Eliminating clutter is the hardest part of starting a basement renovation project, especially if you’ve lived in your home for several years and have not had an effective storage system in place. Perhaps the basement has become a garden shed, workshop, tool shack, mechanic shop, laundry room and general junk trap without you even being aware of it. And for some reason, the hardest thing in the world for some people is tossing out the items that “might” be useful “one day”. If this is a really big issue, then gather some of the “useful” items together and have a garage or basement sale to avoid waste, but GET RID OF anything you have not used in the last few months.

1. Start with paints, solvents, chemicals, fertilizers, cleaning solutions and any toxic items you have kicking about. The rusty cans or bottles that are not used, dispose of them in a safe manner. Most cities have a toxic chemicals and paint or solvent disposal center or neighborhood drop center. Keep only the items that you will use in the next 6 months and you have used in the past 6 months. Set these to one side. Part of your renovating basement storage plan will include an area to store these items away from furnaces, vents, hot water heaters etc.
2. Basement renovation ideas will come more naturally if you eliminate the items you think you need to store but really shouldn’t. For example, do you really need to keep a toaster or blender or other appliance that you plan to fix when you get a minute? Do you really need to keep old Christmas gifts that you hate and will never use but can’t bring yourself to throwing away? What about old Christmas decorations that you will never use, strings of lights with half the bulbs burnt out, etc? If you eliminate the junk, you eliminate the need to store it. Pick up and look at each item you think you want to store and ask yourself if you really need it, if you ever use it and what real purpose it serves. Boxes full of papers, mementos, keepsakes that you look at once every 10 years, look at once more and ask yourself if you really need to keep “things” in order to remember. If your life won’t change by not having them, throw them away.
3. After a good clean out, a garage sale, lots of donations to your favorite charity, and filling the garbage with junk…..look at what’s left. Evaluate the things you’ve decided to keep and make sure they are in categories. Nails and screws can now be placed in organizing trays, tools on peg boards, necessary papers in small organizing boxes with LABELS. When you have everything categorized and stored in a systematic manner, now you are ready to consider basement renovation ideas for storage systems that will work for what you really need to store.
4. Renovating basement storage will now mean finding a system that works for what you most need. If it’s papers and office supplies, invest in a cabinet that has a filing system. If it’s tools and paint and equipment, invest in a peg boards, open shelves or even a storage chest like the ones by Rubbermaid, or even a shed that fits in the basement.
5. Categorize your storage based on what items are used for: Home office, paperwork and memorabilia in labeled boxes and filing cabinets; crafts and hobby items in see-through plastic so it’s to use; barbeque and picnic supplies in their own area away from laundry and linens. You will be able to see clearly how many shelves or cabinets to build or purchase.

Basement renovation ideas begin with eliminating the junk that clutters your space and your mind. Free yourself of junk! Finding renovating basement storage solutions will be easier and much cheaper if you have less to store.

4 Light Colored Basement Designs

There are three main aspects to consider, the ceiling, the floor, the walls. Everything else will be secondary. Basement ideas, be they decorative or structural, will begin with these three basic areas.

1. If you have your heart set on wood, then go with light pine or the newest bamboo wood flooring that is whitish-yellow. However, even light colored woods will absorb light, so try to limit the use of wood panels to one focal wall – not all the walls. You can achieve a textured look on the walls without taking away the lightness by using a textured stucco finish, even over drywall, and painting a basic white or bone color and adding antique accents with a brush or sponge. Keep the central part of the wall light, but accent around doorways or baseboards or even ceilings with a border in a rich or brighter color.
2. One of the most innovative light colored basement designs is to use metal panels, ordinary corrugated metal. Instead of wood paneling. Accent the room with sage colored ceiling, a light bamboo floor and furnish with tubular chrome or steel and glass pieces and add mirrors where possible. Take away the industrial look with soft shag rugs in bright colors, and add matching toss cushions or accents in a darker shade but still keep with bright blues, lavenders, yellows, white and cool greens.
3. For basement ideas that incorporate light as a feature, use long narrow wall lamps over and inside cabinets and shelves, above art, along the baseboards, built into the ceiling, like round halogen spot lights and track lighting, and do not use one central overhead fixture. Use glossy flooring, the cheapest solution is to paint the cement with a special paint, but you can also use tile. Do not use stone, dark colored tile or carpet. Use light or bright colored tiles to reflect the light. For warmth add area rugs in vibrant colors.
4. Use white on white and add accents in cream, beige, eggshell and other very light neutrals. Moldings around ceilings may be a slightly different shade than the walls. Flooring is white or cream, baseboards are a shade darker; ceiling is light beige, accents are eggshell. The slight contrast between the whites and beige or creamy colors will be noticeable if some areas are pure white. Accent with chrome or black wrought iron for a touch of contrast. Keep window treatments to a minimum by using sheers or no curtains at all, just frosted windows. This white on white look is very chic and works best in home with no children.

