When you ask most families what their dream home would look like, most would mention an entertainment room as one of their priorities. There is no one way to design the perfect entertainment room for your family, and this does not have to be expensive. Whatever your budget and interests are, here is a guide that includes some of the best design tips that you will need when you are designing a family entertainment room that caters to everyone in your family.
Buy Traditional Gaming Machines
Although your first thought when it comes to entertainment rooms might be investing in the biggest and newest technology that is out there, such as 50-inch gaming televisions, there are some traditional staples that no entertainment room should be without. When you think of an entertainment room, most adults will cite the need for traditional games, such as a pool table or an arcade machine. If you want to give your room a nostalgia vibe that will never go out of fashion, you should consider combining modern technology with retro fixtures in the form of arcade machines from Bitcade. This can also help you to introduce the younger members of your family to a game that you used to play – and enjoy – when you were a kid.
Make it Tech-Savvy
There is no harm in getting the best of both worlds by making your entertainment room tech-savvy. This will help your room to appeal to the younger generations and can ensure that there is something for everyone to play when they enter the room. For instance, you should consider placing a large HD television on a feature wall, with many of these televisions now coming with smart functions that can allow you to enjoy extras, such as streaming services like Netflix, on these devices. You should also rig your entertainment room up to the house Wi-Fi and even consider giving your devices a direct connection to the internet to ensure that your playtime is not interrupted by the dreaded loading sign.
You might also consider installing smart equipment into your entertainment room to ensure that you can control all the different elements of the room without once having to get off the couch. For instance, you might consider investing in a voice assistant that can help you to play music and skip songs hands-free.
Create a Comfortable Seating Area
As well as finding the best gadgets to play with within your entertainment room, you can also make sure that your family uses the room often and that they enjoy being in the space by installing comfortable seating. This will help your family to spend longer relaxing together without getting bad backs and neck pain. For this reason, you should consider investing in specialist gaming chairs and adjustable seating, which can be adapted to the person who is sitting in it and their needs. You should also make sure that you consider how to create a social seating area for those that come to your entertainment room to chat, with many people opting for L-shaped sofas, beanbags, and armchairs. These can be positioned in a semi-circular formation for those that want to enjoy a casual conversation.
Get the Best Lighting
With so many screens in such a small space, and the need to create a cozy atmosphere, getting the right amount of lighting can be difficult. Not only this, but entertainment rooms are often converted from spare rooms, such as basements, which have low levels of natural lighting originally. You can get the right natural lighting levels within your entertainment room by installing mirrors into your space and by cutting back any foliage that is lying across your windows. If this is still not enough, you should scatter lamps and ceiling lights around the space to allow your family to see what they are doing. If you want to create a certain mood in the space instead, you should opt for lighting dimmers and smart lighting features, which can allow you to turn your lights down to a warm glow for those after-dinner play sessions.
Allow Space
The most important design factor of the perfect entertainment room, though, is space. Every entertainment room should have enough room within it for your family to play active games within the area without bumping into furnishings or hurting themselves. This means that you should only invest in the bare minimum of furniture, get any furniture that you do need custom-measured, and consider the layout of the room so that there is enough space around your gaming equipment that your family can use it without encountering any issues.