what you would typically find in a game room setup:
A Large Gaming Desk
If your family game room is dedicated for playing your favorite games with the family, you should choose a larger desk or multiple desk to fit multiple PCs. But if your favorite games are mostly played on gaming consoles, you can put some shelves for your consoles and simply mount the TV to save space.
The Perfect Gaming Chair Along with Additional Seating
If the room is spacious enough, you can put more than one gaming chair. But other alternatives, such as a sofa or bean bag chairs.
Amenities Like a Mini-Fridge
Gamers dedicated a lot of time gaming, and one of the best ways to maximize time is to put in other appliances they may need– such as a mini fridge for snacks and beverages. You may also want to put in a fan or a portable air conditioner to keep the room cool with all the electronics.
How to Decorate My Family Gaming Room?
Decorating a family game room can be exciting but frustrating, especially if you don’t know where to start.
The first thing you should think about before decorating your game room is what are your ideal games. Are you into arcade machines, consoles, PC games, retro games like Super Mario, etc.?
You can theme the design of your family gaming room to be whatever you’d like it to be.
Star Wars themed gaming rooms are all the rage and you can go as far as your imagination and budget will allow!
Now that you thought of a theme, the next thing you should do is layout the space. Typically, the screen would be in the center of the room and the seating arrangement would be right in front of the screen.
And depending on the space you have left, you can decide on your decorations, ambient lighting, and other displays.
Ambient LED lighting in any game room is essential. If your room does not have natural light to light up the dark spaces, you can make use of different LED lights, such as lighting strips, modular lighting tiles, neon signs, and more. Adding these will create a game room vibe that separates it from other rooms in your house.
Game Room Design Ideas
Take a look at these cool game room designs that might work for you. They are very creative gaming room ideas that are functional and fun for the entire family.
Create an Old-School Retro Game Arcade
This example has it all. It has multiple gaming screens for each old-school console, arcade machines, retro games on the shelves, and enough space for the entire family. If you don’t have a spare room this big, it wouldn’t be a problem. You just have to make use of what you have.
Create a Retro Game Museum
This game room setup has enough space to play retro video games and uses the walls for showcasing a bunch of retro games. If you are a video game collector, you can show it off by creating a mini video game museum like the expample.
Think of a Theme
If you are not that into retro game consoles, you can choose any theme you want. Here are some examples of themed family game rooms from other users:
This game room has a Sony Playstation theme, and even has a cool Playstation button display piece.
This one pays homage to one of the best movie and video game franchises.
This game room looks really fresh, but keeping it simple with the colored theme.
How Big Should a Gaming Room Be?
A game room should be at least 8 square feet or larger to fit everything you need. If you have a big family, you are going to need more space so you can spend time with it.
To learn more about how big your gaming room should be click here.
Can I Transform a Basement into a Gaming Room?
Yes! A basement could be converted into a great family gaming room. You can take your design and theme as far as the available space and your budget will allow, and create something really amazing!
Final Thoughts
Playing video games together as a family is a great way to bond and get quality time together.
It’s all about find the space where you can set things up to be the most effective for what you want do.
You can even take the planning part a step further by getting the whole family involved in designing the gaming room setup so everyone feels like they’re a part of the process!
Next Steps
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Join my brand new free private Facebook group, Remodel Reality to connect with other people like you to make your space the best!
