If you are lucky enough to have a basement in your home, you’re likely using it to store boxes and old junk. Not many people like to venture into dusty, dark old basements. Sometimes because of the overuse of a haunted basement in the movies, but usually because basements are damp places where bugs with far too many legs roam.
The thing is, neglecting a basement means neglecting a huge amount of free space. You cannot possibly maximise the value of your home if you have an entire unused space underneath your house. It’s just a tragedy to do it. The basement isn’t just the place the spiders and mice call home, it’s somewhere you can renovate to be an extension of the house. There may be a lot of work involved in revamping your basement, especially as basements are usually the first casualty of flooding in the winter months. Go online and read this really good blog for information on water damage and how you can work around it for your renovation. Don’t be shy with your basement; let your creative juices flow and you can have a beautiful space in no time at all.
Play Room: If the house is covered in kids and toys and gadgets seem to take up every surface, transforming your dark old basement into a bright, colorful space purely for the children is a genius idea. Your basement can be the best playroom, as basements tend to cover the area of the whole house so the floor space is huge. If you have children of different ages, use a room divider to section off the playroom so you have an area for the baby, full of sensory lights and toys, as well as an area for older children. It can be a fun, exciting space and the biggest bonus is that all the plastic colored toys are in one place instead of all over the house!
Laundry Room: Most houses are lucky enough to have a utility area attached upstairs to the kitchen, but if yours is little more than a cupboard then using the basement for your washer and dryer is a good idea. Make sure you waterproof the basement, though, as the last thing you need after clearing up previous water damage is to have more. Add in dehumidifiers to keep the condensation at a minimum and install a large bench to fold and iron clothes.
Teen Area: Ok, so similar to a playroom but for the biggest in the house. If your teenager is stuck living at home for a while during study or getting on their feet with their first job, why not allow them to move into the basement? Converting the basement into a studio apartment, complete with bathroom and kitchenette is a big job, but not impossible. You could charge a small rent to help them learn to balance their bills, but this way they can really learn the value of money, while saving to move out completely.
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