Streaming has grown massively in recent years, attracting millions of viewers worldwide and covering a wide range of content, from gaming to lifestyle, art, music, and educational streams. Its popularity means that more people are not just watching but also creating streams themselves.
Live streaming provides a great opportunity to showcase talents to a wide audience, and it is an exciting venture all done from the comfort and safety of your own home. For building a successful channel, a well-decorated space can help greatly because that is what everyone will see when you are live on Twitch, YouTube or any other broadcasting platform. Decor choices, lighting and the chair are all important elements of the overall on-screen aesthetic. Let’s have a look at some of the best setups.
Finding Your Niche
Your streaming niche will have a strong influence on how you go about setting up your space. You might play video games, testing recently released titles. Another popular option is iGaming streams at online casinos of your choice, like those featured in a reputable ranking at https://legalcasino.uk/. Alternatively, you could run calm, conversational streams focused on books. In each case, space can take on a very different atmosphere. Basing the aesthetics of the streaming space on what your content is about creates a foundation from which to start designing, as it will ultimately help you stay on brand for building the channel.
Lighting
Getting the lighting right is arguably the most important component of setting up the streaming space. This will have a massive influence on how you look in front of the camera, and it can make that space look professional as well.
The main lights are not going to be seen on camera. The key light should be just to the side and above the camera to light you (a diffuser helps for softer light), while a less bright fill light cancels the shadows by angling in from the other side of the key light. Many streamers use professional options like the Elgato Key Light or more budget-friendly Neewer LED panels, which provide consistent and customisable lighting.
Pushing beyond those basics is where accent lighting can be played with, and where individual touches of personal style come in. Coloured string led lights, fairy lights, or a stylish floor lamp can help create style, mood and visual interest in the space as long as it’s not something bright pointing right at the camera.
Chair
Surprisingly, your streaming chair will get a lot of visual time on the screen even though you are the main focus. There will be times when you lead forward into the camera, for example, which will expose a greater view of the chair, so it needs to be part of the cohesive style of the space.
But that style also has to be married with comfort. If you are uncomfortable and fidgety, that’s not going to lead to the best, most confident streaming performance. There are a ton of popular chair manufacturers like Razer, Secretlab, and Herman Miller out there, favoured by Twitch streamers, and the budget is often better spent on ergonomics.
Good lumbar support, arm rests, a reclining back and a headrest are excellent comfort options. Of course, if you are broadcasting from an armchair, this may be even more visible on screen than a computer chair behind a desk, and can often make for a much greater style statement.
The Background
The background is really where a lot of the magic can happen. Clean lines are great for a calming, professional look and feel, and there’s so much that can be done with them. You could incorporate softer edges with plants, for example, if you intend to go with a cosy, natural vibe, while RGB lighting is a staple of the modern gaming vibe. Brands like Nanoleaf and Philips Hue are especially popular for adding dynamic colours and shapes to the background, while even affordable furniture and smart accessories from Ikea can help structure the space.
Think of the background as not only a canvas, but a canvas where your personality can be showcased, whether that’s serious, informative or quirky. The background can be used to create a lot of visual interest and depth in the room, and adding a backlight off-screen also adds a layer of professionalism.
The background is where you can tell a story, by placing art prints, your favourite books or movie posters, a camera or classic video game cartridges. The more carefully curated the decor is, the better the overall vibe, just don’t go down the rabbit hole of cluttering the space. It’s best to keep things airy and just bring in a few simple pieces that are relevant to the stream.
Mirrors can be used, as long as they aren’t just showing the back of your head and the recording equipment. They are very useful for helping to direct light, because instead of using a backlight, you can get a similar effect by positioning a mirror behind you to bounce light back from behind you to create a subtle outline, which helps to separate you from the background.
Let Yourself Shine
By selecting the right lighting, chair and putting together a background that immediately helps inform viewers about you, you can create a streaming set-up that will help you authentically connect with your audience as it’s one you will feel comfortable, natural and relaxed in.