Planning on turning a room in your home into a recreation or game room? These bonus rooms significantly contribute to any family's happiness and positive mental health and host a wide variety of potential uses. Should you be just digging into the possibilities, you are probably curious if your prospective room is large enough. We've looked at countless home rec and game rooms online, as well as researched forums for ideas. Read on to find out just how big these rooms should be.
The suggested size of a recreation or gaming room will depend upon how you intend to use it. However, for most games and hobbies, you can repurpose a room of standard size to meet these needs. A room that is twelve feet by twelve feet would be suitable for gaming and most hobbies, but if you want a room for playing pool or for a home theatre, you'll want to have more space than these dimensions will allow.
Now that we know the standard size of gaming and recreation rooms, we'll look into how your intended uses will impact the minimum dimensions you'll need. You might also be wondering how most people use recreation rooms or how much space you'll need for playing a game of darts. We'll answer these questions and more ahead in this post.
The Use Of The Room Will Dictate The Required Size
Below, we look at some activities common to recreation and gaming rooms. As pointed out earlier in this post, any gaming or recreation room's desired size can depend on what activities you are using it for.
Air hockey
To comfortably play air hockey, experts say that you should have the table placed in a room that is at least ten feet by five feet (six-foot table), or fourteen feet by eight feet (eight-foot table). Rooms with these dimensions will leave enough space to play a good game, and still have room for other players in the wing.
Home theatre
The size of the room you'll want for a home theatre will take into consideration several variables. How big your screen is, how many seats you want, and what other amenities you require will determine the necessary room dimensions.
For instance, if you have a screen that is eighty inches, you'll want a minimum of ninety-six to one hundred and six inches between the screen and the nearest seat in front of it. A one hundred and fifty-inch screen would require two hundred inches between them. When you have determined how much room you'll need between the screen and the first seat, then you'll need to account for the number of rows you want behind it. Two rows would mean you'd want a room that is a minimum of sixteen feet long for an eighty-inch screen.
The room's width could be as little as eight feet, but if you want to save room for a wet bar or snack and beverage storage, you'll want to consider a larger area.
Gaming
Whether you need room for a tabletop game, a family puzzle, or a poker tournament amongst friends, having a room with enough space is essential for comfort. As these activities are mostly done on card tables or dining tables, the standard size room we mentioned earlier in this post is suitable for these types of leisure.
We realize that there are many other popular games you might be wondering if you would be able to play in your existing room comfortably. If you wonder how much room you'll need for playing pool, foosball, or darts, we'll go into greater detail about each of them later in this post.
How do you use a recreation room?
There are many different ways that people use recreation rooms. Some will use them for tabletop gaming and playing cards, while others use them for a place that the family can watch television.
Still, others use them for traditional pub games like darts, foosball, or pool playing.
No matter what you use your recreation room for, it should be a place of enjoyment and relaxation for you, your family, and your guests.
Can you put a treadmill in a rec room?
Some homeowners will use a recreation room for working out as well as gaming. But will a treadmill fit inside of one?
Most treadmill manufacturers will recommend that you leave a minimum of two feet on either side of the treadmill and at least six feet behind it. To protect the person using this machine, it's strongly suggested that these minimum requirements be followed.
Now that we know how much room you'll need to have around the treadmill itself, we get a better idea if one will be a good fit in a recreation room. If the room is a standard-sized household room (like an unused bedroom or family room), it might be challenging to have the treadmill in the presence of any other games or hobbies you might want to use the room for. While you could still comfortably fit a card table inside or play a game of darts, you'd want a much larger room to enjoy a game of pool if there's a treadmill in use.
One way to work around this is to get a model of treadmill that folds up and is stored. This way, you can set up and use the treadmill when needed, but stow it away in a closet or a corner when the recreation room is being used for other purposes.
The treadmill featured here is a lighter weight model, coming in at just over one hundred pounds. It is easily folded up and stored so that it will be out of your way when not in use.
To view this model treadmill on Amazon, click here.
How much space do you need for a pool table?
Pool tables will require more space in a recreation room than just about any activity. The sheer size of the tables alone dictates a room of larger dimensions, further complicated by the room needed to play the game comfortably.
The size of the table will also determine how large the room needs to be. We'll look at minimum dimensions for seven, eight, and nine-foot pool tables, being played with a fifty-eight-inch cue for this post.
- A seven-foot table needs a room that is at least 16 feet two inches by twelve foot eleven inches
- An eight-foot table needs a room that is at least seventeen feet by thirteen-foot four inches
- A nine-foot table needs a room that is at least eighteen feet by thirteen-foot ten inches
How much space do you need to play darts?
While the dartboard itself might be the smallest item in your gaming or recreation room, it will require some space to play this game safely. How much room will you need?
For the games of darts to be correctly played by the rules, the distance from the front surface of the dartboard to the Oche (the technical name for the throw line) is seven feet, nine and a quarter inches. It's recommended that you have an additional space of at least four feet from the Oche to the wall it's in front of. This will ensure that players have enough room to safely throw and that spectators will have ample room to walk around the thrower during gameplay.
Additionally, the lane should be several feet wide. A room that eight feet by twelve feet will provide more than enough room for you and your guests to safely and comfortably play a game of darts.
This tournament size dartboard is lightweight and easy to hang on any wall. Its battery-operated display is sharp and brightly lit.
To see this brand of dartboard on Amazon, click here.
How much space do you need for a foosball table?
Whether you enjoy playing this tabletop soccer game in your local pub or a friend's recreation room, you've no doubt noted that it doesn't take up a whole lot of room. Even with two players on each long side of the table, an intense foosball game won't require the same amount of space playing a game of pool or darts.
According to Bargames101, a room at least nine feet by nine and a half feet is suggested for playing foosball. A room with these minimum dimensions will ensure that there will be enough room to comfortably play the game and still leave room for spectators to maneuver around the action. A foosball table in a room of this size will still allow for other furnishings as well.
The Atomic Pro Force Foosball Table has a sturdy design and a look that will fit in amongst most any decor scheme in your recreation or gaming room. It's built in the traditional style, with manual scoring discs threaded through metal rods affixed on each end of the table.
To view this brand of foosball table on Amazon, click here.
In Closing
Gaming and recreation rooms can be made from rooms in your home of just about any dimension, but certain activities will require larger room sizes. Games like pool, air hockey, foosball, and darts need room for not only the games but for the players to be able to freely move.
If you found this post on recreation rooms to be informative, we believe you'll enjoy reading the following posts about the different ways you can decorate rooms in your home:
11 Awesome Dining Room Decorating Ideas