Making a Basement Game Room 'Brighter'

[Tempest]

Grr...not sure what forum to put this in. But since I posted all my game room pics here I guess this one will do. If you don't like it, take it up with the moderator

Hopefully some creative people here can help with a problem I'm having. My current game room is in an enclosed room in my basement. There's lots of space, but unfortunately there's no natural light (no windows, just a doorway into an equally gloomy part of the basement). The walls are cement with some sort of funky texture coating sprayed over them to give them a sort of rough stucco look. Personally I hate this stuff, but scraping it all off would be a huge pain so I'm resigned to it being there. Unfortunately one side effect of this texture coating is that it makes painting the walls nearly impossible. Even if I was able to get paint into all those nooks and crannies, something tells me that the thin coating would get too heavy or unstable (wet/moist) and begin to flake off everywhere. I'm not sure if that's true or not though (anyone know for sure?). On the floor I put some bright carpet tiles which sort of help (they're better than the gray concrete anyway), but are still a bit dark.

Some pictures to give you an idea:

So I'm stuck with no natural light and white concrete walls. I've attempted to minimize the look of those walls by putting posters on every surface, but this only works up to a point and gives the basement a bit of a cluttered look. What I'm looking to do is try and get some light into the place so it doesn't look like a basement dungeon (some days I think all I need are a set of manacles and a skeleton to complete the look). Unfortunately the two most often suggested ideas, painted walls and windows, are not available to me so I need to get more creative. I'm also on a bit of a budget, so dry walling, drop ceilings, and other pricey ideas are out of the question.

One idea I had was to hide the unfinished ceiling with some strips of cloth like muslin. That would make the ceiling a bit brighter and hid some of the unsightliness. I've also been thinking about getting some cheap floor or hanging lamps and sticking them into some of the corners as the two ceiling lights in the room don't reach everywhere. One the subject of lights, I need some advice on bulbs. Right not I have two 100W soft white 'yellow/orange glow' CFL's which help give the basement a warm look. The problem with these are that they take a bit to warm up, and they're still not all the bright. I tried the 'daylight' CFL's, but they made everything look a funny blue color and made the white walls look a hundred times worse. Are there other types of bulbs I could try?

You can see pictures of the game room here. Some stuff has been moved around a little since then, but it's still basically the same. Unfortunately I was taking pictures of the stuff in the room rather than the room itself so it's a little hard to see everything: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/210908-tempests-new-new-game-room/

Here are some old pictures of the room which might help give you an idea of the room layout (it's roughly L shaped). The arcade cabs are no longer in the center of the room: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199288-tempests-new-game-room/

Here are some pictures before I did anything to the room. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/146921-tempests-game-room/

[Tempest]

After talking to some people, it turns out that you can paint these kinds of walls. So now I may paint the room to make it a little brighter. Anyone have some color suggestions?

[+cvga]

I've seen pictures of your gameroom before but I still wanted to say that it's awesome one more time! I'm very envious of the amount of room you've dedicated to it. I love my gameroom but it's a cramped 11 x 11 room. Looking at your pictures again reminds me of our prior house. I had several arcade marquees displayed using our I-beams and had a bunch of magnets attached to our ducts.

[RickR]

Your room is awesome. Your collection is double awesome. Thumbs up.

 

I'd try getting a few lamps with really opaque shades that will create pools of light on the floor and ceiling. That bright/dark contrast will really liven things up IMO. Other options are can lights that sit on the ground and shoot light up. Put those behind other objects in the corners. The goal is to see pools of light, but not the bulbs.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about painting the walls. Heck, I can barely see any walls in those photos.

 

Covering the ceiling is going to be kind of tricky. My initial thought was like tin tiles, but that may be too industrial feeling. Maybe thin beadboard panels painted a dark color so the light pools pop.

[AtariBrian]

I wouldnt paint anything . Some kind of lighting should work but that is gaming heaven right there

[Tempest]

Yeah I'm going to look into some extra lamps for the corners and putting muslin (cloth) strips across the ceiling to hide the pipes.

 

I'll try and take some current pictures tonight as these are a little out of date and don't show the dark corners or the walls. These pictures make it look a little brighter than it actually is.

[+Allan]

I personally would get rid of the CF bulbs and use regular incandescent bulbs. CF bulbs can affect your mood. They flash on and off really fast and give off a weird kind of light. I would at least try using incandescent bulbs for a while and see if you notice a difference. I know when I worked in a factory with no windows years ago they would give me a weird headache which would go away once I left work and got outside.

 

Allan

[Tempest]

I personally would get rid of the CF bulbs and use regular incandescent bulbs. CF bulbs can affect your mood. They flash on and off really fast and give off a weird kind of light. I would at least try using incandescent bulbs for a while and see if you notice a difference. I know when I worked in a factory with no windows years ago they would give me a weird headache which would go away once I left work and got outside.

 

Allan

I'd like to, but try finding 100W Incandescent bulbs. I got some that SAY they're equivalent to 100W, but they're not.

