For the first time in my life, I can finally say that I actually enjoy spending time in my basement and that being down there feels, well, good. I always thought that the basement was a less-than-desirable space to hang out in. But after a year of living in our home, we finally decided to give your basement a refresh abd to convert our basement into a warmer, more inviting space designed to meet the needs of our little family. Here are a few steps and tips I considered before embarking on this exciting project.
Finishing the basement
Investment, planning issues
We already know that finishing the basement is highly recommended, as doing so greatly increases the value of your property. We were fortunate that when we took possession of the home, the basement had already been finished. The previous owners installed wood floors and a drop ceiling which meant fewer steps for us. I admit I'm not a huge fan of how a drop ceiling looks, but one of the advantages of one is that you won’t have to demolish a part of the ceiling when doing renovations, something that certainly came in handy when we did our kitchen renovations last year. One of the best things you can do for your basement is paint. Just by painting the walls, you’ll refresh the space and give it a roomier, more spacious feeling.
Plan the layout and difference spaces
Living room, playroom, storage space, bathroom
Secondly, it is essential to know ahead of time what rooms you’re going to want the basement to include so that you can plan out the project better. You want to make sure this space meets the needs of everyone in the family and takes their preferred activities into account. Ask yourself questions like: Do we want our basement to be one large room, or should we divide it into separate spaces? As for us, we decided to leave the separate rooms as they were. Our basement now consists of one large room and a smaller room (which can easily be used as a bedroom or office with some extra storage). Plus, we have one room that we can turn into a powder room as we already have the plumbing in place.
We hoped to create a playroom and a home theatre-inspired living room since we decided not to put a TV on the main floor, a bathroom with a shower, and, since being in lockdown, we set up a designated “workout” area.
Getting inspired and choosing the right furniture and accessories
Design inspiration, lighting, and choice of furniture
If I'm honest, I've always considered the basement to be not such an attractive room to have to decorate. A room like this presents its share of constraints, like lower ceilings or smaller windows, which means less natural light.
When the time comes to get inspired and choose your furniture for the basement, I think that the best idea is to go with pieces that would also look great in other rooms of the house. We chose furniture from Urban Barn to decorate our basement, staying in colours and tones that would look as good in any other room of the house to keep the room as bright as possible.
In conclusion, deciding the layout of your basement can seem daunting at first, but what's most important is to choose a design that’s built on yours and your family’s needs.
