We all have basic expectations when it comes to home life and what kinds of rooms a family home will offer. We of course need certain things, like bedrooms, a kitchen, bathrooms, and a living room. But the fact is that certain “bonuses”, special spaces that are meant purely for enjoyment and entertainment, add something extra that really makes a house a home. Perhaps no room better sums up this role than a family game room. A family game room is the right choice for those that want to occupy themselves with a variety of different games, from board games to computer games. They allow families to congregate and spend time with each other away from a television. This is an important bonding opportunity for any family, which is why many choose to either add a game room to their existing home or to buy a home with a basement that would function well as a game room. There are a lot of advantages to adding a game room to your home or converting another room into a game room. Of course, there are the personal benefits mentioned above. But there is also a financial value to a game room, which can ultimately make a property more valuable in the long term. Even if you don’t foresee selling your home anytime soon, adding value to it is always a good idea.
But how do you go about this process in the first place? The renovation process could be fairly simple, or it could involve some real repairs and changes. No matter what, you’ll want to make sure that you invest in some great games, as well as perhaps game servers for your computer systems as well. This way, you can relax with a number of different types of games, not just traditional board games. Most of the time, the prime candidates for game rooms are basements; but a lot of the tips we list for basement conversions apply to other rooms as well, on varying levels. With that being said, let’s dive into some basement family game room ideas, both practical and fun.
1. Prepare The Room
This is especially true if you’re looking into basement family game room ideas, but it holds true when you’re renovating any room. Basements simply tend to come with certain renovation challenges. This is because basements are underground, and therefore are more prone to damp, as well as heating and cooling issues. The moisture that can seep into a basement is often prone to mold, as basements are often kept heat or at least regulated in terms of temperature, and are dark and compressed. This is the perfect condition for mildew, which means that before beginning any renovations in a basement you should have it checked for mold and mildew. If there is some present, don’t worry! As long as there isn’t extensive rot within your basement, you should be able to recover from it. Water damage in general can be a concern within basements, but it can definitely be managed with a moisture control service. Typically, these types of services do need to be used regularly if you plan on spending more time in your basement.
Another problem that homeowners often have to deal with when converting a less-used room into a family game room is that of pests. When any room is often neglected, it’s easy for vermin and bugs to settle within the room itself. This is best dealt with professionally, whether or not you would rather handle it on your own. So before moving forward with any basement family game room ideas, you should first hire a pest control service. These professionals can check the room for any pest problems, and then work with on how best to control the issue. It’s not enough to have a one-time spider extermination done, for example. You’ll also want to know exactly how you can prevent the problem from recurring. The last thing you want is to be surprised with mice or bugs when you’re attempting to enjoy your game room. But with the help of the pros, you don’t have to.
2. Create A Home Theater System
Once the room is prepped for additions and a game room conversion, you’ll want to consider the components that will make up your basement family room ideas. While some families choose to focus on tried and true games, others like to add a fancy theater aspect to their game rooms. Home theaters were once limited to a television set and a couch. But recent luxury home remodeling trends have gone the extra mile and essentially created an expectation for full theater setups in the game room. While watching a movie in a theater setup might seem like an odd way to bring the family together, think of how much fun and special it would be to watch your holiday family movies together on a big screen, with plush seating and maybe even a movie popcorn maker.
Furthermore, you can add a gaming console to your home theater. This would give you a place to hold your family video game tournaments, and furthermore add a space where you can relax in between more traditional games. Another benefit to consider adding, if you’d like your gaming area to be somewhat more advanced, are Minecraft server hosting options. This will allow you to connect with others outside of your game room, allowing for social distancing while at the same time ensuring that your Minecraft games go on without a hitch. The great thing about this theater option is that you can get the best of both worlds, combining your ability to watch full-length movies with your desire to play games. It’s a great addition to your basement family game room ideas.
