Small Recreation Rooms: 27 Ideas to Maximize Space and Fun

Small Recreation Rooms: 27 Ideas to Maximize Space and Fun

Posted by Home Billiards on 14th Feb 2024

Small game room? Here are vetted design tips and activities to help you get the most out of your space

When you think of game rooms, you may think of sprawling, multi-room spaces that barrage you with lights, sounds, and dozens of things to do. These are certainly fun, but there’s another way to enjoy this type of thing from right within your home; all it takes is a little space, some work, and a handful of small game room ideas.

Read below to learn what you can do to maximize space within your small game room and what sorts of activities you can enjoy within this space.

Key takeaways

How to maximize space within small game rooms

Build up, not sideways

Use wall-mounted shelves or vertical storage units to keep the floor clear and create additional storage space. For instance, store games, controllers, board games, and accessories in ascending storage cubes or on low-profile, wall-mounted shelves

A green pool table in a room with wooden floors and walls and a tall, wooden shelf.

Use customizable furniture

Invest in furniture that offers easy rearrangement to suit different needs. A sectional sofa with detachable pieces, for example, allows you to customize seating arrangements based on the number of guests or the activity taking place in the room.

Prioritize floating furniture

Opt for floating shelves, desks, or cabinets to give the appearance of more floor space. A floating desk mounted on the wall, for example, makes for a perfect, sleek computer or gaming setup.

Fold when possible

There are fold-down options that attach to your wall and there are fold-down options you break down and stow away; both are great options if you’re low on space or only need extra tables or seating occasionally. Fold-down wall desks, for example, are great for temporary projects or workstations; folding ping pong tables offer a similar on-demand option for ping pong.

Experiment with conversion tops

Versatility is your best friend in smaller game rooms. Why waste space with specific tables for different activities when you can get one table that accommodates multiple things? For example, with the right conversion top, turn your dining table into a ping pong table.

Choose with dual purpose in mind

Light sources with USBs to charge your devices, TV stands with shelves for storage or displays; with everything you get for your games room, prioritize additions with multiple purposes. It’ll save space and be more efficient down the road.

Hang from the roof

If feasible (as in reachable and able to bear hanging weight), hang storage devices, install pull-down projectors, and generally take advantage of the free space that is your roof. Also look for opportunities to hang off of larger furniture, such as with The Perfect Drawer.

Stow across the ceiling

Consider ceiling-mounted storage racks for items you don’t use a lot, like seasonal decorations or rarely played games. This frees up space while keeping your important–but-less-used items organized.

Use sliding doors

Save space and add a stylish touch with sliding barn doors instead of traditional doors. These are especially useful if the swinging radius of traditional doors is impractical (i.e. eats away space from your pool playing).

Manage cables

Running, disorganised cables degrade even the nicest rooms. Keep cables organized and hidden using cable organizers, clips, or raceways. Cable organizers attached to the back of a TV stand or entertainment unit is one approach.

Expand with mirrors

Create the illusion of a larger space with strategically-placed mirrors. Placing a large mirror opposite a window or light source, for instance, not only brightens the space but also makes the room feel more open and spacious.

Install multiple light sources

Install multiple light sources across your game room to suit different areas, activities, or themes (neon, natural, steampunk, etc.). Otherwise, one big light can feel harsh and give your room a hospital or office feeling.

Add some green

If your game room is in a basement or lacks windows, plants are an easy way to liven things up and make the space feel more alive. Potted or hanging cacti, succulents, and snake plants are all great options that require little water or sunlight.

Add personal touches

Get creative! This is your space, so add any art, vinyls, personal achievements, or other additions that bring your space to life and make you want to spend time in it. Aim to strike a balance between decor and function, as too much decoration can hinder your ability to actually use the space.

A yellow pool table in a carpeted room with hockey jerseys on the walls around it.

What to do in your small game room

Board games

Set up a corner with a playing surface and comfortable seating for friends or family to enjoy board games, card games, or puzzles.

Card games

Host poker nights by keeping a foldable card table and a set of poker chips on hand. Foldable card tables are a perfect way to accommodate card games without a permanent setup. There are also multi-purpose game tables that allow you to play multiple types of games on one table.

