Lets design the ultimate paint room\game room

[MonkeySloth]

So, as some here know, I'm building a house.  Well we had to switch builders and floor plans and this new one has a third garage that we can't have (don't ask, HOA rules) so, assuming the HOA approves the plan I get to turn that garage into a painting studio and gaming room (it will be a regular finished room and not just a garage with stuff in it).

 

So, I need to decide how I want to build it. 

 

The room will be single car garage sized but longer and a little wider (I think it was intended for small boats that are common out here) and I should have dimensions this week--which I'll update in this post and this thread.  What I need to decide is really do I want to keep the room whole or have two separate rooms? One for painting and one where I can set out tables for my RPG games and other table top games. 

 

Also need to decide how much storage space and closet size.  I really want to do boards and have places to store terrain and such.

 

So throw out ideas and such. Pictures would be great of storage area.  Here's a link to the plan designs though I'm hoping to be able to move that wall some so the kitchen and living areas are a bit bigger.  I need to get an idea of what I want so I can get things off to the architect for changes next week.

[Auberon]

My personal preference would be for one large multipurpose room rather than two smaller ones.  I wouldn't expect to be painting and gaming at the same time, so the two hobbies don't directly conflict.  Also, it's easier to move around furniture than a wall if you would need a little extra space for a particular game. 

[Chaoswolf]

Looks good, and good luck with it, that's one hell of a mini; 1:1 scale, right?

 

I don't have a whole lot of input, but I'd definitely  have 2 rooms; 1 workshop/paintroom/storage, and use the other for display/playing. Here's my reasoning. If you have it all in 1 room, there's a fairly good chance that you're gonna end up piling tons of half finished projects and other crap on the 'gaming' table, and you'll never get to use it for that purpose.

 

I hope that helps somewhat; I'll let you know if i think of anything else that may be useful.

[Girot]

Wooo!!  I am so down to help with this!

 

UPDATE:  I took a look at the plans.  I'm assuming its the one-car garage at the back of the house?

 

I wouldn't split it into two rooms, not unless you plan on repurposing it later.

 

I'd put either tile or linoleum in the paint area and carpet (or at least a comfy rug) under your table.  That way minis that fall off have a soft landing and you don't have to digging through carpet fibers for dropped bitz at the paint table.

 

If you plan on having friends over for paint sessions I'd put in some kind of small conference table that seats between four and six.  Put one of the short edges against a wall with a power source so you can power your table.  Speaking of which get a table that has outlets built into it.  That will be most useful for lighting/drills/etc.

 

I would suggest cupboards/cabinates for the paint area as they will better suite boxes/trays/baggies/etc of WIPs.  I'd also include a counter with functional sink and mini fridge.  So basically a kitchenette without any cooking apparati.

 

The game area would be well suited with a traditional entertainment center (a big one) along one wall.  This will house your collection of game books, as well as relevant movies/music/etc and their associated equipment.  Surround Sound is a must.  For finished models you plan on gaming with I'd suggest custom building some in-wall shelving that has cabinet door attachments, then get the doors made of Plexiglas.  Put lights in the shelves for showing-off purposes.

 

We have these things we call "ergo stands" in our factory that are basically roll-around computers we can take wherever they're needed.  I'd suggest one of these for easy access to interwebz (reference pics for painting, look-ups for games, etc) and other compy-related gaming/painting goodness.

 

Disco ball and smoke machine.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Girot

[ShadowRaven]

Looking at that plan, I see one problem already. the single car garage doesn't open directly into the house anywhere. Not very handy for going in and out. something you will need to do fairly often, and your guests will as well. I am not sure how you would want to change that. My suggestion would be to expand the kitchen into the garage area a bit. I would also not put the painting area in a second room, but consider having dividers such as bookshelves or even a divider screen to separate the two if that is something you want. For resale value and such, having that as sort of a den idea would probably be of more use and of more desirability.

 

Now, you mentioned you would like to do terrain and stuff, in that case you will need a table that people can move around. I've almost never done anything with terrain, so i have no idea how much storage you need, but I would, I think, shy away from built in closets. One thing I would suggest though, is get a fridge. either a bar fridge, or a full sized, so you have a place for drinks, and some snack stuff

[Marvin]

It occured to me today that my D&D needs some stoner rock on the stereo.

[TGP]

A connection between kitchen and game space would be nice. A way for snacks to reach gamers.

 

With that much space I would absolutely go for two 4x6 foot tables that could be pushed together for a total of 12x4 feet of megabattle space. Or 3x 4x4 foot tables. Same total space pushed together but more flexible. Also three 4x4s would give more access to storage shelves below the tables.

 

Definitely design some tables with integrated storage below. In your shoes I would not settle for a storage volume versus table top space trade-off. I would go for both.

 

If there is no way to connect to the kitchen do a mini-bar with a sink. Get running water out there. For rinsing / cleaning minis on paint days if nothing else.

 

Edit: Is there already a sink out there opposite the laundry room wall?

Edited August 27, 2014 by TGP

[MonkeySloth]

Thanks all for the replies. This is being really helpful as it's kind of out of the blue and I'd never given such a thing much thought. Always assumed I'd just have a small little room in a house and my wife throws this at me last night.

