Drdr's creation journey of a new poker lounge (16 Viewers)

[drdr]

Definitely want to build a new matching set of tables. Separate thread I think.

 

[AlbinoDragon]

1. Room is loud and echoes. Considering some wall textured sound baffling or cloth treatment somewhere. Wary of putting wood floor in now. Wall art helps instead?

That's mostly because there's nothing on the walls at all. No pictures, etc.. There's no need to put up fancy soudproofing as once you get artwork hung and furnish the room as it will be it will get less echo-ey.

That room has a lot more space than your initial pictures suggested. You gave measurements, but seeing tables and other furnishings help give a better sense of scale. This is going to be a really nice space once you get it set up fully.

 

[Gunnar]

Room is loud and echoes. Considering some wall textured sound baffling or cloth treatment somewhere. Wary of putting wood floor in now. Wall art helps instead?

Wall art helps, more stuff in room also helps. Cheap sound baffle cubes from AliExpress can look quite nice. Hanging curtains for the windows also help a lot.

I think wood floor for poker room is not going to help but it does look nice!

 

[drdr]

That's mostly because there's nothing on the walls at all. No pictures, etc.. There's no need to put up fancy soudproofing as once you get artwork hung and furnish the room as it will be it will get less echo-ey.

That room has a lot more space than your initial pictures suggested. You gave measurements, but seeing tables and other furnishings help give a better sense of scale. This is going to be a really nice space once you get it set up fully.

Yeah, I thought the first pics made the room look small. Phone camera to blame perhaps.

Sounds like I should not delay wall art until later. Off to search for chip display cabinets. And new tvs for Tournament Director display.

 

[drdr]

Wall art helps, more stuff in room also helps. Cheap sound baffle cubes from AliExpress can look quite nice. Hanging curtains for the windows also help a lot.

I think wood floor for poker room is not going to help but it does look nice!

Wood floors do look good, perhaps easier to clean too. Or go with crazy colour/pattern casino carpets to mask stains.

Did see some interesting sound baffling wall options. Perhaps only on the short wall with the single window.

Edit to remove giant pics but keep thumbnails.

 

[TheYeti]

Depending on how much you are willing to spend to control the sound, you can get acoustic panels that look like art at GIK Acoustics. You can even use your own custom artwork.

 

[drdr]

Depending on how much you are willing to spend to control the sound, you can get acoustic panels that look like art at GIK Acoustics. You can even use your own custom artwork.

Some good options on their site. Have been thinking to choose colours that imitate poker chips. Base colours as large panels, spot colours as narrow/small panels.

 

[Taghkanic]

Various ideas:

* A dark neutral paint color for the walls and ceiling

* Hanging pedant lights over the table(s)

* Wood / faux-wood blinds on the windows

* Floor-to-ceiling curtains in between windows (makes room seem bigger)

* Area rug(s) on top of carpeting under the tables

* Long or corner bar

* Low uplighting on walls

 

[drdr]

Various ideas:

* A dark neutral paint color for the walls and ceiling

* Hanging pedant lights over the table(s)

* Wood / faux-wood blinds on the windows

* Floor-to-ceiling curtains in between windows (makes room seem bigger)

* Area rug(s) on top of carpeting under the tables

* Long or corner bar

* Low uplighting on walls

Some ideas I'd not thought. Thanks muchly.
Paint colour is tough for me due to some colour blindness; Neutrals are safer.

 

[Taghkanic]

Some ideas I'd not thought. Thanks muchly.
Paint colour is tough for me due to some colour blindness; Neutrals are safer.

I find that a darker room (paint color, spot lighting) feels a lot bigger. Also more of an old-world poker feel.

 

[drdr]

Progress sadly stalled.

Focus is on prepping for sale of previous house. That will half my insane mortgage debt but also provide mad funds for renovating the poker lounge.

Did reach out to an interior designer. But I have reservations on if such a service provides value to design for the cost. Probably depends on their talent level.

 

[drdr]

I find that a darker room (paint color, spot lighting) feels a lot bigger. Also more of an old-world poker feel.

Been thinking a lot on this since you posted. Most internet advice seems to indicate light colours for making a space feel larger. Going dark seems a minority option. But if you are right... man, I'm very interested in that old-world feel.

 

[EastCoastCali]

Been thinking a lot on this since you posted. Most internet advice seems to indicate light colours for making a space feel larger. Going dark seems a minority option. But if you are right... man, I'm very interested in that old-world feel.

Yea lighter colors generally make the room feel larger and dark-smaller. I made the mistake of doing billiard green in a living room once and it felt tiny. That being said, i think a balance can be found without changing the feel of the size by doing one or two walls different and dark to invoke the vibe, like one wall billiard green, one a medium shade color of relevance, and the other two a light shade. A designer could have a field day with all the options here.

 

[SwissChip]

I‘m always surprised how much space people got in their house. These rooms are 2x the size compared to what i know…

Let a Graffiti artist do a full mural?
Definately some work to do with the walls imo.
And the most important part is the light!
Try to put adjustable light for different moods.
The light situation is so important if you feel comfortable or not.
And nice comfortable chairs.

Great project - good luck!

 

[SwissChip]

Just my 2cents,
Different spots - different light.
Tables should have ‚cold‘ light (4k+ Kelvin)
Chips look best at high kelvins ; )
All the rest of the room ‚warm‘ light (3k- Kelvin)

LED is the way to go today.
GL

 

[Taghkanic]

Yea lighter colors generally make the room feel larger and dark-smaller.

I don’t think this is correct as a generalization (as someone who has lived in and painted many homes and rooms).

A large, high-ceilinged, brightly-lit room may seem smaller if painted dark. But a smaller, low-ceilinged one can look larger (because it takes more time for the eye to explore the small space).

