Finally, my game room is done

IMG_5554,
originally uploaded by jinlee.

Here's my "Game Room on a Budget"

Pool Table - The 8 foot pool table is a 3 piece slate Olhausen that I bought off Craigslist a couple months ago. It's the nicest I've ever played on and FYI, takes 3 guys to just lift one end of it. I'm pretty sure this table weighs at, or over, 1000 pounds. Retail / brand new, I have no idea what these would go for, but I happily picked it up for $1400, and paid a professional billiards moving company $300 to set it up for me (ABC Billiards in Lynnwood if you're interested, they did a GREAT job).

Wine Rack - This piece might look familiar if you have recently walked through the Self Serve section at IKEA. Yes, it's from IKEA (for those of you who are IKEA bashers), but I reinforced all the corners and screws so it's more sturdy than your average IKEA shelving unit (although we'll see if that makes any difference in the long run). Paid $90 for this (which includes all the wine shelves, regular shelves, and side pieces). And I paid $20 for the Martini Bar sign (from Costco Home Store) that's currently on top. Not too bad since I see similar wine racks for 5 times the price at other furniture stores.

Rug - I was walking through Costco Home Store and decided I needed a new rug. I wanted an 8 foot by 11 footer to go under the pool table (the one I had on there before was an $80 rug from Home Depot). The salesman there tried to convince me to get a $1300 handmade, one of a kind rug. But I couldn't justify spending that much when it's just going to sit under the pool table. I decided to think about it for a little bit. Then I walked through Costco's bar stool section and noticed a rug on display that I thought looked great (and nearly identical to the hand made one). The same salesman told me that it was a machine made rug and that he had a bunch of them in stock. Total cost, $239 plus tax. I didn't hesitate to say "I'll take it."

Pub Table and Chairs - These are also from Costco Home Store. Thomas Aaron Billiards is the maker. I saw similar ones, although not as nice, at American Games and Billiards. And although I love that store, I felt like I was paying $1200 for the table and $500 for each chair only because it was a brand name (Brunswick). At Costco Home, the Thomas Aaron pub table was $250, and the spectator chairs were $270 each. And despite being cheaper than buying Brunswick, I would say this is where I splurged a little bit. I've seen pub tables and chairs at places like Fred Meyer and IKEA for $200 for a 3-piece set. But I didn't want it to look cheap either. So I feel like I found the perfect middle ground with the Thomas Aaron furniture.

Also, not picture yet because I just hung it up this morning. I bought a cool poster of Elvis Presley, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart playing pool that I hung right over the pub table. That only cost $70 framed. Not too bad.

Total cost of everything mentioned above is under $3,000. Well under my original budget.