[+Gemintronic]

I find using high lumen LED bulbs is great. Found that aiming the light towards the ceiling actually creates some good ambient light.

[+save2600]

I've strung incandescent rope lighting around the entire perimeter of my basement game room and that has helped brighten things up big time. Not crazy about the weird glow or overly bright look of LED's yet, but not wild about the heat that my rope lighting puts out either. Ends up making the mounts brittle, so they need to be replaced periodically as they crack and break. Am thinking by the time I need to replace the old lighting, maybe LED's will be more attractive and natural looking.

[BigO]

Nice room. The first thought I had in looking at the pictures was that you could use the collection itself to add artificial light unobtrusively: namely, the marquees which are seemingly everywhere, especially anything near the ceiling.

 

? Shallow boxes behind them to house LED lighting. This could even be an opportunity to enhance the marquees' presentation: make the light box a frame which extends out in front of the marquee mimicking that part of the original machine each one belongs to.

 

? Deeper box with fluorescent lighting that can serve to backlight several marquees.

 

? Depending on the dimensions of the marquees and a few other factors, it might be possible/cool to put flat CCFL display backlights behind them.

 

Though not authentic to the marquee, it might add something to the "gameroom feel" to have a few blinking LED's in behind the marquees in addition to the steady light.

[Tempest]

Fancy stuff like light boxes aren't really possible at the moment I'm afraid. But I am looking into putting lights in the corners somehow (either by stand lamps or some sort of hanging lamp) and brighter lights.

 

My original idea was to paint the walls a nice bright color, but for the life of me I can't think of what color would go with the floor tiles since they're all random (by design). White really does seem like the best color now. I guess I just have something against white concrete walls, they feel so... cold. Of course it doesn't help that the basement *IS* cold in the winter.

 

So no one thinks I should paint the walls? That should make my wife happy, she was against that from the start.

[+Gemintronic]

What? There's dissent in your household? Paint the ceiling in glow n the dark and black-light friendly neon!

[+Allan]

By the looks of the pics the walls look off-white. I would paint them white. This will help brighten the room. That's what I did with my room and it helps a lot.

 

Allan

[Tempest]

By the looks of the pics the walls look off-white. I would paint them white. This will help brighten the room. That's what I did with my room and it helps a lot.

 

Allan

I guess they are kind of a dull white, not a bright white. Part of that is the yellow/orange bulbs I have in there. I need to take better pictures tonight.

[BigO]

Fancy stuff like light boxes aren't really possible at the moment I'm afraid. But I am looking into putting lights in the corners somehow (either by stand lamps or some sort of hanging lamp) and brighter lights.

 

I don't see light boxes as necessarily fancy. For the simple version: 1x2's are cheap. Rope lights are cheap. In my head, this would be cheaper and faster than painting all of those walls (considering how much stuff is in there). Of course, then you have the issue of powering the lights...

 

Would it be possible to just hang rope lights behind (or on the back of) arcade machines so that there's a glow coming from behind them? That might kill some shadows or at least create some less dim, colored shadows.

LED lighting in the shelving units oriented to light the front of the contents might brighten up the room without having overt light fixtures stuck here and there. Some of those get pricey, but if there's an IKEA in your area...

 

You've got miles of space up above the "ceiling" to put some cool industrial fixtures to provide some overhead light.

If you want to paint, all of that wood up above painted a uniform, light color might reduce the light-sucking effect of those empty spaces up there (but, I'm not a decorator so take any suggestions from me with a grain, or truckload of salt ).

[Tempest]

I don't see light boxes as necessarily fancy. For the simple version: 1x2's are cheap. Rope lights are cheap. In my head, this would be cheaper and faster than painting all of those walls (considering how much stuff is in there). Of course, then you have the issue of powering the lights...

 

Would it be possible to just hang rope lights behind (or on the back of) arcade machines so that there's a glow coming from behind them? That might kill some shadows or at least create some less dim, colored shadows.

LED lighting in the shelving units oriented to light the front of the contents might brighten up the room without having overt light fixtures stuck here and there. Some of those get pricey, but if there's an IKEA in your area...

 

You've got miles of space up above the "ceiling" to put some cool industrial fixtures to provide some overhead light.

If you want to paint, all of that wood up above painted a uniform, light color might reduce the light-sucking effect of those empty spaces up there (but, I'm not a decorator so take any suggestions from me with a grain, or truckload of salt ).

Actually there is an IKEA near me, I think it's the only one in Michigan. That's where those shelves came from. Got any examples of what you're talking about?

 

Two problems with putting anything behind the marquees. 1. They're stuck directly to the I-Beam or walls so there's no space behind them, otherwise they'd be in danger of falling off. 2. Would something like rope lights be bright enough to even make a difference? From what I remember from the MGC they don't actually add much light (the 80's room was 'lit' by them).

 

I'm no electrician so installing light fixtures isn't something I'd want to do. There are already two light fixtures in that room, I'm not sure adding more is the solution. Also, the ceiling space is going to be covered by cloth shortly (hopefully).

[AtariBrian]

I always like clear bulbs or even the blue tinted ones vs the frosted like I see in your picture . They give off a much a brighter look .

