Games Room ideas

Retr0gamer

So all things going well I'm expecting to be a home owner in the new year. I'd like to have a games room but the house isn't exactly massive so I'm looking for ideas.

I think for me the best thing to do is to have one of the double bed rooms as a games room but I also want to keep it as a bed room as well for people visiting. I'd like a way to display all the games so they are within easy reach and not in Sauron's attic anymore. Also I'd like a unit where I can put the consoles and can be easily accessible.

So has only one got ideas or anything similar in their place?

geotrig

if you figure it out let me know !! Depends on what you have to set up though really , my current setups is great in some ways but also a nightmare especially if I need to make a change to cabling or want to change a console to a different tv. so make how you mange and access cables a priority

Came across a picture recently when I last downsized and it was so simple and neat ! wish i stayed like that !

also big kitchens (more than one press ) are overrated and a great gaming setup space !

😉

seriously boards and double posts :problem: and it seems to be gone

Inviere

@Retr0gamer the IKEA Lappland TV unit gives you a huge amount of console display options, loads of shelves, and the top acts as a large 6ft shelf too. Saves a ton of space.

You could pair it with some bookcase shelves for games, and have a tidy, functional games room with loads of space for the spare bed etc.

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/lappland-tv-storage-unit-black-brown-30285153/

geotrig

i've wondered about them for a while myself , Hows it for holding crt's ? Im currently using kallax's and one chopped down to 3*2 kallax , and they are great for taking the weight of the tvs

Retr0gamer

Thanks for the suggestion guys.

Just looking forward to finally have all my stuff in easy reach again.

But honestly... I'm more looking forward to having my own kitchen!

CiDeRmAn

No more worrying about....

o1s1n

Congrats and best of luck with the new house! I'm actually just waiting on the keys for my own new place, should hopefully get them next week.

Unfortunately for my collection I'm after choosing location over size, so it's too small to have a dedicated games room too, but a gorgeous place to live.

My one saving grace I think is that it's a bungalow too, so fingers crossed the attic is a good size and I can work on converting it as my next project.

Do you want your consoles exposed or closed off? I find a lot of folks go with having their consoles sitting out in Ikea units but am thinking of getting something with doors to keep everything looking really clean.

Retr0gamer

I'll want to gaze upon my consoles so no doors.

eddhorse

Best of luck with it.

I've always thought beds are a waste of room.

A fold up bed double bed would be a great idea.

Retr0gamer

Yeah I was considering a solution like that if I could budget for it.

The_B_Man

If its an old gaf from the 70s, you might need it rewired, which is a 5k+ job.

But if so, you can take the opportunity to get a loada plugs installed in the room. Maybe get a panel of switches near the door that controls all the plug sockets so u can turn them on and off from a central point in the room.

For smart home features, I heard that its best to get neutral wired to each plug and light switch.

You could probably get a telly wall-mounted, in which case you can run cables through the plasterboard so it looks clean. This means u can have a TV on its own on the wall, with wires running hidden to your storage where your consoles are, with ideally some sort of panel that you plug everything into. You could even get the wires run to across the room so u could play consoles with short controller cables from the comfy of your sofa/bed.

If you're doing renovations, there's the chance to put ceiling speakers in as well. This will enable the room to be a cinema room as well as a games room.

I g ot my house rewired and had a load of CAT6A cable run through the walls to every room. Having a point near your consoles will enable wired online gaming as well, so consider that.

Then consider flooring if you're gonna have some heavy machinery like an arcade machine.You might need some mats or carpet snippings or something else.

I was in the process of getting my games room sorted but it fell through as the builder was too busy the last few months and the cost of materials has skyrocketed.

Also, If your house is terraced or semi-detached, consider getting soundproof insulation for the joining walls, so you can be blaring your retro soundtracks without waking the neighbours. I got this put in for peace of mind.

Lemming

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117902924#Comment_117902924

+1 from me for the suggestions for additional wall points and running network cable through walls into rooms. I did this with my gaff although it was a new build so I could select which rooms I wanted additional electrical points in and where in said rooms, and handed the electricians a roll of Cat 6 and a couple of hundred quid and told them what to do with it. Much easier to do when the walls haven't been boarded, plastered, etc. of course.

The Cat 6 cabling between rooms makes setup for devices so easy, particularly for devices that might need to read large files, e.g. tv reading a ripped film file across the network, where being able to exploit gigabit ethernet beats wifi hands down every day.

Edit: an explanation on how I did my network setup; I have two network cables per room, threated back to wall points in the room where my external connection is (ie.. where my router lives), so the wall sockets are acting more like a pass-thru than anything else. The other option was to go down the route of getting a bona-fide network switch setup but the above was simple and easy and I don't have to live with holes in the plasterboard with a bunch of cables running out of it, nor having to set aside space for a network switch/rack. Simply plug device into wall in room X, plug cable into corresponding wall socket in router-room and connect to router. Job done.

Jack burton

The IKEA Billy bookcases are pretty good. You can double stack them and get some decent layouts

Strumms

My console, a TV and games are in my bedroom...

This is by design...I’m an insomniac, this way, if I wake at 1am, or whenever and can’t get back to sleep, I just need the TV remote and the wireless controller...gaming helps me sleep

ive a 42” Sony Bravia across on the wall at the end of my bed wall mounted... can turn on PS4 with wireless controller, tv with remote.....

ive three of these, although I’ve a decorative light on the top shelf of each one..store games and then books on one shelf..

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117902756#Comment_117902756

Ive been looking into some suspended bed ideas, having a double bed up high in a mezanine type setup with all the floor space left free down below.

For the time being I think I'm going to put in a day bed type of a thing and then figure out a better solution that frees up the floor.

scottygee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117906129#Comment_117906129

Looks rad!! I saw some adding like a cabinet door for it too.