80's decor that hasn't been done in home arcades

I'm all about the 80s nostalgia and decor around my games. I've got the wood paneling -- came with my basement. Was thinking of ripping it out, but why bother at this point? It helps drive the nostalgia factor up, and I don't have to do any work on the walls to achieve it. I used to have mirrors, on my upstairs walls, but I sold them a long time ago. I have overhead fluorescent lights, but I want to do something else with my ceiling other than turn them off and run a bunch of blinking lights all around the machines instead.
 
Phetishboy said:
I love this lighted "warp tunnel" prop. That would be a bad-assed addition to my Outer Limits wing.

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Ohh, that lighted floor is pretty cool.
 
nutballchamp said:
Mirrors on walls. Much easier to do than on the ceiling but not as cool. Only saw a few arcades with this.

Carpet halfway up walls. Super 80's would would be carpet halfway up the walls from the floor and the rest of the wall wood paneling.

standing inbetween games while watching friends play games. Some arcades had games at 45 degree angles. Tom Cloud did this which was really cool and nostalgic.
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I'm actually carpeting my walls soon. Probably gonna do it in a way where there are carpeted panels half way up the wall and then the wall that is behind but above the panel will be carpeted as well. The paneled carpet area should give the carpet half way up the wall look.

Probably also gonna do mirrors on the wall area just above the games. My games are packed so tight you can't really see between them so no need to mirror behind the games but it should give more depth to the room.

I hadn't thought of mirrored ceilings but with the lighting I'm putting in that probably wouldn't be good. The added reflection would probably add too much light.

For an added ambiance I'm installing two short light posts with lantern fixtures. Probably 4ft tall probably gonna make a small wall of cinder block which I will carpet and place the light post so the lantern just pokes out above the top.

I've got some really cool space themed ideas but you really need a large game room to accommodate them as they would probably cost some wall space.
 
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Platform flooring with stairs. Has anyone done anything like this in their arcade? It makes a boring room more interesting for sure.

 
Luddite said:
Platform flooring with stairs. Has anyone done anything like this in their arcade? It makes a boring room more interesting for sure.

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I built a raised platform in my arcade. Best I could do with the ceiling clearance but that was the look I was going for. Very old pic attached, all I could find...
 

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I would throw in brick paneling.
I don't know about the rest of you but I am all about the knight of the round kinda theme :)
Like hanging flags, maybe torches...haha. I am dead serious about it, I used to go to Camelot arcade back in the day, and I guess I just loved it back then so much, thats something i would do if I had the room to do it. But space theme has always been apart of my life even when I wasn't collecting arcades, so tuff call, when all said and done. I do remember carpeted walls, I thought it actually looked pretty good, if you do it right of course.
 
Forgot that i also plan to add faux rock wall to one of the inside walls of the game room. have also considered turning the staircase into an enclosed tunnel to transition from upstairs to down stairs.
 
VectorInvadr said:
I would throw in brick paneling.
I don't know about the rest of you but I am all about the knight of the round kinda theme :)
Like hanging flags, maybe torches...haha. I am dead serious about it, I used to go to Camelot arcade back in the day, and I guess I just loved it back then so much, thats something i would do if I had the room to do it. But space theme has always been apart of my life even when I wasn't collecting arcades, so tuff call, when all said and done. I do remember carpeted walls, I thought it actually looked pretty good, if you do it right of course.
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That's one theme I cannot get on board with. Maybe it's because of that dude that tried running that shire horse-theme park in the Midwest. Castles, dragons, knights, etc. does not say 'arcade' to me. Space/Future Tech always seemed right to me.
 
Phetishboy said:
That's one theme I cannot get on board with. Maybe it's because of that dude that tried running that shire horse-theme park in the Midwest. Castles, dragons, knights, etc. does not say 'arcade' to me. Space/Future Tech always seemed right to me.
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yh, I think it's a preference, and I had the best time of my life in that arcade :) Knight theme is comfort for me, haha.
But I agree with you Space is the place !
 
I like the mirrors on the walls, that's what I'm currently rocking. I have huge mirrors all the way around*, which gives it that cool "Infinity Effect"... It is, after all, a very small room. (10x11)

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* Where there are no games blocking it, anyway
 

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Where do you guys fine all the pics of arcades BITD??
I've tried google image search, but apparently my search terms aren't too good...
 
jawhn said:
I like the mirrors on the walls, that's what I'm currently rocking. I have huge mirrors all the way around*, which gives it that cool "Infinity Effect"... It is, after all, a very small room. (10x11)

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* Where there are no games blocking it, anyway
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That's pretty awesome. Took me a little while to find the wall.
 
p1899m said:
I'm actually carpeting my walls soon. Probably gonna do it in a way where there are carpeted panels half way up the wall and then the wall that is behind but above the panel will be carpeted as well. The paneled carpet area should give the carpet half way up the wall look.

Probably also gonna do mirrors on the wall area just above the games. My games are packed so tight you can't really see between them so no need to mirror behind the games but it should give more depth to the room.

I hadn't thought of mirrored ceilings but with the lighting I'm putting in that probably wouldn't be good. The added reflection would probably add too much light.

For an added ambiance I'm installing two short light posts with lantern fixtures. Probably 4ft tall probably gonna make a small wall of cinder block which I will carpet and place the light post so the lantern just pokes out above the top.

I've got some really cool space themed ideas but you really need a large game room to accommodate them as they would probably cost some wall space.
Click to expand...

Can't wait to check it out when you're done.
 
We're actually in process of redoing 2 of our walls too as a change of pace.

I'm going with the 'underground', basement kind of look - we're putting up faux brick on two of our walls for kind of a Flynn's Arcade look. We're leaving the Game Grid mural on the other short wall, and the remaining black wall is staying black. Replacing the old, yellowed, burned out rope lights with blue LED rope lights (our carpeting is blue so it makes sense).

I like the lighted ceiling idea. I too looked at doing a lighted dance floor in the center of the room (before too many games took up the floor space) and I still have the electronics to connect it up to one of my juke boxes. Might consider something for the room center ceiling...

I'd like to have a raised floor area too just for some different depth or perspective. Always liked that look.

Man Brett! If you remember angled games in my gameroom, it's been awhile since you've visited. That's when I was in Gameroom magazine about 8 or 9 years ago, I think. Don't have any room for that anymore.

Cool thread.

Tom
 
My idea of home arcade design perfection:

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And I'm not just saying that either. You hit it out of the park, Nutball. I have seen some great arcades, but (to my personal taste) no one has done it better.
 
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SeanMcL said:
My idea of home arcade design perfection:
And I'm not just saying that either. You hit it out of the park, Nutball. I have seen some great arcades, but (to my personal taste) no one has done it better.
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Thanks. I kept true to what I remember and seen in 80's arcade pics. Hope to see more home arcades that push the retro envelope.
 
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