[Tempest]

I always like clear bulbs or even the blue tinted ones vs the frosted like I see in your picture . They give off a much a brighter look .

See I think the daylight 'reveal' bulbs made everything look blue and cold. I had them in my lights for about an hour before it drove me nuts and I changed them back out.

 

One of these days when I have a gaming night everyone can take a look at the room and give me some ideas.

[BigO]

I have old-school incandescent under-cabinet rope lights in my kitchen. They make a noticeable difference on the counter top even when the really bright overhead lights are on.

 

The idea would be to build out a space behind the marquees to which the marquees would attach: light box mounts to wall, marquee mounts to light box. I'm guessing you don't have a table saw or router table. If you did, it would be easy enough to create box/frame deals with slots into which the marquees would slide so there are no visible fasteners. I'd be happy to help you out or loan you mine if I lived anywhere near Mizniaport(?). A few sticks of wood, some rope lights, a little paint and properly applied power tools and you're good to go. Easy-peasy (and the part I like best: cheap )

 

As you stated, the challenge is to create a "brightness" about the room. I think that having that many marquees backlit, up at that level of the room, would brighten up the space considerably without adding a ton of light in the room. I had a pinball backglass art piece in my home office at one point. I installed a string of 25 little Christmas lights to backlight various areas of the backglass. With the lights turned on, the piece was lively. With the lights turned off, it was comparatively drab and just sorta hung there on the wall.

 

LED rope lights generate little heat and can put off a lot of light. If you snake them within the box, (and probably paint the inside of the box white) you could get quite an effect. I don't think you'd need to fear the harshness of the bright white LED's as it would be masked by all of those colors on the marquees.

 

For the shelves, something like IKEA's Dioder products or any LED puck light could be mounted on the "ceiling" of the shelves containing the display. LED strips with adhesive backs might even work better as the light fixture itself would be less visible.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=dioder

 

(LED's as opposed to halogen pucks as halogens can cause fading and get stupidly hot)

 

Essentially, my approach would be to focus on lighting the stuff in the room as opposed to lighting the room.

 

That's my 2 cents. Then again, you're talking to a guy who places his landscape lighting on the basis of the shadows that are cast rather than what gets lit up.

Edited January 23, 2014 by BigO

[Tempest]

I'd be happy to help you out or loan you mine if I lived anywhere near Mizniaport(?).

 

Fun Fact: Mizniaport boasts the only IKEA in all of Quendor.

 

LED rope lights generate little heat and can put off a lot of light. If you snake them within the box, (and probably paint the inside of the box white) you could get quite an effect. I don't think you'd need to fear the harshness of the bright white LED's as it would be masked by all of those colors on the marquees.

 

For the shelves, something like IKEA's Dioder products or any LED puck light could be mounted on the "ceiling" of the shelves containing the display. LED strips with adhesive backs might even work better as the light fixture itself would be less visible.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=dioder

I wonder if those Dioder lights could be attached above or below the marquees on the I-Beam to sort of light them up? Heck, it they're thin enough I could put them behind the marquees. Interesting idea... I'd like to see a picture of a marquee being lit by one though.

[BigO]

The dioder lights are pretty flat.

 

I can't see the detail in the picture and didn't fully realize what you were referring to when you mentioned the I-beam. Are a bunch of those marquees out on the edge of an I-beam with a gap behind them?

 

How deep is the I-beam? If it's a structural beam, there almost has to be room behind the marquees to put some lights. Stick rope lights or fluorescent fixtures behind the marquees and work out some way to keep from seeing the fixture through any cracks between marquees.

Edited January 23, 2014 by BigO

[Tempest]

The dioder lights are pretty flat.

 

I can't see the detail in the picture and didn't fully realize what you were referring to when you mentioned the I-beam. Are a bunch of those marquees out on the edge of an I-beam with a gap behind them?

 

How deep is the I-beam? If it's a structural beam, there almost has to be room behind the marquees to put some lights. Stick rope lights or fluorescent fixtures behind the marquees and work out some way to keep from seeing the fixture through any cracks between marquees.

They're glass marquees and they're flat against the back of the I-Beam with the exception of the three plastic ones which are attached to the outside (they were too big to fit 'inside'). I have them attached to the back (angled out at the bottom ever so slightly) with poster putty so they don't fall off. The I-Beam is plenty deep, but my fear is that if I don't have them flat against the back, they'll fall forward and break. Glass marquees are really heavy.

 

You can see some of the detail in these pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

Those Dioder lights are about a foot long each, I was thinking I could put one behind each marquee (maybe in the center) or at worst right below each one as you'll never see the light strip due to the angle.

[Tempest]

I tried my new light bulbs and they really brighten up the space, so I'm happy with that. I think between the new bulbs and some lamps/torch lamps I've found my solution. I'm still toying around with the idea of those LED rope lights, but I don't think you'll see the light behind the marquees unless you have the other lights off so that's a bit of a waste. I guess I'll have to see those lights in person to see how bright they are in a lit room.