The Quest for a Cozy Gaming Setup

Cozy gaming, each as a style and aesthetic, has exploded in reputation over the previous few years, particularly because the pandemic. I’m no stranger to this house; I’ve been a lover of cozy gaming since I began my obsession with Stardew Valley almost a decade in the past. It felt like a pure area of interest for me as an individual with numerous cozy hobbies (studying, gardening, cat cuddling, crochet, knitting, and many others.). Take a have a look at my historical past right here at SUPERJUMP, and you may see precisely what I imply; I like a superb, slow-paced sim, administration, or journey sport the place I can get misplaced in another person’s world for a short time.

While I’ve performed the video games for years, I have not actually gotten into the aesthetics of the comfy gaming group, that are a serious a part of its presence on-line. Creating your personal cozy gaming nook, full of soppy textures and heat lighting, appears to boost the expertise and add to that escapist, stress-relieving pleasure discovered within the interest.

So, I’ve launched into a quest: curate my very own excellent cozy gaming setup, full with equipment and {hardware} that make me really feel most at house.

The Vision

So what precisely screams…nicely, not screams, I suppose, however gently says, “cozy” to me? What precisely is the comfy aesthetic?

Scrolling by way of Pinterest, Instagram, and different on-line communities beneath the tags #cozygaming and #cozygamingaesthetic, I noticed various tendencies I might positively get behind. Cozy avid gamers, apparently, have a tendency to like issues like RGB lighting setups (as a result of who would not?) and many vegetation, in addition to softer pastel shades of pinks, blues, and greens matched with lighter browns, lotions, and white. These setups – often a bed room desk or devoted workplace/gaming room – usually have both a really nature-inspired theme, filled with leaves and wooden accents, or they’re minimalist and white, with gentle, cloud or sky impressed touches. Frequent inclusions are enjoyable drinks (cold and warm) in cute mugs and glasses, gentle blankets, and candles.

Also cats. Lots of cats.

I took quite a lot of inspiration from these setups and contemplated the issues I like about my house. I like house and galaxy-themed objects, in addition to darker pure woods and contrasting white equipment, and naturally, RGB accents. I’m an enormous fan of lengthy, dangling houseplants and fairy lights, and I virtually all the time have a mug of tea or an iced espresso at hand anyway – why not get some cute drink containers to go together with them? And hey, I’ve already acquired the cats to go together with it!

So, here is the dream want listing for my superb cozy gaming house:

• A darkish wooden desk with loads of house
• White peripherals for my pc (and possibly a white tower case) with RGB accents
• Something space-themed to carry my controllers (additionally house themed, after all) and my headphones
• Space and nature-themed decor for the partitions round my desk
• A cute, warm-colored lamp and nice-smelling candles
• Various plushies from video games and exhibits I like
• Soft blankets on a cushty gaming chair
• Fun drink station together with mug hotter and cute mugs/glasses

Easy, proper?

The Problems

So, I began assembling my setup! And…nicely, it is rather a lot more durable than you may assume it’s to do that.

For starters, the practicality of my dream setup is a bit questionable at finest. I’ve an energetic little one who loves to hang around with me and sport with me. I even have cats who adore being in my house and knocking over the whole lot they’ll attain. Both of those elements imply that having something that is pristine white or breakable on my desk – like delicate decorations or drink containers – is an absolute no-go. I am unable to let you know the variety of instances my cats have knocked my issues to the ground, gotten fluff caught on the whole lot, or chewed on cables. My kiddo is not essentially the most cautious both, so I’m always cleansing up crumbs and spills. Most frustratingly, my workplace is open-plan on its ground of the home; I haven’t got a door that I can simply shut to maintain them from touching or shifting issues. This signifies that candles and vegetation are a definitive no for now, and glass drink containers and white peripherals are a problem.

The subsequent problem I face is that I merely have restricted house. Our home is not very large; as I discussed, I’ve an workplace that is only a nook of our completed basement, with my husband’s workplace on the opposite facet and a communal dwelling house within the center. The solely actual house I’ve to embellish is on the desk itself and the 2 partitions behind it within the nook. I even have two computer systems for work functions, that means that house on my desk is already restricted. Having the entire equipment could also be enjoyable, but it surely tends to require room that I merely shouldn’t have proper now.

