Bringing home a pool table is a dream-come-true for many homeowners. If you have the space and you love to play, why not set up your own game room for friends and family? You can enjoy future parties and hours of meditative practice on your own with a home pool table. But how can you fit that giant table (and the play-space needed around it) into your home design? You'll need a pretty big room, a plan to make it a great pool space, and a few good storage options to make it work, but you're not alone. Many other billiard fans have put their minds, designs, and carpentry skills to work on the issue. Here are more than a few neat ways to fit a pool table into your home:
1. Size Your Room and Table
The first place to start is your pool room. You might have a designated space ready to convert, or it's time to assess the largest available spaces in your house. You can rearrange the living room, convert a bedroom, cover a porch, or even dedicate a large shed. Grab your tape-measure or laser rangefinder and measure your space. Figure the distance from wall to wall, from doorways, and considering any mostly-stationary furniture.
You need more air-space (empty space above the waist) than foot-space. So seating and wall furniture is a popular choice inside your play zone. Match the size of your room to the size of the table that will comfortably play there with standard 58" pool cues.
Keep these standard measurements in mind:
- Regulation Nine
- Table Size: 4.5' x 9'
- Room Size: 18' x 14'
- Home Eight
- Table Size: 4' x 8'
- Room Size: 17' x 13'4"
- Compact Seven
- Table Size: 3.5' x 7'
- Room Size: 16'2" x 13'1"
Bonus Tip: Don't worry about a tight spot or two. Most home pool setups have at least one tight spot.
2. Consider Built-In Storage and Seating
One of the best ways to streamline a home pool room is to build-in your features. When storage and seating are part of the walls, they don't take up room in the middle of your billiard space. Players need to walk around the table, position, and wave pool cues in all directions — especially up. So build down. Build cabinetry that hugs the walls or even inserts into the walls for extra space. You can also build counters and place low-set furniture to do double-duty as storage.
Likewise, a line of chairs or — better! — a built-in loveseat couch can make your pool room both cozy and spacious at the same time. Eliminate scattered chairs by emplacing cozy seating around the game space.
3. Look for Double-Door Walls
One of the best ways to open up a limited pool room is with double-doors. Position your pool table next to the patio doors or a central set of double doors between living spaces. This can expand your game space and make it easier to socialize outside the pool-cue-zone as well. While it won't solve all your tight corners, double doors are great for opening half the table.
4. Try a Hidden and Useful Billiard Door
You can also make smaller doors do double-duty for the space they require. A hidden billiard door turns your doorway into storage for pool cues, equipment, and ongoing scoreboards. This is a great way to turn a door that is otherwise inconveniently placed in your billiards-space into an asset. Billiard doors can also create privacy by hiding, for example, the hallway to the home's bedrooms from guests during game nights.
5. Get Friendly With the Bar
If your home already has a bar (or you plan to build one), it will combine well with your pool table space. Because bars are lower-set, there's room for pool cues to swing above them. Also, you can lounge idly against the bar while your buddies take their shots. A bar is also a convenient place to store some of your pool equipment.
6. What About Convertible Pool Tables and Fold-Away Furniture?
Another option is to make your pool room multi-purpose. Some families might, for example, cover the pool table so it can be a dining, craft, or homework table during the day. Then, when it's time to play, the other furniture is cleared away and the cover is removed. You can also put gliders on your table and push it to the wall when not in use to make room for other activities. Some billiard tables are even lightweight enough to fold away.
Alternatively, you can make your other nearby furniture convertible. Make it easy to clear the space for billiards with unfolding walls and fold-away furniture that clears to the walls more completely than any stack of chairs.
7. Expand the Room
Finally, you might consider taking down a wall or opening your pool room with light home remodeling. Many homes, for example, have segmented living-rooms, dens, and dining rooms that modern families would rather enjoy as an open space. Taking out inner walls (and keeping the support columns) can improve your home property value in the long run while also making room for your pool table today.
Renovations also give you a great opportunity to install built-in storage, seating, a bar, and a billiard door to make your pool room complete. For more tips for versatile use of space and handy built-in billiard storage, contact us today!
