Don’t let your unfinished basement go to waste. Spruce it up with these simple and doable DIYs and make it a space where you’d want to hang out or entertain guests in. See for yourself how a simple paint job or lighting can give you’re damp and dark basement a needed facelift.
1. Peel and stick wood boards
Give your basement walls a rustic look without breaking the bank or breaking into sweat. Using peel and stick wood boards is an easy and inexpensive way to solve a bare and boring cement wall. Meanwhile, vinyl type peel and stick boards can be used on floors. As the name implies, all you literally have to do is peel the material and stick in on your wall or floor.
You can buy these useful boards online or in home improvement stores. One famous brand is Stikwood, which are ultra thin wood planks that comes in 14 colors and textures. You can get them for $200 to $500 and have enough panels to cover an area of 40 square feet. You can find instructional videos online to guide you.
2. Paint your walls and ceiling a bright color
Unfinished basements can be dark, dingy. Not to mention it can also have that dirty and unclean look. Brighten up your basement by painting it with a bright color.
A new coat of fresh paint can give your lonely basement come to life. You can be more creative by stenciling in a design to your walls like. Just choose a pattern (you can even put words in) you like, stick it to your wall and paint over.
3. Track lighting
If you have a basement without windows, chances are a lone light bulb won’t do much in terms of lighting.
Track lighting is easy to install and doesn’t take up floor or wall space. This way of lighting also allows you to easily change the room lighting when you rearrange the room’s furnishings or design–without having to change the fixtures.
Not to mention track lighting looks good even on bare basement ceilings. You can install them to align with protruding wood panels.
To install track lighting yourself, make sure you have the following tools: (a) a measuring tape, (b) a pencil, (c) a drill with a 1/2-inch bit, (d) Phillips and flat-blade screwdrivers, and (e) a wire stripper.
4. Room dividers
You don’t have to build walls to divide up space in your unfinished basement. You can fashion room dividers with curtains and some steel rods. And if you’re feeling more ambitious, you can also make some dividers from reclaimed wood which could double up as shelves or even a mini bar.
Room dividers are essential as they create a sense of order in seemingly cluttered basement.
5. Tile your basement floor
For dealing with basement floors, designers have this to say: the harder, the better. Harder materials like tile and concrete is better for flooring than softer materials like carpets.
Vinyl flooring is at par with concrete and ceramic tile as one of the better basement flooring ideas out in the market. But keep in mind that vinyl flooring comes in both tile and sheet form, and there is a subtle difference.
Tiling will be a harder job to do but you can still do it on your own given the proper materials and preparations.
Unfinished basements are the perfect blank canvas from which you can start to create a space of your own. It’s time to try these tips out yourselves and spruce up you own basement.
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