Fun Ways to Spruce Up Your Rec Room
Recreation rooms are often the last space in the house to receive any decorating attention. Yours might be filled with mismatched furniture that’s seen better days, out-dated flooring and window treatments chosen more for privacy than style. It may also be a bit on the messy side or has become the cluttered depository for everyone’s shoes, bags and sporting equipment. Don’t despair! You don’t have to have a complete makeover or spend a lot of money to spruce up your family’s rec room. It can be done in a few simple, cost-effective steps. Here are some fun ways to spruce up your rec room.
Get Clean
Most recreation rooms receive a lot of hard wear and tear. Children and adults play, entertain, host parties and sleepovers in the family rec room, and things are sure to get spilled, stained, torn and soiled. Begin your recreation room spruce up with a thorough cleaning. Wash walls, curtains, floors, spot clean the furniture, throw away items that are broken or no longer used and move items that don’t belong in the recreation room to a more appropriate place. You may be amazed at how much better the room looks with just this effort.
Get Organized
When it serves so many different functions, it’s understandable that a recreation room can quickly become cluttered with equipment, devices and supplies. Providing proper storage for everything is the top priority for making the room look better. Consider dividing the room into zones and arrange for storage that’s most functional for those zones.
For instance, the media zone might include a television, video gaming components, DVDs and CDs. An entertainment center with enough shelves and cabinets to hold everything in one place is ideal. If your family enjoys crafting or playing board games in the rec room, use a bookshelf to store those items. Try using upholstered storage cubes that can double as seating or a storage trunk in place of a traditional coffee table, if your space is limited.
Get Colorful
Choose one or two main colors from the furnishings and décor you already own. Purchase a few pattern-free pillows, throw blankets and area rugs in those main colors and sprinkle them throughout the room (and throw out all those tattered afghans and flat pillows). A few well-placed matching items will pull the room together with an overall sense of unity and flow.
Get Lighter
If your recreation room is clean, organized and colorful, but still doesn’t feel as welcoming as you’d like it to, the problem may be that it isn’t properly lit. Go into the room during the day and in the evening, and take note of any dark corners that are making the room look drab. Instead of making a few impulsive, and perhaps dysfunctional, lighting purchases, write a list of what you need. Consider the function of the room and where you can utilize more task lighting or ambient lighting.
Get Growing
Live plants bring vibrancy to a room that no other decorative item can. Placing two or three lush plants in your recreation room will immediately change its look. Choose hardy, easy care plants such as pothos, Chinese evergreen or cast iron plant if there’s not much natural light in your recreation room. Airplane plant, snake plant and philodendrons require more indirect but are still low maintenance.
