Game Room Lighting Design

One fun way to pass the time is to think about what your dream home will have in it. In that dream home, you probably imagine an incredible game and entertainment room, complete with pool table, arcade games, wet bar, large TV, and more! This dream can become a reality very easily with just a little bit of planning, and one of the best things to start considering for your game room is the lighting. When you need to start getting ideas for your game room, come visit the experienced lighting team at Madison Lighting. Our Wisconsin showroom has plenty of options for every style of home, or you can explore our online catalog to have lights and fixtures shipped right to your door.

As you prepare your entertainment space and game room, you’ll need to keep the three main elements of lighting in mind. These include:

• Ambient lighting
• Accent fixtures
• Task lighting

The Elements of Lighting

When you are planning out the lightscape for your game room, it’s important to think about how your lights will interact with each other. As you create a mood for the room, you’ll need to first consider the ambient light source of the room. This fixture is usually going to be the largest one in the room and will provide the majority of the light for the space. If your ceilings are high enough, you can find a chandelier, pendants or a ceiling fan with attached lighting elements. But if you don’t have enough space for these due to height constraints, you can also find beautiful flush lighting or recessed fixtures to provide enough light to the room.

The second element of lighting to consider for your game room is accent lighting. These types of lights are designed to draw attention towards certain areas. For instance, if you have any kind of collectibles or art on your walls, you may want to utilize wall sconces, directional lighting, recessed lighting, or even LED strips to highlight these. In some cases, you may choose just to turn on your accent lights to give your game room a more relaxed feeling as well.

The final element of lighting is task lighting. These lights are brighter than the others, but more focused as well. They are there to provide you extra light as you’re playing a board game or building your new puzzle. You can also have them behind your wet bar to make it easier to see what you are doing during a movie marathon. A bright lamp or under cabinet fixtures are a great choice for task lighting in your game room.

Lighting Each Area

Depending on your design choices and the size of your game room, you may have multiple sections that need various types of lighting to stand out. In this section, we’ll cover a few main lighting choices so you can begin thinking about fixtures and styles that you would like.

The Pool Table

Is any game room truly complete without a pool table? Not only are these centerpieces fashionable, but they can also provide unending hours of entertainment for you, your family, and your friends. As you search for a fixture to hang over the table, island fixtures will be your best choice if you don’t want a traditional style lighting fixture. Madison Lights carries simple square fixtures, hanging pendants, and many more options that will look amazing as they hang over your billiards table.

If pool isn’t the game for you, but you still want a large game table, the same styles of light will generally still work. However, if you choose games that need some headroom, like ping-pong, you will want to have lights higher up, like flush ceiling fixtures, that won’t interrupt regular play.

Bar Lighting

When you want to relax and socialize, having a small bar and seating area is perfect. Having a space with a couple of bar stools can make a huge impact on the game room. It gives space for friends to converse or relax while they wait for their turn at the pool table or arcade games. If you have enough space, you can even add a small table with its own hanging fixture or table lamp!

You can illuminate your bar with LED strips or light panels to show off your collection of bottles and snacks. Otherwise, you can choose a hanging fixture or flush light to give a soft glow to the bar area.

Arcade Lighting

Are you working to recreate your childhood memories with some of your favorite game cabinets? Whether you have original cabinets or a modern unit loaded with hundreds of games, you’ll want to provide the right light for the area without creating a glare on the screen as you aim for a new high score. One of the best ways to achieve lighting perfection for arcade machines is with wall sconces. These can be hung slightly above eye level so that you have optimal lighting in the room without worrying about it getting in your eyes or on the screen as you play. If you don’t have space for sconces, or they simply don’t fit your design, you can also use lamps to achieve the same goal!

Home Theater

While you may have a pool table and arcade machines in your game room, the focal point of the room is still often the entertainment center. Having a huge TV ready for gaming, watching movies, or binging your favorite shows is often a high priority for homeowners. You will want to ensure that your lighting accommodates comfort as well as function.

The most important factor to good entertainment lighting is to avoid glares on the screen. Recessed lighting or wall sconces are the best choice for this as they can be strategically placed to keep the light off of your TV.

In most cases, you will probably have a coffee table or ottoman between you and the TV. Alternatively, you may have some end tables on either side of the couch. Using lamps to illuminate these spaces is a good choice because they can be turned on or off depending on what your needs are or what activity you’re engaging in.

Lighting Controls

Because you are likely to have different fixtures and zones in your game room for each type of activity, it’s important to invest in good lighting controls that will allow you to enjoy each activity to its fullest. One way to achieve this is to have separate switches for each fixture or set of fixtures. You may also want to use dimmer switches for all of your lights so you can set the mood appropriately for gaming, socializing, or watching a movie.

If you would like even more control over your lighting, you can invest in smart lighting controls. These bulbs and fixtures will allow you to operate each area from your smartphone or connected device. With smart lighting controls, you can make lighting scenes, dim lights, change lighting colors, or even sync lights to your entertainment system!

Visit Our Madison Showroom

When you visit the Madison Lighting showroom, our lighting experts will happily help you find the perfect fixtures and lights for your game room. We carry options that will fit any design or color theme and help you take your entertainment to the next level! If you aren’t able to make it to our showroom, you can always shop online to explore our huge selection. Need some help? Contact our team today and we will get back to you with answers and assistance. We look forward to working with you to make your game and entertainment room the best it can be!