Making The Basement Your Favorite Room In The House

Here's a simple question. What do you think of when you think of a basement?

Chances are whatever you answered is shaped by the room you may have below the ground.

For many people this means thinking of a dark, musty, perhaps even a moldy room. A room used to store all kinds of stuff they'll never even look at again let alone use. There's actually another place for these things. It's called a trashcan.

Perhaps that's being a bit harsh. Lot's of people store things in their basement that are perfectly usable, it's just that they'll never use them again. There's actually a better place for these items as well. Your local Goodwill or Salvation Army could certainly find someone who could take advantage of the things you no longer need.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Let's get back to the original question. Some people will answer it by saying a basement is a place to entertain friends or have a party. They'll say it's a place to play pool. They'll say it's an exercise room, a place to relax, a place to study, a place to watch a movie on the plasma television with surround sound.

These are the people that are making good use of the space in their home. Sure it probably took some work on their part to arrive at this point. But they'll probably all tell you that it was more than worth it. They may even tell you it's their favorite room in the house. That's a pretty big payoff for an investment of some time and money. But there's another payoff ahead. If they ever decide to sell their home, a finished basment will do wonders to the value of your home. Essentially, remodeling your basement could easily pay for itself.

So if you fall into the first group, what are you waiting for? There's so much you can do to turn your basement into usable and enjoyable space. Close your eyes and think of what you could use the room for. Once you picture it, start making plans. Then follow some of the basic guidelines outlined here and you'll have a room you can enjoy for years to come.

The basement might even become your favorite room in the house.