Today’s family game room is more than just leftover furniture stitched together with a few beaten-up end tables. Game rooms now are comfortable, plush, and inviting.
Deciding how to outfit your own modern game room can be challenging. Most game rooms are now independent of the living room, where you might still find a television or other media. Bonus rooms, additional bedrooms, lofts, and even garages have become the new, modern game room, giving you plenty of space to relax, play, and entertain.
Having a hard time developing the perfect game room? We understand. Game rooms generally have a larger footprint, which means you’ll need more furniture to make them feel comfortable. It’s crucial to make sure your game room feels complete and not crowded. That’s where we can help.
Modloft offers modern, functional furniture that can help keep your game room looking sophisticated and comfortable and invite family and friends to spend countless hours enjoying one another’s company.
We’ll give you the information you need to create the perfect game room, including game room essentials, five ideas for a modern home game room that will wow your friends and family, and what to avoid when designing your favorite room.
Game Room Essentials
Game room, rec room, man cave, or she shack; whatever moniker you know it by, your home’s game room will see a lot more use if you include a few absolute essentials. Whether you’re a pool shark, ping pong pro, or housing teens who love video game play, your game room has to be equipped with the basics.
Seating
Sure, you could use the old couch that you were going to donate. It’s faded, the cushions are incredibly flat, and it’s a level zero in terms of attractiveness and comfort. Will it work for a game room? Maybe, but it definitely won’t set the stage for spending a lot of quality time there.
When planning a game room, your seating reigns supreme. Seating should be comfortable, practical, and visually appealing. A sectional sofa is your best bet, because it not only offers lots of seating, it’s casual and encourages gathering.
If your game room centers around video gaming, you’ll need individual chairs. Traditional gaming chairs and bean bag-style seating can make a room look cluttered. To preserve your room’s look, opt for chairs that still retain contemporary styling.
Modern styled chairs focus more on function before form, making them the perfect solution for keeping game room chairs functional and appealing.
Storage
You’re going to need storage for your game room. Whether your game room contains children’s toys, vintage VHS tapes or DVDs, or your favorite board games, keeping them together in one space not only keeps the pieces together where you’re able to find them quickly, it keeps your room looking clean and spacious.
Invest in a media console with storage and add double duty to one piece of furniture. It can hold games, books, and toys and also store a television on top.
Good Lighting
Surprised that lighting is an essential? Don’t be. This often-overlooked essential is key to making your game room more user-friendly. A game of pool is great, but if you’ve got a pool table in a lot with little to no overhead lighting, you’re more likely to miss a great shot.
Pendant lighting works well over gaming tables and areas where you might play cards or board games, while lamps can be a great option for video gaming and movie-watching.
5 Ideas for a Modern Home Game Room
Sometimes you know exactly what you want for a space, and sometimes you’re left with an area you just have trouble designing. If you’re stuck on putting together a modern game room, we’ve got five ideas to help you get your creative juices flowing.
1. Pick Your Passion (or Game)
A great game room starts with your favorite style of game or hobby. Whether you’ve got a serious passion for pool, or live for family board game nights, center your room around your sport.
It goes without saying, a gaming table is going to take up a large amount of space, regardless if it’s for ping pong, cards, or Trivial Pursuit. Use this furniture to fill the space and work accents around it like seating and storage.
Look for gaming tables that are more simplistic in design to keep with the modern aesthetic of your home. You aren’t limited to ornate wooden pool tables or cheaply made foldables.
- One we love: Modloft’s Amsterdam Ping Pong Table is elegant, functional, and the perfect addition to your modern gaming room. Crafted from unexpected materials like concrete and fiberglass, this table is visually stunning, built to last, and the perfect marriage of form and function.
2. Keep Drinks on Hand
A game room with a bar is the gold standard, but you can create a space for serving drinks, sans bar and barkeep with the right accent pieces.
Using a bar cart is a great way to keep your liquor and mixers stored and organized, along with a select amount of stemware. However, if you’re limited on space, a bar cart might not be an option.
The rule to follow is to keep it simple. Overcomplicating the design of a faux bar can look cluttered and forced. Consider using a small, simply structured console to house a small selection of drinks and mixers hand selected per occasion. A drink server can coral your drinks beautifully and keep the console organized.
- One to try: Modloft’s Endless Spirits Server. This unique beverage server is crafted from steel and finished in a beautiful walnut veneer, so no matter how many times you return for a pour, it will most assuredly last.
3. Just Add Art
Hosting a casino or game night with a new group? Prepare for any awkward conversational pauses by cleverly adding a conversation-sparking piece to your space. Wall art, modern centerpieces, or functional beverage and food servers are all great ways to keep the conversation flowing, spark interest about design, and keep everyone sociable. Consider it your conversational wingman.
Adding art also helps preserve the design of your game room, elevating it from extra space to an intentionally designed recreational area. Canvases and mirrors are perfect for keeping large walls occupied with design. Tabletop centerpieces are extremely effective for helping a space look finished and even keeping candy or other snacks on hand.
4. Opt for Versatility
Your game room doesn’t have to be limited to games. You can use your game room space for other family interests as well. Creating a reading nook is a great way to make your room multi-functional, and a sleek bookcase can help add design and storage, so a reading space becomes a reality.
Opt for a reading chair that can easily be joined in with the main seating section or pulled up to a card table for a quick game to keep your room functional and versatile.
A piece of furniture that wears many hats (so to speak) is a priceless asset. The Amsterdam ping pong table from Modloft can do almost anything you need it to. This concrete and fiberglass table serves as a regulation-sized ping pong table by day and transitions to a stunning dining table by night. If you can’t decide if you want this table on your patio or in your family room (or both), luckily, this table comes in both indoor and outdoor varieties and in two subtle colors.
With gaming tables that transition seamlessly to whatever your needs are, whether it be foosball or ping pong, you don’t need to pick form over function. Modloft serves up both: Style, meet substance.
5. Use Wall Space Wisely
If you’re working with limited space, using your wall space can save you a lot of time and headache when trying to fit gaming tables, seating, and essentials into your room. Opt for a wall unit that can double as game storage and even drink and snack storage.
If you aren’t planning to use media in your game room, a wall unit is still a great option because the large space you’d normally use for a TV can be used for dartboard storage, a make-shift bar area, or even a beverage cooler or basket for snacks.
Tips to Avoid Game Room Disaster
Your game room should be fun and relatively informal, but still coherently designed to match the remainder of your home. Here’s how to avoid game room mishaps.
- Don’t forgo fashion for form. You can use pieces that are comfortable, functional, and decoratively styled at the same time. A game room doesn’t have to consist of bean bags and furniture from your college dorm.
- Avoid clutter. This is a space to relax, but clutter isn’t relaxing. Avoid putting too much “stuff” in your game room, or it will feel busy.
- Respect your space. A game room that features a pool table or something similar requires space not just for the table itself, but for the players. Make sure your room has adequate space to house the pieces of furniture (including gaming tables) you want to include in it.
The Takeaway
Creating a modern home game room that flows with the design of your home is easy when you choose functional modern pieces that are durable and beautiful. Modloft can help you outfit your game room with pieces that invite relaxation and spark conversation.
Sources:
25 Cool Game Room Ideas | Family Handy Man
10+ Brilliant Bonus Room Ideas - Creative Bonus Room Designs | Elle Decor
