What is a custom home without the perfect mancave or game room, right? Whether most of us want to admit it or not, there is still that inner child in us that loves to play video or computer games. If you spend a lot of time tying up the family room TV or computer, why not have a custom gaming room built right into your new custom home?
We have put together a list of some of the top items we believe you need to have the perfect gaming room in your new custom home.
Lighting
Gamers love to have dimly lit rooms so the lighting does not take away from the gaming experience. For the best experience, we recommend low-level and consistent ambient lighting with dimmable bulbs and fixtures. For an extra flare, add some spotlights to highlight the gaming setup.
In addition to the “normal” lighting, consider adding trim lighting to further enhance the gaming experience. Gamers love LED strip lighting, as it looks amazing when the other lights around the room are dimmed. I have one friend who is an electrical genius, and he has his LED strip lighting working in conjunction with some of the effects of the games… it is a truly remarkable experience and his home has quickly become the weekend hangout for the boys.
Gaming Shelves
If you would rather own the games than simply rent them (as some of the newer systems allow), you probably have games stacked and hidden all over the place. Instead of hiding the games or losing track of them, have shelving installed to make a display of all the different games and systems you have. If sports fans can show off their collectibles, then we can show off the thousands of dollars we have spent in games over the decades since we started playing!
The Furniture
If you are going to make one serious investment in furniture for your gaming room, make it on the gaming chair. If you really want to drop a few bucks, you can get a chair that has speakers and interacts with the game. If you are a desktop gamer, make sure you invest in a decent desk that can properly hold all of your monitors as well as space for extra controllers. It’s not furniture, but we would also recommend investing in a good set of gaming headphones for when the wife inevitably yells at you and tells you to keep it down.
The Placement
With any decent gaming system comes a lot of cords, so you want to make sure you place the setup in an area that will not receive a lot of traffic. You will also want to check your monitor placement to ensure any natural light in the room does not create glare on the screen.
Soundproofing
As we noted above, the games can get a bit noisy and can bother other people in the house, especially when you are in a marathon gaming session. Soundproofing the room could wind up saving your marriage.
If your construction manager or architect is not familiar with designing gaming rooms, you may want to add a consultant to your roster that specializes in setting up these types of rooms. My guess is that even if your residential construction manager does not have a lot of experience in this, he or she will have someone they work with regularly because more and more homes are incorporating gaming rooms and man caves into their designs.
If you think you will need help designing your custom home as well as help during the construction process, Better Build Now can help. We offer a wide variety of services, including residential construction project managers and consultants. Give us a call today at 888-402-4180 for more information.