Starting with a blank slate game room

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

I always enjoy taking a look what people have done with their game rooms and how it goes from start to finish. Well my time has come, we purchased our new house and will be moving from our house in MD back to NY in July. I’m originally from where we are moving back to so I guess I’m really just going home. 

Anyways, the basement is completely unfinished, so as the title states, I’m starting with a blank slate!

So for any of you that have had a similar experience or even just remodeled, do you have any advice or things I should look out for? And even those who have seen cool things or have an idea about what you’d do with a blank space chime in. 

The basement design is neat, the staircase comes down in the middle and you basically have that in the center with all 4 walls open that make up the foundation. It’s a crap ton of room and I will provide measurements when I see the house in person next weekend. I’m fairly certain I’m done buying shelves and will be implementing single track shelving right on the studs ala @CodysGameRoom but other than that give me some ideas and knowledge from your experience!

[dogbowl | 150]

I placed 15 amp outlets each with dedicated switches around my basement in particular spots where I thought I'd use them (for pinballs) and then, naturally, we ended up organizing the room differently.

 

So, don't stress too much because your plans will change.

 

I also had built-in shelves built - shallow and just high enough for boxed NES & Atari games. Floor to ceiling! They look great but can't be used to store anything else.

 

 

 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

If I had a blank slate, i would make a larger walk-in style closet that would contain all my games, just floor to ceiling with a display in the middle. Easy to lock and close the door. Keep the clutter in there, almost like a “safe” room. LED lit shelves. Something fancy like a fingerprint scanner would make it fun. 
 

Then, in the main game room area keep it clean with larger pieces here and there or display items along with console setup. 
 

Random thoughts:

-receptacles in ceiling/high shelfs for hanging signs or display

-LED lit shelves/dedicated display lighting

-floor box for power or charging at a coffee table

-backing inside the walls for shelving if rough frame needs to be done

-higher receptacle for flatscreen along with hidden conduit for AV wires

 

A general building note since I know you work in tech- if you run security, cameras, house server etc. and want all rooms wired, build in a tech closet. All your cat6, coax, phone can be administrated from one place with proper power and grounding keep out of the way. 
 

good luck, I am jealous of a nice clean slate. Especially since we dont have basements often in earthquake zones. 

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

12 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

If I had a blank slate, i would make a larger walk-in style closet that would contain all my games, just floor to ceiling with a display in the middle. Easy to lock and close the door. Keep the clutter in there, almost like a “safe” room. LED lit shelves. Something fancy like a fingerprint scanner would make it fun. 
 

Then, in the main game room area keep it clean with larger pieces here and there or display items along with console setup. 
 

Random thoughts:

-receptacles in ceiling/high shelfs for hanging signs or display

-LED lit shelves/dedicated display lighting

-floor box for power or charging at a coffee table

-backing inside the walls for shelving if rough frame needs to be done

-higher receptacle for flatscreen along with hidden conduit for AV wires

 

A general building note since I know you work in tech- if you run security, cameras, house server etc. and want all rooms wired, build in a tech closet. All your cat6, coax, phone can be administrated from one place with proper power and grounding keep out of the way. 
 

good luck, I am jealous of a nice clean slate. Especially since we dont have basements often in earthquake zones. 

Man I like the idea of having a closed off space for the valuables but I like the idea of everything just being out and just surrounding the space sort of like SeeJayAre. I don’t really have any signs that plug in but I’ll take that into consideration for maybe the future. The space is just basically framed out around the foundation now so definitely running AV up high to whatever TVs I plan on hanging. My current gen stuff will be upstairs with my LG CX TV some I’m not too worried about networking but I will probably do it anyways cause I’ll regret not doing it once the drywall goes up. I’m crazy about hiding wires so definitely all that in the walls. I’m really hoping the rest of the house is already wired with cat5e/cat6 but I’m not holding my breath on that!

Edited May 29, 2022 by a3quit4s

[O.G. CIB | 415]

1 hour ago, a3quit4s said:

Man I like the idea of having a closed off space for the valuables but I like the idea of everything just being out and just surrounding the space sort of like SeeJayAre. I don’t really have any signs that plug in but I’ll take that into consideration for maybe the future. The space is just basically framed out around the foundation now so definitely running AV up high to whatever TVs I plan on hanging. My current gen stuff will be upstairs with my LG CX TV some I’m not too worried about networking but I will probably do it anyways cause I’ll regret not doing it once the drywall goes up. I’m crazy about hiding wires so definitely all that in the walls. I’m really hoping the rest of the house is already wired with cat5e/cat6 but I’m not holding my breath on that!

