5 IKEA Finds That Will Level Up Your Gaming Setup

Building your gaming setup doesn't end at getting a high-performance PC, connecting it to a high-resolution monitor, and then pairing them to your gaming keyboard and mouse of choice. You'd also have to incorporate comfort, convenience, and style into your battle station. Is your desk big enough to accommodate all your devices? Are your essential gaming accessories just within reach? Can you play for long hours without straining your eyes?

If you haven't considered these factors yet, your gaming setup might not be as efficient as you'd hope. Don't worry, though — there are plenty of gadgets you can use to complete your station. Some of them are even readily available at your nearest IKEA. Yes, the furniture giant also offers a range of devices designed to fit a gamer's space. This includes lighting solutions, ergonomic desks, and even simple yet thoughtful decoration. Here are five IKEA products to check out when upgrading your gaming setup.

Light strips in a gaming setup might look gimmicky, but they actually help create a cozy ambiance in your space. If you're at IKEA, one of the lighting solutions to check out is the Kabbleka LED Lighting Strip. Available for $20, this strip light is just what you need to give your gaming setup an aesthetic but affordable upgrade. It provides you with nine colors to pick from: red, green, blue, pink, orange, purple, light blue, ice blue, and aquamarine. The light strip comes with a button to switch between the different colors. Unfortunately, this strip light isn't dimmable, but users say the lighting is already soft enough to create a cozy ambiance in your gaming setup.

Being 118" long, the Kabbleka Lighting Strip can already cover a large part of your room. It uses self-adhesive tape, so installation should be a breeze. Simply peel the backing and stick it. The strip is also flexible to be bent easily when needed, maybe to follow the shape of your monitor or to wrap it around your desk. If it's too long for your setup, you can cut the strip in any of the black lines along the length. To power the strip, you can use a free USB port on your computer or connect it to a wall adapter.

Gaming chairs are nice, but it isn't really healthy to stay seated for hours on end. If you're experiencing lower back pain and neck strain from sitting too long, you might want to switch to a standing position from time to time. A standing gaming desk — like Malomrade Electric Gaming Desk from IKEA — could be what you need. 

Unlike other alternatives that are essentially just desks with height adjustment capabilities, the Malomrade Gaming Desk includes several accessories for your battle station. It features three monitor arms that can accommodate flat gaming monitors as large as 27". All of them are adjustable, so whenever you need to change your monitors' orientation, you're free to do so. Above the arms is a pegboard with hooks, brackets, and elastic straps for organizing your controller, keyboard, and headphones. If you don't like reaching for your headphones from that far, you can just hang them in one of the two hooks underneath the desk instead. There's also a built-in cable management tray beneath the rear of the desk to hide your power strip and messy cables. 

Performance wise, this gaming desk can carry a load of 132 lbs. on the tabletop, 15 lbs. on the monitor arms, and 22 lbs. on the pegboard. The desk itself measures 70" by 30.5", spacious enough to fit all your lamps, speakers, and other gaming essentials. The height, on the other hand, extends from a minimum of 26.75" up to 49.25". For convenience, you can save your preferred heights in the controller, so they're just one press away. This controller is even built with two USB ports that support charging small electronics. 

Most of the time, gaming rooms are dimly lit, with only a desk lamp lighting your desk. This isn't the most ideal setup, especially if the lamp shines directly on your screen and causes glare. To avoid that, consider getting yourself a monitor light bar, such as IKEA's Lagergang LED Lamp for Screen. Like other monitor light bars, this 370-lumen light has a soft glow that doesn't produce glare but is enough to brighten your entire desk. It has three brightness levels to choose from. Just lightly touch the top-middle of the light bar to switch between these light intensities. The color temperature isn't adjustable, though, so you're stuck with the same color. 

Since the Lagergang Screen Lamp is 15.75" long, it should fit most monitors comfortably. The setup itself won't take you more than ten minutes either. All you have to do is thread the light bar's USB cable through the hook, attach the magnetic hook to the light bar, and then hang the hook on your monitor. You can easily bend the hook if the placement isn't as secure. From here, run the 59" USB-C cord to your cable management tray and plug it into any USB-C port on your computer. Once powered on, you can change the direction of the light by swiveling the lamp forward.

Audio-reactive lights are one of the coolest gadgets you can add to your gaming station. IKEA offers one for only $7, making it an inexpensive way to upgrade your gaming setup too. The Skaftsarv LED Decorative Light looks like a regular standing light bar at first glance, but once you start playing games or songs, it then shifts with the audio in the room.

You can set the lamp to start with a single solid color — lime green, purple, blue, lavender, orange, red, or yellow. Or you can opt for one of the two rainbow colors — one that begins with green and transitions to yellow then pink, or the other that starts with yellow and transitions to purple then blue. Simply cycle through the available colors using the top button at the back to pick your choice. Other than changing colors, the Skaftsarv Light is also dimmable. Just long-press on the bottom button at the back of the device.

Beyond its different lighting modes, this decorative lamp offers flexible placement options too. Its right-angle shape makes it easy to have the light face the wall for a softer glow. You can also leave the light standing or lay it flat on your gaming desk. And since it's pretty affordable, feel free to add more than one to your setup. Just make sure you have enough USB-C power adapters as it doesn't have one in the box. 

A headphone stand is one of those essential accessories you know you need in your gaming setup but might be hesitant to buy since it does only one job. Well, the Iskarna LED Table Lamp from IKEA changes that for you. This isn't just a headphone stand, as it's also a table lamp and a decoration in one. Yes, it doubles as a decoration thanks to its unique look. What sets it apart from standard table lamps is how it's designed to resemble a head. This makes it the perfect stand for your headphones and other head accessories like glasses, headband, cap, mask, or bandana.

For its lighting feature, you can change the lamp into one of seven solid colors, or have it automatically cycle through all the color options. There's a button at the back of the head to set your preferred configuration. As with many of IKEA's lighting solutions, the Iskarna LED Table Lamp can last up to 25,000 hours. If you turn it on for three hours every day, expect a service life of roughly two decades.  

Measuring 9" by 8" by 6", this table lamp might be pretty big for your already packed gaming desk, though. But it can still be a good fit on your bedside table or floating shelf. 

These products were mainly selected based on how they'll seamlessly fit into any gamer's setup. They should either help with ergonomics, organization, comfort, or just overall aesthetics of the setup. We also considered the IKEA reviews on the products and prioritized those rated at least 4 out of 5 stars. The exception being the gaming desk, which we still included for its functional benefit for a gamer, as it had only one review at the time of writing.