 

[SpaceMonkey420]

Oh, man. Lighting is terrible and needs a complete overhaul. But the options are infinite. Bit overwhelmed on what to do. I think get the use of space decided first. True neon or do people use LED versions now?

I have mixed neon and led lights. Both work. I think the newer led stuff is much more reliable.

 

[rrobyrrroby]

houzz.com search "poker room" to get some inspiration.
Have you any ideas of the general look you want to give to that space?
Modern? Rustic? Classic?
Probably once you decide that it will be easier to decorate the room.
I suggest a U shape sofa (or L shape + 2 comfy chairs) to watch together with family/friends movies or sports events.
Bose/Sonos system would also be a great addition for surround music.

 

[Rakrul]

 

[GreekRedEye]

Consider adjustable height pendant lighting over where you will put the tables. This allows you to pull the lights down over the table when playing poker but leave them up near the ceiling and out of the way most of the time.

I would always go for tables with a dinner top so I could play board games on the same tables. Also a plus that one table can hold food and stuff if you have a single table event and want to spread something on a table.

Upvote on getting tables that have covers so you can use the space for parties or board games when not playing poker.

Standing height wooden bar would be really great. Saw this at a buddies house, whole basement has a finished wooden bar around the edges of the room, makes hosting a breeze. Watching the game, hanging out, whatever, easily cleaned shelf for drinks/plates/whatever.

I love this idea.

 

[allforcharity]

Did reach out to an interior designer. But I have reservations on if such a service provides value to design for the cost. Probably depends on their talent level.

I do all my own design when it comes to reno and decorating. You can overpay for services that might be described as "vandalized by Elvis".

 

[AutoDonk5000]

Grats on the win and the new space!

Love all that space.

I'm intrigued by adding non poker seating to attract more no playing people to the event. Good for ambiance, fun vibe. Maybe nonplayers become eventual players. I don't love playing with a bunch of crotchety poker players only.

 

[kwsteve]

For acoustic treatments, I'm reminded of home theatre owners making diy acoustic absorption panels. What makes it cool is you can order custom printed fabrics to cover the panels. They're getting movie posters printed on, but you could do poker-themed movies and/or images. Something to think about as you perfect your poker room.
This guy has a good writeup: https://www.avsforum.com/index.php?threads/3221663/

 

[drdr]

Just my 2cents,
Different spots - different light.
Tables should have ‚cold‘ light (4k+ Kelvin)
Chips look best at high kelvins ; )
All the rest of the room ‚warm‘ light (3k- Kelvin)

LED is the way to go today.
GL

Are you me? Is what's in my head.
Though quite a few regs have mentioned they find cold bright light too harsh. Non chippers... don't know.

 

[SwissChip]

Are you me? Is what's in my head.
Though quite a few regs have mentioned they find cold bright light too harsh. Non chippers... don't know.

They‘re not wrong - the cold light feels harsh.
But try to dim it down a bit or more indirect.

Get your best sets out and convince them to colors are hot in cold light.

 

[drdr]

They‘re not wrong - the cold light feels harsh.
But try to dim it down a bit or more indirect.

Get your best sets out and convince them to colors are hot in cold light.

Think will never please everyone on cold vs warm. Personal pref. My partial colour blindness struggles to separate chip colours under warm (dirty) light.

But I plan on some advanced lighting above the tables to allow for harsh bright cold all the way through to dim dirty warm.

 

[Tonysquander]

Poker chip mosaic's make great wall art.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/i-can-create-photo-mosaics-with-poker-chips.59182/

I love the way mine looks in my poker room.

 

[Kam]

Consider adjustable height pendant lighting over where you will put the tables. This allows you to pull the lights down over the table when playing poker but leave them up near the ceiling and out of the way most of the time.


Upvote on getting tables that have covers so you can use the space for parties or board games when not playing poker.



I love this idea.

Do you have any examples of this?

My garage will be my poker room (will have new dimmable LED lights but not great for the room I think, even with them dimmed slightly might feel like morgue lighting). I used to have a cheap but cool Ikea lamp that hung over my old setup and the height was adjustable. I started looking online for a height adjustable pendant light (might need it to be removable as well).

For acoustic treatments, I'm reminded of home theatre owners making diy acoustic absorption panels. What makes it cool is you can order custom printed fabrics to cover the panels. They're getting movie posters printed on, but you could do poker-themed movies and/or images. Something to think about as you perfect your poker room.
This guy has a good writeup: https://www.avsforum.com/index.php?threads/3221663/

Ooo - perfect timing. I was looking at different amazon options for cheap acoustic panels. Half of my garage walls are like @drdr’s new setup, nothing on them. Also for me noise is a consideration since I want to minimize disturbing the rest of the family when the games go late. You’ve now sent me down a completely different rabbit hole… there’s different frequencies and different acoustic panels types… this never ending hobby is like a multiverse!

 

[Kam]

houzz.com search "poker room" to get some inspiration.
Have you any ideas of the general look you want to give to that space?
Modern? Rustic? Classic?
Probably once you decide that it will be easier to decorate the room.
I suggest a U shape sofa (or L shape + 2 comfy chairs) to watch together with family/friends movies or sports events.
Bose/Sonos system would also be a great addition for surround music.

Cool - some interesting stuff there on houzz. This one I think is fairly small room and they’ve went with a darker theme. I thought pics 7, 8 & 9 were in there by mistake, then realized it was the before!

https://www.houzz.com/photos/poker-room-contemporary-home-office-phoenix-phvw-vp~162962233

 

[Taghkanic]

A few years back I did a bunch of searching for images of interesting poker rooms. Some private, some casinos. I’ll have to look for the full folder when I get home to my desktop. But here are a few I found randomly on my phone, all involving darker interiors and hanging lamps:

The third one was from a Warren Beatty movie.