Today’s renovation and remodeling trends are alive and well; with nearly all rooms of the home covered extensively, from full-blown bedroom makeovers to giving the kitchen a brand-new look, you’ll be surprised to find anything that hasn’t been touched. In fact, fixing things up and investing in different quality of life improvements has been the name of the game over the past few months now that it’s become the one safe space every home enthusiast around the world shares.
However, if there’s one room in a house that often goes overlooked and is the most unloved, then that title most definitely goes to the basement, the one space that immediately defaults into a storage room second only to the attic. And while most people don’t necessarily use their basements too often, there’s just so much potential going to waste that could be used for better, bigger, and brighter things with the right tools on hand and a good plan in mind.
Transform Your Basement Into A Private Theater
Firstly, one of the best ways to use your extra basement space is by transforming the room into a private theater, equipped with everything you need to watch movies in ultra-high definition and spend your weekends away. Sure, it might not be super productive or work-oriented, but it will give you, your family, and your friends a special getaway to watch films together and maybe even run a rewatch marathon of Marvel’s What If…? Season 1.
- Complete Soundproofing And Lighting System: To start your theater basement plans, one excellent feature that we strongly recommend you establish is the need for complete soundproofing and an intricate lighting system to help set the mood. You want to mimic the same effect as going to the movies, so get top-standard acoustic foam, a blacked-out environment, and your choice of dimmers.
- Invest In Quality Seating For Viewing Pleasure: A private theater room is only as good as the seating because you wouldn’t want to string three films together on a plastic chair with zero lumbar support or cushioning. And while some sofas and extended couches can come at a pretty penny, we think investing in quality seating is worthwhile to improve overall viewing pleasure.
Bring The Gym Into Your Basement Space
Apart from running a personal moviehouse right underneath your living room, another excellent way to turn your basement space inside-out is to build a fully-equipped indoor gym, from power-lifting squat racks to a complete set of dumbbells. Of course, we know how difficult it may be to give up on that gym membership, but trust us when we say that lifting and working out from home is a fresh new experience that everyone deserves to try.
- Always Start With Strong Flooring: If you want an effective basement gym, then the first thing you should always invest in is strong flooring perfect for lifting weights that provide the right amount of traction, grip, and stability. Safety should always be your top priority, and only when you can guarantee you’ll be safe lifting heavy weights can you then start hanging up custom-printed home décor of your fitness and body-building role models.
- Limit Your Equipment To Fundamental Movements: Although some basements feature plenty of space to work with, not all homes have the same luxury of an expansive underground room they can build their gyms. So, in order to save space and keep things functional, we recommend that you limit your equipment choices to those necessary for fundamental movements like your bench press, squats, deadlifts, and pull-ups.
Use Your Basement To Create The Best Man Cave
Last but not least, if movie-watching or workouts don’t interest you, then our final recommendation for a basement overhaul would be to use that extra space to create the best man cave. You see, we’re already spending the majority of our time working from home, so why not consider introducing all your favorite entertainment choices, hobbies, and means for fun into an all-in-one room for you to enjoy.
- Install All Your Hobbies & Entertainment: Whether you consider yourself quite the avid gamer needing his gaming setup or a massive sports fan wanting all the memorabilia he can display, we recommend installing all your hobbies and entertainment into the man cave. In this room, anything goes, and because you won’t be disturbing the appeal of upstairs, you can contain all the whacky and crazy in your basement man cave.
- Add An Underground Lounge And Bar: Nothing beats a relaxing weekend over drinks and no man cave is ever complete without its lounge and a fully-stocked bar. Of course, we don’t expect you to have all the best Japanese whiskey just hiding in plain sight, but making sure you have just enough for when the boys come over is something you will want to be covered ASAP once they catch wind of your man cave.
Your Basement Can Be Whatever You Imagine!
Overall, the basement is the one room in your house where you can let your imagination run wild, so instead of letting it go to waste, please take the opportunity to try some of our recommended fixes above. Heck, you can even start small, work your way up bit by bit until you can completely transform the basement into the room of your dreams!
