Turn Your Basement into a Comfy Lounge — No matter how big our home is, we could always use some extra space. If you’re not sure that you should build an extra room, why not use one of those you already have?
How to Turn Your Basement into a Comfy Lounge
Basements are among the most underrated rooms in a house, and with some careful planning and a bit of effort, you’ll be able to turn yours into a wonderful, comfy lounge.
Plan Ahead
An additional, comfy lounge in your home where you could entertain guests and organize parties sounds like a wonderful idea, but it won’t happen overnight. Basements are usually unfinished rooms, which means that it’s going to be quite a challenge for you to remodel it and turn it into your dream lounge.
You will need to think about the budget and how much money you can put aside for this project. Think about adding an additional bathroom, adding walls if you want more privacy and leaving the area around the water heater unfinished in case there are ever leaks.
Prepare the Space
After you’ve made plans, it’s time to prepare the room for the next steps. Do a thorough examination of the space and make sure there aren’t any water issues or damage that have to be taken care of immediately. Inspect the floor and walls, but don’t focus on the interior alone – go out and see if the exterior of the foundation looks good and whether it’s in good shape.
To make sure your basement is dry, protect the floor with a waterproof epoxy sealant. If you have any electrical wiring or exposed pipes on the ceiling, you might want to install a drop ceiling so that you will be able to access the systems in the future, if need be. If what you had in mind will take some building or serious renovation, you might want to call professionals and have them come over to inspect the room before you start.
Let There be Light
Sadly, basement windows are usually small and combined with the location of the room, you’ll be left with very little (if any) natural light to work with. This is why you should focus on artificial lighting to make the room more inviting and comfortable; not to mention that good lighting will make the room feel and look bigger as well. If you have enough ceiling space and your budget can handle it, install recessed lighting because you can have broad floodlights or narrow spotlights, whichever you prefer.
On the other hand, if that’s not an option, you can always choose something simple such as floor and table lamps, wall sconces, and pendant lights and strategically place mirrors around the room so they reflect the light even further.
Pick Furniture Wisely
Even though you think that this is going to be lounge only, basements usually turn into a general storage area because it’s very convenient. Still, after all the hard work you’ve put into planning and decorating, you don’t want a mess in your nice new lounge, do you?
This is where ‘smart’ multi-functional furniture steps in: bring in floor-to-ceiling shelves and cabinets, pick nice, comfortable lounges that double as beds, and ottomans with hidden storage compartments. This way, you will be saving space but, at the same time, ensuring that it looks elegant and stays comfortable. Try not to fall into the trap and end up putting together a number of mismatched pieces, but aim to use a similar shade of color for all your furniture.
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Aim for Open Space
It doesn’t matter if your basement is big or small, you should strive to keep the area open as it makes the room more inviting and less claustrophobic. Avoid adding additional walls but rather define different zones by using different colors or simple wall curtains.
This is great for keeping the space open while, at the same time, having some privacy if need be. You can use this to divide the relaxation area for adults and a craft/play corner for children. Also, when you’re arranging furniture, leave some space between the pieces so you can move around comfortably. You don’t want you or your guests bumping into coffee tables and lamps on your way to the couch.
Make It Fun
Adding comfortable furniture and painting the room might be a lot of work, but it’s far from over. You need to make your new lounge fun as well as comfy, and you can do it easily by bringing in a few crucial pieces, such as a nice wall-mounted TV so you and your guests can watch Netflix or play video games, a wine rack for all those wine-tasting evenings with friends, a soft carpet so you can take your shoes off, bean bags for movie nights, and a stack of old-fashioned board games on a shelf.
You could cover one wall with chalkboard paint and keep a box of colored chalks next to it so you and your friends can express your creativity by drawing or leaving each other funny and inspirational messages.
Use Neutral Colors
While you might assume that by using strong and bold colors you’ll add a bit of drama and catch everyone’s eye, you’ll inevitably make space seem (and feel) smaller than it actually is. The ceiling will appear to be lower and the walls will look like they’re closing in.
Why not turn to neutrals instead? Light neutrals such as white, gray, and taupe are great choices because these will make any room seem spacious. It’s not just about the color of your walls, but furniture pieces and accessories as well: cushions, lampshades, shelves, rugs, and sofas.
Colors can really unify a place and when you use a single cohesive color (or a few similar shades) in a room, you make it more elegant.
The most important thing is not to forget why you’re actually turning your basement into a lounge in the first place. However, if you notice that what you had in mind is difficult to achieve, it’s always wise to compromise. Just pick a few things that are most important to you at the moment and concentrate on those first. And you can deal with the rest when the need arises. This way you can turn remodeling your basement into a fun, ongoing project for the whole family.