As some with a “safe room” or vault type setup for strictly the games I can tell you it’s the best thing IMO. I don’t have to worry about kids getting to the games, the times something has to be serviced that’s in the basement (water hear or electrical panel for example) and my stress level is overall less knowing they can’t be seen unless I want you to see them. 
 

If you starting with a blank slate things to consider are

1. lighting- do you want can lights, LED on shelves, display lighting. Lighting is honestly the single most important thing.
2. If you plan to have cameras down there consider placement so you can run power. 
3. For you main /display sitting area. Surround sound? Dolby 5.1, 7.1, 7.2.4. Running the speaker wire ahead of time saves a ton of time

4. Where are you mounting Displays? Are you going to setup like SeeJayAre with CRTs in every corner. If so you need to plan for power 

5. Are you planning to add centralized air condition system. 
6. Do you have any potential for leaks? Is the water coming in thru the basement and visible.

7. are there any humidity issue in the basement? If so think about how to address 

if you plan to use Cody’s system it’s very flexible. Map out your layout on paper and take corner turns into consideration so you don’t order more material than you need. I believe he mounted to the stud and skip a couple spots and plans to redo a couple areas. If studs are placed every 16” the it won’t sag but the upfront cost it higher. 
 

Last thing I’ve ran into is how do you plan to display console boxes or controllers, if any. 
 

starting from scratch is fun. Can’t wait to see the pictures of the progress. 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Mr. CIB

[fox | 1,685]

Needs about 50 Funko Pops min

[CodysGameRoom | 2,009]

A couple things about my shelving style:

1. I didn't paint the lumber. You can and it might look "nicer", but for how much I did, I didn't bother with it, and I don't think it looks bad.

2. I intentionally used the 6 inch wide brackets. Mostly the standard brackets you find are 8 or 10 inch. I had to drive around to 5-6 local Menards multiple times to get all the 6 inch brackets I needed. This was because I didn't want to have shelves that stuck out longer than the games did. This saves space and looks very clean. However, you can get 8 or 10 inch brackets and wood for wider items like PC games or for displaying console boxes etc.

3. Keep the lumber short, the whole point is to make it adjustable. So I can have a 72 inch long section for NES games, then another 72 inch section for Saturn games next to it if I want, and just adjust the spacing between brackets to accommodate.  

I might add, if you are gonna do ceiling to floor shelving with games that completely obscure the wall... don't bother painting that section of the wall haha

Edited May 31, 2022 by CodysGameRoom

[RH | 4,990]

10 hours ago, fox said:

Needs about 50 Funko Pops min

We need a "gross" emoji.  To each there own but I really don't like how vintage game shops are often over-run with Funk Pops.  Yuck.

[TDIRunner | 2,783]

I'm in the middle of that now.

When we bought our house, it had a completely unfinished  basement.  However, since we had to gut the entire upper level (kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, everything), finishing the basement was low on the priority list.  After spending a year replacing everything upstairs, I obviously needed a break and had no immediate plans for the basement.  Rather than finishing the basement, I ended up setting my game room in the unfinished space and enjoyed it for several years.  Right before COVID hit, I started to finally finish the basement which required me to pack up most of my game room into boxes.  COVID slowed my progress down because I had too much going on at work to get anything done at home, so I've been slowly getting the basement finished since then. 

Currently, I'm about halfway done, but I'm at the point where I can start to setup my game room again.  The next step is to build the entertainment system that will hold all of my gaming systems.  I have it drawn out on paper, but that will be a big project on its own and with current lumber and plywood prices, it won't be cheap.  Once I get that part done, I planned to start a big thread with all of my before and after pictures along with the many WIP pictures from along the way.   

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

1 minute ago, TDIRunner said:

I'm in the middle of that now.

When we bought our house, it had a completely unfinished  basement.  However, since we had to gut the entire upper level (kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, everything), finishing the basement was low on the priority list.  After spending a year replacing everything upstairs, I obviously needed a break and had no immediate plans for the basement.  Rather than finishing the basement, I ended up setting my game room in the unfinished space and enjoyed it for several years.  Right before COVID hit, I started to finally finish the basement which required me to pack up most of my game room into boxes.  COVID slowed my progress down because I had too much going on at work to get anything done at home, so I've been slowly getting the basement finished since then. 

Currently, I'm about halfway done, but I'm at the point where I can start to setup my game room again.  The next step is to build the entertainment system that will hold all of my gaming systems.  I have it drawn out on paper, but that will be a big project on its own and with current lumber and plywood prices, it won't be cheap.  Once I get that part done, I planned to start a big thread with all of my before and after pictures along with the many WIP pictures from along the way.   

