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Hello all, having some trouble lighting up my game room. Its a room without any overhead lights, due to there being no access. I have a 4x8 table, so its pretty big. My older friends are having trouble with the current light set up, not being able to read rule books well. Was wondering if you guys had any suggestions on floor lamps or anything I could use to lighten the room up a bit. I'm trying to get some input before I shell out a couple hundred on floor lamps lol.

I would recommend LED strip lighting.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/65266/FLX-5050WW2450.html


You can get strip holders to mount them with, or if you wish to spend more money, you can get LED strip lighting pre-mounted in articulated lamps that allow you to maneuver the light where you need it.

They also make tracks that allow you to raise-lower the mounting strips on the wall, or to move them along the ceiling.

A 16' reel of LED strip is pretty much enough to do an entire room with a 4x8 table.

MB

Where would be the best place to mount them? on the walls?


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Damn power supply need to run it is sold out =(

If you go with floor lamps I recommend Day for Night bulbs. They essentially fool you into think it is daylight out and it is much easier to stay up all night gaming. Great for photos too!

Of course, they are a bit more expensive though.

 Easy E wrote:
If you go with floor lamps I recommend Day for Night bulbs. They essentially fool you into think it is daylight out and it is much easier to stay up all night gaming. Great for photos too!

Of course, they are a bit more expensive though.

I have a ton of day bulbs already, just looking for the most effective way to use them. My first though was one of those floor lamps with the extendable arms.

Overhead lighting. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Floor lamps are nice for reading in a chair. For lighting large areas, like a game room, the light needs to be up high to minimize shadowing.

What does 'no access' mean? Is your ceiling very high/low/sloping/flimsy/no existing power/landlord issue?
I'd look into multiple pendant lamps,track lighting, striplights or even a pool table style lamp hanging above the table.
These could be run off the mains plugs sockets with the cables neatly pinned or put into conduit across the ceiling and down the wall.
For a couple of hundred bucks an electrician would easily be able to do that if you're not confident.


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Personally I'd love to splash out on i-bulbs for my games room.
If you've not seen them yet they're amazing, they are led bulbs that can be faded through the entire colour spectrum by your phone!
Perfect for more atmospheric roleplay/boardgames sessions and can also go very bright for task lighting. (You'll never forget Night Fighting again!)

Alternatively make the old fogeys wear these at all times.
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/jewelers-lighted-magnifying-glass
In seriousness though I'd improve the lighting for your own sake, over time your eyes will become damaged through straining to read/work in the dark.

Look into pool table lighting ideas off the internet. I am sure you will find something that will work

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-3-Light-White-Plug-in-Track-Lighting-Fixture-EP9090WH/100195243 what do you guys think if this?

Unless you're concerned about aesthetics, I'd go with one or two of these:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-LED-White-Shop-Light-54103161/205331022?N=5yc1vZc7bu

Strobe lights. Tons of them. It'll make your games more challenging.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Strobe lights. Tons of them. It'll make your games more challenging.

Haha I just got a vision of the "get hard" commercial of simulating a prison riot and cracked up.

But I second the pool table style lights suggestions, they are fairly cheap, and honestly the holes in your ceiling from the screws needed to hang it is really really easy to clean up after removal, in case you want a deposit back ;p

 Chute82 wrote:
Look into pool table lighting ideas off the internet. I am sure you will find something that will work

I have pool table lights in my basement. They work well.

Put these lights up, obviously gotta hook up the cords to the ceiling but these worked great! thanks for the help guys, ill post more pics in a sec!


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This is only half of our bookcases, we have an addiction I think!

Good stuff, I hate trying to read/paint/play in low light levels.
What lighting did you have before, can't see any signs of it at all, did you just echolocate?

 Alex Kolodotschko wrote:
Good stuff, I hate trying to read/paint/play in low light levels.
What lighting did you have before, can't see any signs of it at all, did you just echolocate?

If you look on the top of the bookshelves in the first picture, you can see the small spotlights. We had one on each shelf. It worked okay, but like I said, my older gamers had all kinds of complaints reading.

Looks great. I have the same lighting set up. I added a third light over the "staging area" as well.