Video games

Make for the ultimate gaming experience—for you, friends, and family—with a hub for all of your consoles (or just your PC), an HD screen, comfortable seating, and space for multiple people to cozy up with a controller in hand. Or, go the old-school route with arcade cabinets; you can even find ones with hundreds of old games playable inside of just one cabinet.

Theatre

Projection setups continue to shrink in size every year. Now, you can get a large, low-profile pull-down screen, a wall-mounted projector, wireless speakers, and a smart device to connect to all the latest streaming services for the price of a regular TV. With blackout shades for windows and dimmable lights, you’ve got yourself as good a theatre experience as any—whether it’s for movies or sports.

Play pool

The perfect centrepiece for a small game room, a  small pool table is a great way to hone your game or spend hours with friends or family. If you’re worried about space, a dining conversion top turns your pool table into a dining table in a matter of seconds.

A blue pool table in a naturally lit room with a tool snake plant behind it.

Ping Pong

An approachable game for everyone, ping pong can either be set up as a full table if you anticipate playing with people frequently or as a half table against a wall. The second option allows you to still play without the space of a full table. There are even arcade versions of beer pong that can be played solo or with people.

Putting green

Stuck inside for the winter waiting to get back on the green? Practice with a roll-out mini golf mat, easily stored and unrolled in your game room.

Scavenger hunts and elaborate puzzles

For a family or friendly night in, create DIY scavenger hunts or puzzles right within your game room. Hidden compartments within bookshelves, clues in hanging pots, and missing puzzle pieces for an incomplete puzzle are just a few options.

Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality

Designate an area with enough space around you for Virtual or Augmented Reality. All you need is a TV (sometimes you don’t even need a TV), one of the many VR consoles available, and a headset, and you’ve got yourself a VR station for your favourite games or experiences.

Karaoke

Create a compact karaoke setup with nothing but a TV, a wireless microphone, and somewhere to sit between sessions of singing your heart out (soundproofing your game room might also be a good decision here).

DIY crafts and hobbies

Draw, paint, or pursue any other craft or hobby on a floating crafting table. Attach storage bins, a stand for your canvas, and perhaps a pegboard, and you’re ready for just about any creative pursuit.

Mini home gym

Door frame chin-up bars, portable dip bars, and one or two sets of dumbbells are enough to transform a corner of your game room into a mini home gym. Want to bang out a set of chin-ups between bingeing a new series on Netflix? Now you can.

Library

A comfy chair or bean bag, a soft overhead light, and a curated selection of your favourite books an arm’s length away on a wall-mounted shelf is about as relaxing as reading gets.

Small game room FAQs

How do you arrange a small game room?

To arrange a small game room, start by thinking about the activities you’ll be doing the most. Bring in whatever you need to be able to do these activities, and then use them as your centrepieces to build around.

For example, if you plan on mainly using your game room for pool, start with the table itself (using our pool table room size guide as your guide). This will be your centrepiece, and you can build seating, lighting, storage, and other components of the room in support of your table and overall pool playing.

How do you keep a small gaming room cool?

To keep a small gaming room cool, air conditioning is the easiest option. But if central AC isn’t enough to keep your room cool, consider opening windows, keeping doors open to allow circulation, and using fans or dehumidifiers.

If there are big generators of heat, such as a high-power gaming computer, cooling units may be worth investing in.

How to decorate a game room on a budget?

To decorate a game room on a budget, the biggest bang for your buck is going to come from mirrors, greenery, multiple light sources, and personal touches.

Mirrors will help make your space look bigger, greenery will inject life into the space (especially if there are no windows), and multiple light sources will lead to less harsh lighting and help you better control the vibe depending on what you’re doing. Then there are personal touches, which could be artwork you like, albums you enjoy, trophies you’ve won, or anything that makes you happy when you look at it.

Wrapping up

Don’t let a lack of space stop you from enjoying the game room of your dreams. As this hopefully showed you, regardless of what you’re working with, there’s a way to maximize and enjoy your space.

Need help designing your perfect game room? Contact Home Billiards for a free consultation.

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