Creating a Game Room - ideas?

[skybytch 273]

Hubby and I love to play craps. It's the only game in a casino that we play.  I'll happily stand at a table for hours, until the stake runs out or when I can't keep my eyes open any longer. But the closest real craps is three hours away, so we don't get to play as often as we'd like.  Last month we got a craps felt layout and some dice so we could play at home.  It's been played daily since.  We made the mistake of looking on Amazon for some additional chips and maybe a stick on Black Friday.  And, well, you know how it goes, our craps table and all the accessories will be arriving early next week.  

So where do we put it?  For now it'll replace the dining table and we'll eat at the island.  But really, a damn near casino size craps table needs a game room. And we've each wanted one for years.  One of our hopes when we bought this place was that we could eventually build one. 

Once we ordered the table, we started to talk again about how cool a game room would be. And then it came to us. There are two rooms in the outbuilding.  One is the loft and the other is being used for storage; the plan was that the storage side would become my sewing room.  We've been in there so few times that we had forgotten just how big that room is; in my mind it is the size of a small bedroom.  But it's not.  It's 21x13 feet... big enough for a game room!

It's a white room with a plywood floor at the moment.  I need ideas.  Tell me what your game room has in it and how it's "decorated", or what it would have in it and how it would be decorated if you had a game room.  Thanks!

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

Well, my personal idea of a 'game room' would include a drill press, metal lathe, drilling & milling machine, shop press, several tool chests, air compressor... You get the idea. 

But that's not what you are after. 

Sooooo...

Bar. Doesn't need to be fancy. Basic 'open in the back, closed in the front, decent top, kind of thing. Plans are readily available, materials won't run too much. Running water would be nice, but spendy if you don't already have it in the building. 
Bar stools are cheap at thrift stores. 

 

Card table. The octagon ones with recesses for chips and cup holders. Make it yourself or find a cheap one on C/L or at a thrift store.

Video game. Console or computer, bigger screen for groups. A couch or a couple big chairs. 
If you want to go 'all in', old stand up arcade games & pinball machines are out there. Not cheap, but really cool.

 

Dart board. The basic electronic ones can be found cheap on C/L or at thrift stores. You could go 'old school' and get the kind that use metal tipped darts. But drunk skydivers and sharp metal flying through the air can make for...
Interesting outcomes. 

And on the 'sharp metal flying through the air' theme, a throwing knife target. That can be as simple as sections of 2x4 edge glued together to make a 3' square face. They get chewed up over time, but are simple & cheap. A set of knives is not expensive. It's an interesting skill to develop. Make sure the target is NOT near anything breakable or valuable (guess how I know this little tidbit). 

[Rick 67]

I have a high top table, a dart board (steel) ,a ping pong table and a big tv in mine. It is decorated with a bunch of Harley paraphernalia. After the 1st of the year we are going to start building the bar. 

It works good for us because it has an outside entrance and a half bath. So my drunken friends can come in from the outside and hang out without disturbing my wife's watching of the scifi channel :). 

[JerryBaumchen 1,451]

7 hours ago, skybytch said:

7 hours ago, skybytch said:

 

 or what it would have in it 

Hi sky,

I don't care what Prof. Harold Hill says, my game room ( with enough actual room ) would have a pool table.

Jerry Baumchen

Edited December 4, 2019 by JerryBaumchen

[wmw999 2,558]

An old parachute hanging from the ceiling if it's not real awesome looking. If you're really bored, you can make macramé coasters out of the lines.

A little fridge, and a little cabinet to put chips and/or healthy food into. A bowl on the bar with some fruit, to encourage eating it.

Some comfortable chairs to hang out in. I find that the folding patio chairs with cushions (like this one ) are comfortable, store easily, and are dirt cheap at places like Odd Lots. 

Enjoy it!

Wendy P.

[JerryBaumchen 1,451]

2 hours ago, wmw999 said:

folding patio chairs with cushions 

Hi Wendy,

Available here:  https://dealmama.com/2016/06/jaclyn-smith-channeled-cushion-folding-chair-9-99/

Jerry Baumchen

[wmw999 2,558]

Thanks; it showed up as no longer available when i first looked, but it’s pretty dead now. That kind of chair is pretty comfortable to me  

Wendy P. 

[sfzombie13 324]

i built an arcade cabinet, 2 player stand up.  it is ran on a raspberry pi and has about 5000 games on it.  cost me about $500 total and it took a bit.

[skybytch 273]

Thanks everyone!

We have a tentative plan. The craps table and the dartboard we already have (GranBoard - google it, it's cool).  Craigslist shall provide an air hockey table, a game table and a standalone bar and stools (for now... if we ever find time we'll build our perfect bar).  Just found a Taxi pinball machine - our favorite machine! - on CL; if only it wasn't two grand! Maybe someday. Carpet on the floor (mainly for insulation). Fridge for beer and mixers. Shelves behind the bar for the booze.  TV, stereo, media computer, Wii, Xbox. A comfy chair or two.  A ton of board games. And one of those fake fireplace heaters. 

The walls will be covered with some cheap paneling. And 30 years of two jumpers skydiving shit collections - pictures, tshirts, pull up cords, patches, stickers, awards, medals, y'know all that stuff in those boxes in storage that haven't seen the light of day in eons.  There won't be much in the way of visible paneling when we're done. 

I love the round on the ceiling idea Wendy!  I still have my old 20' reserve somewhere in one of those boxes, it may need to get back "in the air".

Last Load Lounge.  If all goes to plan, the first load will be early next year. If you ask nice, you can be on it.

[SethInMI 174]

23 hours ago, skybytch said:

Last Load Lounge.

perfect. 

[BIGUN 1,438]

On 12/6/2019 at 9:49 AM, skybytch said:

The walls will be covered with some cheap paneling. And 30 years of two jumpers skydiving shit collections - pictures, tshirts, pull up cords, patches, stickers, awards, medals, y'know all that stuff in those boxes in storage that haven't seen the light of day in eons. 

Love it. Years of both Harley & skydiving shit would go in mine. The "Last Load Lounge" would HAVE to have the requisite cable spool table for ambience. My only question is - Where ya gonna put the stripper pole?   

[skybytch 273]

3 hours ago, BIGUN said:

My only question is - Where ya gonna put the stripper pole?   

I'm old now.  I'd fall off. Pain hurts. The closest hospital is 30 minutes away.  So, yeah, no stripper pole.

But the cable spool table is spot on. Going on the project list now! 

 

[Rick 67]

On 12/8/2019 at 10:13 AM, BIGUN said:

Where ya gonna put the stripper pole?

even when I called it an excercise pole my wife was against the idea

[SethInMI 174]

On 12/9/2019 at 11:51 AM, Rick said:

wife was against the idea

she shouldn't just put herself against it, but more just swing around it.

[skybytch 273]

Almost a year later....Hubby decided that he no longer needs a loft (!!) so the game room is going in there.  The room is empty and painted, just have to put down some cheap vinyl flooring and new lighting and it'll be time to fill it up

Plan is to be done by Turkey day (the one where we eat turkeys, not the one where we choose a new one for president). Hopefully we can have it done by then. A pinball machine, a ridiculously large TV in the box, new speakers in boxes, the craps table and a few boxes of stuff for the walls are all sitting in the living room.  Waiting...

 

[turtlespeed 226]

On 12/8/2019 at 10:13 AM, BIGUN said:

Love it. Years of both Harley & skydiving shit would go in mine. The "Last Load Lounge" would HAVE to have the requisite cable spool table for ambience. My only question is - Where ya gonna put the stripper pole?   

In the center of the spool!!!

For better viewing.