What to Do with An Unfinished Basement

An unfinished basement can be a holy grail of space for something great. There are plenty of things to do with an unfinished basement. I am sure you look at your basement with dread because it does not look super appealing and needs a lot of love. When something looks intimidating, it almost does not make you want to do anything with it, so you decide you would rather leave it alone. We are here to tell you there is hope. All you need to do is set some time aside to revamp because there is so much potential.

For one thing, having an unfinished basement in your home can be a waste of real estate. Every square foot of that home counts, and that includes your basement. With that being said, you are losing out on something great that you paid for. Besides that, you can make a bit more on your home when it comes to selling it. The more you have to offer people, the more they will be willing to pay. This does not even need to cost an arm and a leg; you can revamp with simple pieces and steps.

1. Declutter/Clean

Throw it all out. A lot of people do use their basement, but as an extra space to put the things they do not need or have space for inside the home. You will most likely find the most random items and they are probably junk that is being hoarded. Start by clearing everything out of the basement and get rid of most of it. If it is not something you absolutely must keep, donate it, trash it, or sell it. Once things have been cleared out, it is time to clean. This should be a deep clean. Sweep and scrub the floors. Dust and wipe down everything, clean the windows, get rid of cobwebs. Get it back to a nice, clean state. These suggestions do not cost you anything but time.

                 Decluttered                                                                            Clean 

2. Lighting

Now that you have a clean and empty basement, you will want to get better lighting. Most basements are dim and do not have a lot of light coming in as it is so you will want better lighting so you can see how awesome your basement is looking after decluttering/cleaning. It is a simple step but will certainly help you visualize all the things you can now do with your space. You can simply get daylight LED strip lights to put around the edges in your basement in places that are discreet. LED lights do not cost much and a little will go a long way. You can put in any kind of lighting you want in whatever space you want. It is your design and can look any way you want, so get creative!

3. Paint/Decorate

Now is the time to get into the design of your basement. Once you have a clean well-lit basement, you can better visualize how you want to use it. For starters, you will more than likely want to paint, because that will just be another thing in the basement that probably has not gotten any love either ever or in years. You will either have a basement that is not painted or one with chipped paint all over. Depending on how you want to design the basement, pick a color that goes with it. Here is where a bit more of the investing will take place depending on what you want to do with your basement. Do you want to make it into another room? An office to work in? A play room? A laundromat? This is an extra room to do whatever you want with it, so the possibilities are endless. Do you still want to use it as a storage room, but maybe a more organized one? Do you not want anything at all? That is also fine. Something you can do is get a rug(s), paintings, shelves, ceiling drapes and call it a day. Here are some ideas!