 

First off, I know the plan is a little off for this as there's no entry into the house and the garages are attached. Sometime next week I'll be getting an architect to redraw that part of the house to try and make this what we want. The reason we're turning it into living space, instead of keeping it a garage, is we want to keep the bed room above and for us to have a 3rd garage like in the plan we have to have it detached. Because I only have a few days to decide the rough layout of the room I thought it best to ask here as I'm really running around trying to get stuff situated as my previous builder had to pull out late last week and I'm still picking up pieces.

 

The biggest question really is one or two rooms and I've been leaning towards two up until now as I really thought it would be best for storage and such but now I'm thinking I'll just put a room in the back that's just storage\closet. I don't think that will hurt the resale--though I hope I would never need to move.

 

@chaoswolf -- To be honest I think I'd have a table with unfinished stuff no matter the size. Right now I'm in what's probably a 12'x12' room and I've got one. I'm not as horrible as others so I don't think that will be an issue.

 

Girot -- I would love to do a Tatami floor (best of both worlds) but I think that might not be best for crafts and paint. Plus the price would be too much. Floor is going to be hard to decide as I'm prone to non-carpet but carpet will be more affordable. I really like the idea of tables with outlets, I'll have to look into that as I'd love the gaming area to be modular but the craft area to be more workbench. Same with the rolling carts as many of my friends bring laptops to the RPG games.

 

@ShadowRaven -- I'd like to keep the sink in the corner as it wouldn't be too expensive sharing the hookup with the laundry room--but it will all depend on how things need to shift to turn it into a room.

 

@TGP -- I think my budget is going to go to just converting the room from a garage but if I've got any left over I'm going to look at tables and such as that's a very good idea. No wasted space. However, getting a well made table\bench is very pricy and I have to budget. I'll know more on price Thursday after I get some rough bids.

 

One think I have been considering is a air vent for airbrushes and spray cans. Anyone have any experience with the nice ones that could offer advice and recommendations?

 

Now I'd love to do something like this, but don't have the money at all (that's going to more then a kitchen) but still. This is what I kind of envision:

 

 

The important thing is lighting for me. The area I decide to be where I paint I want really, really good lighting. Tired of the barely lights the room light I have now so I have to use multiple lamp setups.

 

I've been perousing the internet for a while looking for ideas if people know of any good storage set ups for various painting relating things or gaming stuff feel free to point me in the right direction.

Edited August 27, 2014 by MonkeySloth

[TGP]

Tables: just reserve space. Improvise initially / build later.

 

Lighting: Solatubes. They are an excellent type of high tech but low cost/compact skylight. 

 

Floor: an outfit called Empire Today flooring recently installed a floor in my Dad's house that looks like Brazilian Cherry but is totally vinyl. Waterproof. Spills can't cause water damage.

Edited August 27, 2014 by TGP

[MonkeySloth]

Lighting: Solatubes. They are an excellent type of high tech but low cost/compact skylight.

Wow, those lights are cool.

 

I'm really liking the look of letterpress cabinets for supply storage. I think something like this might be my one nice purchase--though I'm really not going to need a full sized one so something in this vain. Though, look at this--it's pretty sweet.

 

[estrus]

Where are you again? An Ikea nearby?

Whenever I'm looking at storage or display needs, one of these two will usually fit the bill from IKEA: Billy and Detolf.

 

I had an unusual walk in closet in the downstairs living room. Ripped out the wire shelves and lined the three walls with Billys. Bam instant library!  Lined an entire wall in the upstairs gaming area with them as well. Relatively speaking, they are dirt cheap and hold up well. Very customizationable too.

[MonkeySloth]

Ya, there's an Ikea not to far away. I'm planning on getting several Detolfs.

[Heisler]

Power, Power, Power. You never have enough power and as built as a garage it won't have enough outlets anyway. I would get the garage on a separate circuit preferably with its own breaker box. That will be handy if you put a dedicated airbrush station in as well.

[Joe the Revelator]

Vote here toward one big room. You've got such great resources I don't know if I can offer anything new, but a tall workstation and proper storage can blend seemlessly (nearly) into your gaming space, especially with the storage you have in mind.

 

I would look at rock/gem collectors (lapidary) sites where they post how-to's for insane storage techniques for above and near work benches, because they work in such minute' materials and rock pieces. But again, it might not be much more space-saving than that storage shelf above.

 

P.S. On personal note I really F****** envy you. My toolshop is a shed, and my paint station is a drafting table in my room. I just DM'd a pathfinder game in one of my gamers' mom's basements...and my gamer doesn't even live there.

 

Don't build this mega-game-room for you. Do it for me... ::D:

[Trodax]

This sounds absolutely fantastic MonkeySloth, I'm with Joe the Revelator on the F'ing envy! Don't really have much to add except I would probably keep it as one big room rather than partition it. For some reason a big and airy gaming space feels better than a small and cramped one when five or six sweaty men get together to roll some dice. Direct access to the house also does makes sense, not just for the kitchen but even more so for the bathroom (we tend to consume beer and coffee when we game...).

 

Oh, and I think you need to get a bunk bed or two in there, so you have space for any Reaper forumites that happen to be passing by and need somewhere to crash.