I was thinking of doing this, just using the space as is unfinished but I don’t know we have the money from selling our old house and the rest of the house needs no work besides getting new furniture. Besides for the shelves, I’ll probably just end up reusing a lot of the furniture that I have. I do like the idea of running power up high for my TV or TVs and also hiding every cable I can. Other than that I’ll probably just keep it really simple and drywall everything, use recessed lighting, and vinyl plank on the floors like we redid the basement here. I don’t have to worry about surround sound because it’s all retro stuff down there. I dunno maybe I’m not doing a good job of thinking future ready and just planning for what I already have. 

[OptOut | 8,892]

Can we get pics of this basement up in here?

I need something to visualise dude, hook me up!

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

I’m going to the house this weekend and will take picture of its current state! @OptOut

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

Ok so we finally moved in so I thought I’d bump this with pictures of the basement so people know what I am working with. It’s huge. 33’ x 30’

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

The two immediate thoughts I had were to either turn the staircase so it comes down straight and only finish half the room where the window is for some natural light or to leave the stairs and finish off an L shape around the stairs back towards the window and leave the other quadrant unfinished. I like the L shape because I can put a door there to like “enter” the game room. Mostly depends on the reno budget and how much sq ft we are adding for property tax purposes. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by a3quit4s

[OptOut | 8,892]

Nice big space there! How's the moisture/humidity down there? IMO number one priority for a basement space is ventilation/insulation/climate control.

Once your environment down there is stable, you can really let your imagination run wild on the rest of the set up, basically design the dream game room! 

[Jeevan | 8,976]

Remember the @DoctorEncore event, all im sayin'

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

27 minutes ago, OptOut said:

Nice big space there! How's the moisture/humidity down there? IMO number one priority for a basement space is ventilation/insulation/climate control.

Once your environment down there is stable, you can really let your imagination run wild on the rest of the set up, basically design the dream game room! 

Humidity is not so bad and there is no evidence of water damage anywhere that I can see. I supposed it’d probably be a good idea to tape up a plastic sheet to the wall and see if moisture gathers on the inside or outside over a couple days. I did bring a de-humidifier with me from MD so I can run that down there as well as see if it takes any moisture out. I’ll probably need to run a ductless mini split down there for heat/AC. 
 

Honestly I dont even want anything crazy. Nice luxury vinyl flooring because it’s durable and cheap, recessed lighting, outlets up high for the TV mount and white paint lol. I don’t want the room to distract from the games haha
 

Edited July 27, 2022 by a3quit4s

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Damn thats awesome. Cant wait to see it. 

[AirVillain | 492]

Love this type of stuff. 

You have got a TON of space. 

I would basically make everything flood proof and that would make me feel more comfortable, personally. 

All the best! Looking forward to the progress here. 

 

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

I’m gonna have a contractor come over within the next week and talk through my ideas and give me an idea of cost and time to completion. I’ll post up what I find out. Hoping to have the games moved in by September but I know with Covid and everything going on it may be more like Oct/Nov

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

Don't feel like you have to go absolutely nuts with displaying everything. I did that and ending up scaling way back because I personally felt like it was impeding on the usefulness of the space and it was visually overbearing. To each their own, but the floor to ceiling, video store display setup didn't do it for me. Now I just have two Billy Ikea shelves with all my CIB stuff and a few things on display on the side.

You have a really nice space there.. looking forward to seeing the progress. Make sure you leave lots of space to chill and play!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,606]

See I'm the opposite.  Hate minimalism.  Drown me in game room stimuli 

[a3quit4s | 4,129]

53 minutes ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

Don't feel like you have to go absolutely nuts with displaying everything. I did that and ending up scaling way back because I personally felt like it was impeding on the usefulness of the space and it was visually overbearing. To each their own, but the floor to ceiling, video store display setup didn't do it for me. Now I just have two Billy Ikea shelves with all my CIB stuff and a few things on display on the side.

You have a really nice space there.. looking forward to seeing the progress. Make sure you leave lots of space to chill and play!

I need to do a better job of giving people places to sit and actually play the games lol

@Reed Rothchild you gonna come build me shelves!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,606]

I dunno, with the current cost of lumber it might bankrupt you 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

5 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

I’m gonna have a contractor come over within the next week and talk through my ideas and give me an idea of cost and time to completion. I’ll post up what I find out. Hoping to have the games moved in by September but I know with Covid and everything going on it may be more like Oct/Nov

Depending on how serious you get I’m gonna say 25 to 75K w/ Electrical if you don’t need a service upgrade. 
 

35 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I dunno, with the current cost of lumber it might bankrupt you 

Not sure what the code in New York State is, but steel stud framing is usually far cheaperNot sure what the code in New York State is, but steel stud framing is usually far cheaper