DIY

How to Have a Really Cool Basement

If you have a basement you are one of the lucky ones. Not only do you have a spare room for storage, it is usually large enough to be remodelled into anything you want, all without losing storage space. The main thing to remember is that being under the house, it’s likely to be naturally dim, so good lighting will be essential. A qualified electrician can install both lighting and power points for your new basement room, once you’ve decided what you want to do with it. Here are some tips on how to use the basement

  • Make it into a home gym or entertainment room
  • Use it for entertaining, hobbies, a spare living room or an extra bedroom.
  • It could become a home office or a playroom for the kids – or both.
  • You could use it to store product for a home business
  • Teenagers could use it for their hang-out space
  • Aged parents could live there
  • You could rent it out as a flat
  • You can divide it into two or three rooms if it is big enough. Adult children could then live there if they need accommodation.

Whatever you are remodelling your basement for, consider adding an ensuite. Not only will a downstairs toilet be very handy, an additional shower will be ideal when you have overnight guests. The main thing to remember is that many basements don’t have any natural lighting and this can make things feel a little claustrophobic for some people. If you are affected, paint a window onto the wall and treat it like a regular window with a curtain and blind. Within the window, you can paint an outdoor scene or hang a large picture of scenery. You could also have someone paint a whole wall with a mural depicting an outdoor scene. Add a downlight or wall sconces on each side to mimic natural lighting and make sure the whole basement is brightly lit with a mix of white light and warm light. Make sure the steps down into the basement are well lit, too. Draw up a plan and be sure you are really decided on it before contacting the electrician to do the lighting. That way everything will fall into place with no delays.

When redecorating, don’t forget the stairs. These can often look rather ugly unless you do something with them to change the look. There are many tips online to create amazing stairs, from adding special lighting effects to painting the stairs themselves in different colours. Just like other parts of the basement, the stairs don’t have to be bland or boring when you let your imagination take a flight to create something unusual and amazing.