Ideas for Finishing Your Basement – Photos, tips, and Basement Ideas

Once you start thinking about basement ideas you can’t stop. Anytime someone visits your house you think about how cool it would be to be playing pool downstairs while you tend the bar and keep an eye on the game that you’re watching on your 90″ projection screen.

If you’ve got kids like I do then you can easily imagine them playing downstairs where they can be loud, imaginative and messy without destroying the main floor living room or your sanity.

I love thinking about what’s possible with my basement and I find new basement ideas every other day on the internet.

I plan to use this section of the website to share those ideas with you and show you how you can prepare to make those a reality by thinking ahead during the 5 basement finishing phases.

Basement Ideas

Dartboards – Nothing could be more quintessential to a basement than dartboards. Easy to setup, inexpensive and tons of fun.

Basement Pole - Basement poles are unsightly but with a little planning you can turn them into a design asset.  Highlight art, add lighting to the middle of a room, anchor a snack bar.

Guest Bedroom – I love it when my family comes to visit us and I want them to have a relaxing and enjoyable time.  Nothing helps that more than giving them a luxurious bedroom of their own where they can get away for a few minutes and get a great nights sleep.  This basement idea post breaks down an awesome photo I found of a guest bedroom and shows you the keys to achieve the same look and feel.

Wood Pallet Walls  – Great basement finishing idea to add some color and texture to your basement walls. Read this post before you start as there are a few safety things to consider before working with wood pallet wood.

Built-in bookcase - You don’t have to be a master carpenter, just a few extra boards and foresight during the framing stage.

Art Niche – What the? Isnt’ that just a sunk in frame in the wall? Yup!  But add some simple lighting and frame it with some trim and it can add tremendous depth, character and elegance to a sometimes plain and boring room.

Home Theater / Audo – Video  -  The post has 7 ideas you should consider to prep a basement room for some awesome audio and video.  You need to do these BEFORE drywall! If nothing else, check out tip #7.

A Door Bell – Say what? I once ordered pizza for my poker night during my basement renovation and never heard the guy from downstairs. Don’t forget to add a doorbell into your plans. (not hard)

Angled & Trimmed Basement Windows – Those puny basement windows need some help. This post has two great ideas on how to get the most light from your basement windows and make them look bigger than they really are.

Up Lighting – Especially for the ceiling of your basement living room. By using some molding, rope lighting and planning a switched outlet in the ceiling you can create some great soft lighting for you movie nights.

Video Projector – I’m almost hesitant to write this one because I want to do this project so badly.  I haven’t built my ultimate movie room yet, but I’ve prepped for it during the framing and electrical phases.  You’ll want an outlet in the ceiling again, one for the projector and one for the motorized projection screen.

Stained Concrete Floor – (a.k.a. one thing I really screwed up). If you want your basement to look “super cool” you should think about staining your floor. It’s especially easy if your concrete is new or has never been sealed or painted. Yes, despite my terrible story, you can do it yourself and get great results.

Chalkboard – Chalkboard paint and some trim and your kids have an awesome an fun chalkboard to write on. Also looks great by the wine seller or as a darts scoreboard. Easy and fun project and yes, it really works!

Utility Sink – Think ahead just slightly when doing your space and plumbing planning and you can have an awesome extra sink for washing up for less than $50 bucks. Got pets? Think about creating a pet washing station.

Unique Bathroom Idea – This one is more for the guys.  Well, it’s strictly for the guys. Ladies, click if you want to but you won’t be interested in this.

Boots and Gloves – Plan to house wet boots, gloves and jackets. If you get a lot of snow in the winter, and especially if your kids play outside, the basement is a great spot to store wet winter gear. Put an outlet nearby to plug in a boot/gloves dryer. Plan on a non-slip floor surface and spot for a bench.

7 Basement Finishing Ideas inspired by our beach house. It’s official.  I’ve got the fever. Basement design fever. Every house I go to I’m clockin’ ideas for my basement.  Here are seven ideas from our beach trip to Kiawah, SC.

Basement Paint Colors – Need some ideas for what colors to use in your brand new finished basement?  This blog has tons of pictures of great color combinations, plus it tells you the exact brand and color name. Check it out, it’s great!

What’s an Up Flushing Toilet?  13 Tips and Ideas from my parent’s basement finishing project. Hi Mom! Here’s a post with a video tour of my parent’s basement and 13 basement ideas they learned while finishing their basement. Including – Wizard of OZ style cellar doors and a closet under the stairs (so cool)!

More Coming Soon…..  Check out my Pinterest Page for more photos and design ideas..

Okay guys, this should give you an inkling of what I plan to put in this section. There’s also a great opportunity for photos to go here. Each of these topics will have their own article just need a bit more time to get them pulled together.

If you have one in particular that you want me to work on just let me know via email or leave a comment below. Or if you have an awesome idea please send it in!  Love it!