Finally, I have to tackle the price of my dream mission. Computer equipment are notoriously costly, particularly for gaming-specific setups; a superb keyboard and mouse combo might value as a lot as $200 or extra, relying on the model you go together with, and RGB lighting to your house, as a result of it is presently fashionable, is extremely costly in its personal proper. I need to assist small companies with my accent purchases, however as a result of their working prices are increased, they must cost increased costs for his or her merchandise. I do assume it is price investing the cash in high quality items, but it surely’s merely not sensible as a working mom to justify that type of funding throughout an financial recession.

These points brought on me to reassess my beliefs. What I’d like to have is an Instagram-worthy setup, and possibly that was my drawback. See, the setups you see in #cozygamingaesthetics on the web are curated, selective, and infrequently unrealistic. These creators could have been paid to promote sure merchandise of their house; they could have obtained them without cost or as a part of a model deal, that means they did not have to speculate their very own cash into the house and have a stake in your wanting to purchase this stuff. Beyond that, many of those areas have been curated over years and years of cautious assortment and reorganization. They’re not quick-fix, completely new rooms that sprung up in a single day, precisely as excellent as they seem. They could not even be excellent! I do know I’ve been responsible of shoving litter out of body when posting; I’ve no doubts that these cozy gaming influencers do the identical factor. There’s nothing unsuitable with creating an area like this and posting cute footage of it on-line, however as the buyer, I’ve to be cautious of those information and never let myself fall into the lure of false authenticity. I’ve to do not forget that it is unrealistic to have an ideal setup instantly or always.

Does all of this imply I want to surrender on my goals of a comfy workplace house? No, by no means. It merely means I’ve to re-evaluate my want listing and make it extra actionable in the true world.

Progress So Far

There have been just a few issues I merely could not have or needed to rethink. Namely, I simply needed to settle for that I would not have the ability to have delicate, breakable decor out within the open on my desk. I like my child and my animals; I would like them to have the ability to take pleasure in my house, too. So, I’ve opted for metals, woods, and, in some instances, plastics for all of my decor. I did have to surrender on the thought of fairy lights – anybody who’s ever owned a cat will know precisely why – however I can nonetheless have enjoyable RGB peripherals, and I’m trying into getting strip lighting that I can connect to the desk itself. I additionally purchased one thing known as museum gel, which is a transparent gel that works a bit like mounting putty and is utilized in museums to maintain shows safe with out damaging them. This helps mitigate the problem of cats knocking issues over, which is useful.

Next, I accepted that a number of the issues I needed wanted to be long-term targets relatively than fast buys. I’ve a wonderfully purposeful pc proper now; I do not should be going out and shopping for all new screens and keyboards and mice only for the aesthetics. So, slowly, over time, I’m changing bits as they want changing with extra aesthetic variations that’re going to final me. I just lately needed to change my keyboard (as a result of writing for a dwelling does are inclined to take a toll on it) and managed to discover a beautiful, inexpensive RGB white mechanical piece that even has adjustable gentle modes. While I’d like to now get an identical headphone stand with room for all three of my controllers, my present headphone stand nonetheless works simply nice, so I’ll wait some time earlier than I change it.

I’m additionally having enjoyable making items to go in my setup! Outside of video video games, I like to participate in numerous artful hobbies, together with knitting and crochet. I’ve made myself a beautiful cozy lap blanket and a superb, gentle foot rug, in addition to mug cozies and coasters that make my setup enjoyable and colourful, and are all of the extra private as a result of they have been one thing I made relatively than purchased.

Finally, I’m studying to just accept the house that I’m already in as cozy in itself. I’m studying to like my little nook, filled with artwork and decorations I already personal that I’m lastly discovering properties for on my partitions. I hold little trinkets on my desk from numerous adventures I’ve gone on with my household, and I’m leaning into the aesthetic I have already got whereas I construct the one I would like. It’s not excellent; it is nonetheless messy and cramped and a bit disorganized and uncoordinated. But it is mine, and it tells a beautiful story about what cozy means to me.

So, have I achieved my excellent cozy gaming setup? Probably not, and that is okay. I’m going to maintain engaged on it slowly, and I’m not going to let the web’s concept of a picture-ready desk maintain me again from having fun with what I have already got. When I’m snuggled beneath a blanket I made, cat purring in my lap, with my palms on my glowing keyboard and the Stardew Valley soundtrack in my ears, I actually do not need to complain concerning the little issues I’m lacking. It’s sufficient to be cozy the place I’m.