The Old-School Room In A Home That's Suddenly Trending Again (And How To Do One Right)

This year is seeing a trend in game room design spurred on by the desires of Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. Don't worry — dedicated gaming consoles haven't gone the way of the dodo in these new setups. However, the space around those consoles is designed to embrace the social interactions that modern homeowners crave. As such, the space has become multipurpose and can adapt to the homeowners' changing needs. This includes making room for more connected social interactions and actual physical expansion when necessary.

Our ideas for your home game room include flexible furniture options. For example, you might see furniture pieces like a central coffee table that encourages people to sit for a while, but the top of that coffee table might also flip over to reveal a game board.

These furniture pieces are functional, clever, and comfortable, as is the space itself. This translates into different play zones for both high- and low-tech gaming, and these two concepts taken together allow you to make the best use of your game room, regardless of what demands you place on it.

As your household continue to grow and change, you'll want a game room that can expand with you. Much of what determines your success in this area is dependent on how well you make use of the space's actual architecture. For example, try making your outdoor living space a part of the game room. Thanks to features like large glass doors, the wall that separates the game room from your outdoor living room disappears once the doors are opened (or at least, it seems to). Making use of your outdoor living room this way expands the play area and allows you to enjoy some of your gaming pursuits outdoors as weather permits.

This indoor-outdoor space expansion works even better if you choose decor elements that are the same on both sides of the wall. For example, if you have chairs with a black-and-white checkerboard pattern and red accent pillows in the game room, place couches with the same pattern and pillows of the same hue in the outdoor living room.

On the smaller end of the architectural scale, Murphy furniture, which usually features a built-in bed or sofa with shelves or a fold-down table, increases storage and seating options. This furniture can increase play spaces as well because board and card games can be moved to that area if necessary. The final advantage of built-in Murphy furniture is that you can eventually morph the space into a spare bedroom for party guests to use after the evening's festivities have died down.

Game room trends for this year also embrace furniture pieces that are flexible and serve more than one purpose. Some clever hacks include card and game tables with built-in drawers to hold poker chips, card decks, game pieces, score cards, and more. Ottomans with built-in storage spaces, like FiveWillowise Store's Square Leather Ottoman, maximize storage space in a smaller room. They become a place for extra game controllers, Lego sets, old-fashioned board games (like Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit), and blankets for guests to sit under during movie nights. The padded top is a place of rest not just for weary feet, but also items like snack trays and game boards.

However, not all flexible furniture has hidden storage elements. Think instead of a hanging hammock chair that's fastened to hooks in the ceiling. It provides extra seating when you need it, but you can also remove it when you need more floor space for folding card tables or even a game of Twister.

Finally, it's always helpful to have a few furniture pieces that you can fold up and put away. These include your standard folding card tables and chairs, but it doesn't stop there. Portable table tennis units by PRO SPIN or a fold-up foosball table that rests against the wall when you're done allow you to design a perfect entertainment space that will change and evolve as demand for one game overtakes another.