3 Easy Steps To Improve Your Basement
There are many rooms in a house that can often go overlooked. For instance, the bathroom can sometimes be forgotten about and it’s not until a full renovation happens that you realise the amount of potential that it has. Creating space in the home is also essential, and these forgotten rooms can sometimes be the answer to your prayers. One room, in particular, can be fairly easy to update and that’s the basement. While many people may opt for a wrap around extension to give some more room, you can actually make use of the basement and truly create something wonderful. Here are 3 easy steps you can follow to help improve your basement and give you the home of your dreams.
- Damp-proof It
If you’re going to turn your basement into a proper room, then you need to ensure that it’s safe. This means you need to fix any leaks and make sure that it’s completely damp-proof. Rooms that aren’t protected from dampness can easily develop mould and that can be a very costly issue to fix. You want to create a way for all the moisture to leave the room and keep any dampness out. This means checking your guttering and your roof so you can be certain that they’re working properly. Things may seem fine in the summer, but when the wet winters hit, you don’t want to suddenly find your beautiful new basement flooded. Have plenty of ventilation in the room so that any moisture can easily escape. This way you’ll prevent condensation from appearing on the windows which if left, can lead to dampness and mould. If the room doesn’t have windows, try looking at getting some installed. If that’s not possible, have lots of air vents installed instead. This way you’ll be able to have a continuous airflow.
- Design A Functioning Room
The next step is to actually design a functioning room that can be brought to life. You want the room to be visually stunning, but you also need it to be actually liveable. This means you want to include all the amenities that you could possibly need. For instance, if you’re converting it into a bedroom, take a look and see if a small bathroom could be fitted. Or if it’s going to be a living space, why not try and add a miniature kitchen area. You can also get innovative with your basement room and conceal things like the boiler and fuse boxes with cleverly placed furniture and cupboards. That way it won’t feel like a basement and more like an actual room. You also need to make sure that everything meets the required safety standards. Things like your electricity need to be checked and fitted by a professional. Don’t attempt any of it yourself unless you’re qualified. Once you know the type of room you want and everything is safe, you can get to work and start curating your vision.
- Upgrade The Entrance
As well as the actual basement room, you also need to consider the entrance, and that means the stairs. You don’t want to spend all that money on the room, only to ignore the main entrance. The stairs also need to be extremely safe as people will be descending them regularly to access the room. They may even need replacing completely, so make sure that you check if the stairs are still fit for purpose or if they could be upgraded. You can make the stairs a statement too by adding funk art along the wall so you can see it as you walk down the steps. Stairs don’t have to be boring, so try matching them to the theme of your basement. You’ll also want to check out the entrance door. Normally basement doors are fitted with locks, so you’ll need to decide if you still want one in your new room. However, if you do keep it, you need to make sure that people can still get out and they won’t accidentally get locked in.
Improving your basement is actually relatively simple. You just need to carefully plan how you intend to change it so you can keep it a safe and beautiful environment. Basements don’t have to be purely for storage, they can be whatever you want them to be. Sometimes the simple things can make the biggest change as well. Something like brightening up the walls with pastel paint can do wonders or adding more unique lighting can really help brighten up an otherwise dark room. Try following these three steps if you’re thinking of updating your basement and you’ll soon have a gorgeous extra room for the whole family.
