Over the last few months we have given you quite a few Budget Makeover ideas. We will give you one more with ideas for making over your basement, and then at the end of this blog we will include a PDF download of the entire booklet of these and other ideas.
Basements vary depending on the home. Some are finished like the inside of an English pub, while others are storage vaults. Many are somewhere in between. Consider your needs before you get carried away.
If you have a finished basement, consider the following:
- Fun. Most finished basements aren’t complete without a ping-pong, pool, or foosball table. All of these have options well under $1,000. Some other creative options can be used for multiple games.
- If more adult games appeal to you, a card table might be a good investment.
- Flooring. Leaving the concrete floor is one option. But, you might want to consider painting it or adding an epoxy floor instead. Bare concrete leaves dust on socks, and tends to stain easily. Speaking of stain, it’s also possible to stain concrete.
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- Carpeting and laminate flooring are other options, as long as the moisture situation is under control. Neither of these options is appropriate for a damp basement.
- Lighting. Many basements suffer from terrible lighting. Those fluorescent tube lights up in the drop ceiling probably aren’t your best option. You don’t use them anywhere else in your house, except maybe the garage (which isn’t a living space).
- Consider using a series of lamps or a more appropriate overhead option in the basement.
There are many attractive lighting options that mount on the wall.
If you have an unfinished basement, it might be a good idea to start the process of turning it into a living space.
On the other hand, if you like the idea of the basement keeping its original purpose, find a way to keep it tidy and enhance the storage capabilities. Some newer shelves, better lighting, and a coat of paint might be the best way to spend your dollars.
And, of course, finished or unfinished make sure you leave plenty of accessible space around your maintenance equipment (furnace, hot water heater, etc). It makes maintaining your home so much easier for you… and your service people will appreciate it too.
Budget-Room-Makeovers-Weekend-Projects-for-Under-$1000