3. Add A Gaming Table
Perhaps some of the most popular basement family game room ideas include gaming tables of some kind. These go beyond a table meant for board games, of course. When you consider the fact that many families host game nights on a regular basis, you’ll want to have multiple options for games so that you don’t get bored. There are a lot of options to choose from involving gaming tables, and you can get some of them from office furniture stores, or even secondhand at thrift stores or Habitat for Humanity restores. Gaming tables would of course begin with the classic pool table. The great thing about pool is that it brings everyone together, and it appeals to kids and adults alike. Furthermore, you could actually rehabilitate a pool table if you would like, ultimately making it more affordable in the long term.
There are other tabletop games that you can play, however. For example, ping pong is of course a popular game, as is table hockey. Again, these an be played by the whole family, not just the adults or the kids. Perhaps one of the most popular table games, of course, is foosball. This will take you away from the movies and video games, or even the standard board games, and liven up the room a bit. If you find yourself at a loss for basement family game room ideas, you should definitely consider these fun table games. They might take up some space, but they’re well worth it!
4. A Good Paint Job
It’s easy to get so wrapped up in your basement family game room ideas that you forget exactly how important it is to finish the room off properly. A lot of your enjoyment in a game room is going to come from lighting. You don’t want to be stuck in a dim or dark game room, because you won’t be able to play your games easily if you can’t see well. This can be especially challenging in a basement, where you won’t find any natural light. Without natural light, it can be easy to light the room too harshly and cause some eye strain. So: how do you solve this problem? Through great interior painting, of course.
One of the most natural choices to break up the darkness of a basement is a clean, bright white. But this can actually be contradictory to good basement family game room ideas, as bright white will show any smudges or scuffing. You don’t want to have to worry about that in a game room, where people will naturally become more active. A good alternative would be a sky blue, as this is still lightening without looking dirty as easily as a bright white would. It’s also a soothing, relaxing color that tends to be pleasing to most eyes. If you’d like something a bit more energy-inducing, a red could be a good idea, as it will also add warmth to the space. It’s nice to have some fun with color when painting, especially if that color happens to be a bright yellow. But if you’d really like to stick to the same vibes that white would give you, however, you can always go with a cream shade, or perhaps a taupe. Remember, though: this is a game room you’re planning. You’re meant to have fun with it!
5. Snacks And Drinks
Though it may seem odd at first to include food storage in your basement family game room ideas, there are some benefits to doing so. You’re better able to have fun in your game room if you can go ahead and enjoy some snacks in there as well, not to mention some drinks for the adults. Go ahead and include a couple of fridge freezers in your game room. This way, you can store food in there; ideally, this will include some snacks like pizzas that can easily be heated up in a toaster oven, so that you don’t have to move between your kitchen and your game room. You can also better justify your game room in this case, as you’ll be able to not only enjoy fun and games but also have a practical place to store some extra food.
On the adult side of things, because of course, the best basement family game room ideas have something to offer for both the kids and the adults, you might want to add a wet bar to your game room. A wet bar allows you to make drinks right within your game room, and store your ingredients right there. A wet bar is really another step up from what would be offered by a kitchen, and there are lots of advantages of being able to keep all of your entertainment outlets in one place.
6. Game Room Storage
Your game room is inevitably going to include furniture. After all, you don’t want to get back pain from standing in one place for too long! That, and additions like a pool table or foosball table, will inevitably take up space within your game room. Therefore, you’ll want to have other spaces for game storage.
A good idea for game storage, of course, is interior shelving. Interior shelving doesn’t take a lot of space away from the room itself, but it allows you to put your board games away. These can easily take up a lot of storage space, but interior shelving allows you to keep them safe, organized, and put away in a way that won’t damage them. It’s a necessary part of any game room, and you should definitely have that shelf space added while you’re completing the rest of your renovations. Definitely consider topping these renovations off with a visit from a residential cleaning service to better clear out the space.
There are a lot of benefits to adding a family game room to your home. It allows you to have wholesome fun with family and friends, and furthermore allows you to relax. In times like these, when a lot of people are spending more time cooped up in their homes than usual, this is extremely valuable. So: get to planning with an interior or on your own, and begin setting out to make the family game room of your dreams!
