How to Set Up a Family Recreation Room
Every room in the house has a special function, but don’t forget the best spot in your home: the family rec room! If you need to set aside a special place where everyone can get together, chat, play games, or enjoy a family movie night, here’s how to set up a family recreation room. Outfit that basement or extra room with the accoutrement for family fun times!
Keep Things Bright and Light
A recreation room is all about fun, and while you can have a good time in a sedately colored and furnished room, why not add a little life with extra light and color? Paint the walls in bright colors, or go with a pleasant white with dazzling accents. Drawers, cabinet doors, support posts and beams, and other elements don’t have to be the same color. Make them stand out with cheerful shades to show this is a room for fun with a capital F.
Plot and Design
Think about what you’ll use the room for most of the time. A place to watch movies and play video games? Or more of a board game and puzzle-building room? Or perhaps a workout space and playroom where you and the kids can work off energy and keep fit on rainy, snowy, or too-hot days? Or maybe all three! Measure the room, think of everything you want to do there, and then draw up a plan showing where everything needs to go. A home theater requires plush chairs and sofas and a wide-screen television (and don’t forget to install dimmable lights as well). An exercise room needs a spot for machinery and free weights and space for yoga, Pilates, or what have you. Let your imagination roam; then decide where it all goes.
Smells Like Theme Spirit
As a family, it might be challenging to decide on a shared theme beyond fun and good times. But if there’s a common thread of interest between you, keep it in mind while you design. If you’re a sports fan, your favorite teams provide an abundance of doodads you can use to decorate the ceiling, walls, and floors. Keep the team colors in mind when you pick and coordinate the furniture or paint. Investigate large wall stickers featuring the mascot or team logo too! If you’re a movie fan, making your home theater look like a real theater—framed posters, theater seats, and a popcorn machine, for instance—is always a great idea.
Sound and Vision
When deciding how to set up a family recreation room, try to keep the aural element in mind as well as the visual. Wire the room for sound for both the television and whatever music players you have. Leave a dance floor available, and make a reading and music-listening nook with a cozy chair where you can curl up with your headphones, a little wine, a few snacks, and a good book. Remember, the “rec” in “rec room” means recreation!
