BIG REVEAL: John's Game Room Makeover!

Several months ago I finally convinced John to redo his office/man cave/game room... by promising to let him build his own entertainment center. (Dangle the use of power tools in front of this guy, and he's on board with redecorating!)

Since I'm in this room a lot, too - either playing games or watching TV with John - I am over the moon with the results.

So let's get right to the pictures!

BEFORE:

 [whimper]

AFTER:

 

 WaHOOOOO!!

BEFORE:

Why yes, that IS a Death Eater in the closet.

AFTER:

It's like being able to breath again. Ahhhhh.

The main problem with John's room - which is a tiny 10X10, like my office - was a lack of display space. So he was cramming all his tchotchkes on the top of the TV, on his hanging guitars, the floor - everywhere.

Plus, since nothing would fit in the buffet under the TV, he was doing THIS with the electronics:

 That's a cheap plastic stand under there. Mercy.

By measuring everything and building an entertainment center to fit, now everything is tucked away under the TV:

The doors have metal mesh screening for ventilation, and hide the gaming computer:

John built the entire unit in under a week, and then spent another week practicing with stains to get just the right color. (We wanted something a little more gray, and less yellow. He ended up mixing two different colors to get the right look.) Then we screwed on a bunch of L brackets - painted iron - for accents. We were aiming for a vaguely-vintage-industrial-but-mostly-goes-with-everything look.

 

The top shelf is perfect for John's cosplay headgear, which was just sitting around on the floor before.

John actually has SO much display space now that I had a hard time finding enough stuff to fill the cubbies! Most everything here is his, but I lent him my cheshire monster & the baby cake we made for the first CW book. Hehehe.

I'm most pleased with his Fluttershy shelf on the left, but the killer bunny above it is pretty sweet, too. (You can click any pic to embiggen, if you want a closer look at the madness.)

Oh hey, we still have to do the other side of the room!

BEFORE:

 John adored this dark blue, so it took some convincing for him to go with a lighter wall color. And, to be fair, this is mostly a TV and gaming room, so John wants it dark in there.

AFTER:

We almost always have the shades down, though, so it looks more like this:

 

The neutral walls make it a lot easier to display John's growing art collection, which was a big sell for him. I'm using black frames with white mats to help tie it all together. 

(And I'm still working on a solution for all those weights on the floor, btw. That is NOT their final resting place. ;))

I also spent a good hour arranging the art so the floor lamp wouldn't block anything from the door.

The best part is John has room to grow: there's plenty of room on both walls to add more!

John also took this opportunity to order & install new in-ceiling speakers behind the recliners. They were only $43 for the pair, and combined with the FIVE around the TV, plus the woofer we tucked behind the seats, this little home theater is now officially rockin'. Awww yeeeeeah.

:D

Before, John blocked the sunlight with lined squares of fabric attached to the window trim. They looked ok, but there was no way to raise them if we wanted a little light.

After shopping for blackout roman shades and finding them outrageously expensive ($150+ each!), I convinced John to make our own:

We did it for the cost of cheap new miniblinds ($15 for both at Home Depot), blackout liner, and linen fabric. (Arg, I don't remember the fabric total! Maybe $50?) 

John's design is a modified version of this tutorial, which I highly recommend. That tutorial makes unlined shades that hang perfectly flat when they're down, though; John's has two layers, and overlapping pockets even when they're extended all the way:

John did all the sewing, I did all the gluing, and together we had both shades done in two nights! They're almost always down, too, so I really appreciated John insisting on the more decorative design:

Plus they block the light even better than the old ones.

Ahh, but we're not done yet. The room's new door has a secret. Can you guess what it is?

I'll give you a hint: How would a door that size open without hitting anything?

That was the question WE asked ourselves, too, since I was dead set on centering the entertainment center on the wall. The hallway outside the door is tiny and skewed at an angle, so there's no room for the door to open OUT, either - it has to open IN.

Give up?

 Ta-daaa!

Yep, when I half-jokingly suggested a bi-fold door during the planning stages, John pounced on the idea. Other than the missing handle, you'd never know the difference when it's closed!

(Before you ask, getting out IS a little tricky for now - I have to grab the bottom of the door with my toe - so I'll probably add a low-profile handle soon. John can reach the top of the door, though, so he doesn't mind.)

That picture is too dark to see, but the black chest by the door has TEN drawers in it, perfect for everything from wires to game controllers to drafting tools. John loves it - and it's still only half full!

 
I love how everything has a place now; the only cleaning I did for these photos was remove John's laptop from the recliner & tuck the PC keyboard & controller away.

We purged a lot of junk from John's closet, but for the most part, everything in the "before" pictures is still in the "afters," with the exception of his hanging guitars. Amazing what extra storage & organization can do, am I right? 

Hope you guys enjoyed the tour! Now, I think I'mma go play a video game. ;)