Ceilings are also a challenge to remodeling your basement because they are often very low. Don’t even think about using lighting that dangles down, such as a chandelier, because this will accentuate the height problem. When remodeling your basement try to use sleek track lighting or embed a series of small halogen lights into the ceiling all around the perimeter of the walls and not just in the center.

In Asia where apartments are often very small, it is a common practice to create a molded ceiling area that may be round (or square or any other shape) and then fit halogen lights into the ceiling around the pattern of the molding. It’s inexpensive and looks very chic. Also consider embedding halogen lights on the walls above where you will hang art or inside open cabinets to give added light to spaces that might otherwise be in shadows.

Brighten up corners your basement finishing project with long, slender pole lamps. Lean poles and simple shades give the illusion of height unlike regular desk or end table lamps with low, heavy shades that make a room look heavy and overstuffed. Getting basement lighting right is a little different than when decorating spaces with natural light. Remember in a dark basement all the things you add will either absorb or reflect light, there are no exceptions. That includes fabric, furniture, tiles, flooring and ceiling textures. Basement finishing is not just about making it less junky but making it breathable, livable and bright!

Maximizing Basement Natural Light

Take at look at some basement remodeling photos with before and after shots. How has a professional basement remodeling company maximized the light of the basement? Although most basements have little natural light, there usually is some. If the basement has small windows that look outside, maximize their light by placing mirrors on the back basement walls that are opposite these windows. Those will double the light in the room so as long as you don’t cover the windows with heavy curtains.

The best window treatment solution for any basements remodeling is to use nothing at all or a soft translucent sheer or a blind that allows light to pass through. You can also have the basement windows frosted to allow privacy but not keep out natural light. There are frosting techniques you can do yourself, or you could make the windows look as if they were stained glass. There are kits to do this and if you use soft colors and simple designs the results can be stunning.

An Inviting Basement Glow

One of the main reasons we find rooms inviting, be they in a home or a hotel or an office or a restaurant, is the lighting. Soft, but strategically placed, lights that give a glow to the room while not burning our eyes, is of utmost importance when remodeling your basement. You cannot achieve this with one bright bulb or fluorescent tube smack in the center of the ceiling. You cannot achieve this with traditional table lamps that cast most of their light to the floor. Light the basement ceiling in many places and give the basement walls spot lights that glow around art, furnishings or open cabinets that you will create space and light.

I understand the problems that are unique to basement remodeling, such as low ceilings, poor lighting, waterproofing, the quest for contractors and basement finishing and flooring ideas that are practical. I will help you overcome the problems you may encounter before they happen.

The biggest problems, unique to basement remodeling, are extremely low ceilings, visible pipes and structural columns in odd places that can’t be removed. They also tend to be moist or hold the humidity more than other parts of the house and therefore require more attention to weatherproofing and basement waterproofing that is more difficult because you’re dealing with a structure that is already built and you must work with what’s available. Another thing is that plumbing problems are a real headache because the water or sewage ends up down there in strange places that might not be ideal.

• How can you not just work around, but work WITH these odd basement quirks?

Basement finishing without forethought, frequently ends up being a storage area or a place to hide ugly water tanks, a central heating system or furnace and a general household junkyard that often remains that way for years. If walls have been left unfinished, basement renovation becomes almost as much work as starting from zero, especially if it’s not much more than a cement box. Some basements, like mine, didn’t even have that. The walls were stone and the floor was dirt. Where to begin?

• How can you turn your unfinished basement into a fun or useful part of the house?
• How can you decide what is best use for the space you have to remodel?
• Are you torn between a home theater/game room/pool table/bar and creating a large open area for the kids to play in?
• Do you work at home and want a bigger office or work room that isn’t a depressing cave?
• Do you want a place to workout instead of going to the gym?
• Do you need an additional bedroom for when guests or in-laws come to visit?
• Are you remodeling your basement because you’re expecting a baby?
• What about a spa or hot tub as part of your basement renovation?
• Do you need a bigger laundry room or more storage space that’s organized and bright?
• Do you want to dive into basement remodeling but don’t have a clue where to start?
• Are you contemplating do it yourself basement remodeling?
• Do you need advice on basement remodeling contractors?

• Have you been searching for a basement remodeling company without success?

• Do you need some basement remodeling plans?
• Would some basement remodeling pictures help to inspire you?

If you really want to use your basement space effectively you can’t just slap some paint on the walls, hang a few bright curtains and toss down a rug and think it will be used. Since basements are naturally dark and damp, you will have to put some thought into what you want to achieve by remodeling your basement and how to get there step by step. If you are going to do the job properly you’re going to need some home maintenance tips to get just right.

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