Decorating a Game Room

Decorating a game room in the home complete with media centers, place for board games, table games and video competitions is a great way to relieve stress and provide entertainment for the family and friends.

Any room of the house could work with the ideal spaces being a finished basement, a converted garage, den or loft.

Determine what activities you are going to want the space for and who will be using it. This will have a big impact on the way you plan your room.

• Are you going to be really active and furnish a room with a pool table, and dart board?
• Or will it primarily be for card and board games?

(Air hockey and foosball tables could also be included in that active fun category.)

For board games, comfortable seating around a nice sturdy game table would be in order. Or a combination of both.

Photo courtesy of daBinsi

Where the game room will be located in relationship to the rest of the home, may help determine whether the decorating theme of the room should flow with the rest of the house or if you go all out with something completely different and fun.

• A game room with a pool table could be a classic "country club" atmosphere with leather furniture and rich woods, an old western saloon, or billiard hall of the 20's.
• Decorate a casual game room for the golf enthusiasts or other sports fans in the family in their favorite teams' logo and colors which might include framed jerseys and art prints of stadiums or of their favorite players.
• Take inspiration from the 1950's with vintage color palettes of aqua, red, blue or pink contrasted with a white and black checked flooring. Vinyl seating with some chrome, neon advertising signs, some vintage posters, and if you are lucky enough to find a jukebox, an arcade game or an old coca cola bottle machine? How fun!
• Casino themes would be perfect for card lovers, especially for poker nights with a felt lined poker table and with leather chairs on rolling casters. Enhance the theme with a roulette wheel, or blackjack or Texas hold em table.

Adding a kitchen or bar area is in keeping with a game room makeover. The kitchen can be elaborate or simple with just a sink, microwave and mini fridge and game room bars can be fully stocked or a teacart or caddy for holding refreshments, and a popcorn cart adds to the fun.

The furniture you choose when decorating a game room will make a big difference to the overall feel of the room.

Include comfortable furniture that is inviting and unique to the theme but that is essential to the activities chosen.

• Card and board game tables should be large enough with the proper number of cushioned chairs with some type of storage to put the games when not in use, like bookcases or cabinets.
• A big screen TV with comfortable seating is a must for the sports fan and come in handy for watching movies and playing video games. Large bean bag chairs that conform to the body are ideal for playing video games. Other seating options could include old car seats.

Be sure to have snack tables at the ready for the dip and chips!

Always important in any room is the lighting and especially when decorating a game room that is in the basement with little or no natural lighting. Wall sconces are a good way to provide this without having the worry of lamp cords.

Lighting for a pool table should be sufficient enough so it does not leave dark “rings” around the table.

Color and accessories can set the tone, to decorating a game room.

• The “classic country club” game room would call for rich tones on the walls and fabrics.
• Sports theme game rooms could follow suit of the teams colors as mentioned earlier and of course bright colors raise the excitement level and always relate to fun.
• Don’t make the room too dark however, and this is a room where you can definitely do something instead of plain white.

This is a room where you can go bold or make a dramatic statement with a painted mural or a wall in chalkboard paint.

Wallpaper borders are another way of continuing your theme with a fun pattern to your game room decorating.

Inspiration can come from your favorite board game that could be framed and hung on the wall for instant art (Parcheesi anyone?), a movie poster or a record album covers, and what a great opportunity to showcase your interests and personality into the space with vintage pub signs and toys.

If you are a fan of flea markets, you will probably have fun finding stuff like old games that were favorites of decades past.

Even the games themselves can serve as accents by hanging the cue sticks or with the inclusion of a dart board.

But be careful where you place it. You don’t want to put it anywhere near a door that could be opened during play and you will need room for throwing the darts.

Decorating a game room with just a few accessories that make a statement and carry out your theme is all you need. Too many and the room becomes just another "stuffy living room" and you run the risk of them getting them destroyed

Return from Decorating a Game Room to Interior Home Decorating Ideas home page