How to Design an Unfinished Basement
Designing an unfinished basement can present a real challenge to even the most accomplished home designer. Basements bring forth ideas of dark, creepy cellars and damp dungeons--not exactly the most welcoming place. But with a modest budget and some careful planning, even an unfinished basement can radiate warmth and charm, inviting your family and friends to come on down and stay a while. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Plan your lighting. The terrific part about an underground space is that the lighting is completely under your control. Casting shadows into ugly corners while illuminating conversation spots is a great way to hide unattractive areas without any physical barriers. Gentle lighting on the warm (more orange) side of the spectrum works great in unfinished basements, as the softer lighting hides imperfections while keeping the mood cozy and inviting.
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Address the ceiling. An unfinished basement generally means ugly exposed wiring, beams and air ducts. If having the ceiling finished is not within your budget, painting everything overhead in matte white can be a more affordable solution. Alternately, a dark charcoal gray in the same color family as your wall color can make the ceiling disappear into shadows. The route you choose will largely depend on your lighting choices; soft, dim lighting works better with a dark ceiling color, while bright, cheery lighting will reflect more off of white roofs.
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Select a bright, inviting hue for the walls. Paint is your number one friend for immediately and affordably livening up a space. Neutral tones like soft tans and beiges work best, and you should avoid pure white, which will look too stark and clinical. Before you apply your paint, lay down a basecoat of waterproof primer to protect the paint against underground moisture and humidity. Let the paint and primers dry 24 hours between coats.
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Arrange your furniture by designating "rooms" within the space. Since basements tend to be on the large side, dividing up the space into separate, clearly defined areas helps to plan out your furniture arrangements in a more conventional way. Organizing your basement around a pool table, big screen TV, or gas fireplace are all common ways to break up the area.
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Choose accessories that build toward a theme to pull the room together. If your basement is organized around a bar or pool table, items like novelty neon signs can give the room a barroom feel. If your design style is cleaner and more contemporary, large pieces of art depicting bright and airy landscapes can do wonders for opening up the space and making up for the lack of windows.
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Tips & Warnings
Make the space your own. Choose colors and accessories that define your style, and always remember that there are no hard-and-fast rules in the design process. It's all about creating a room that makes you feel happy and at home so that you can get the most use out of your unfinished basement.
When working with any paint products in an enclosed space such as a basement, always make sure to wear proper respiratory protective gear, and ventilate the space as much as possible by opening all available doors and windows, and---if possible---aiming fans out of the space to draw fumes away.
