Final Choices for Finishing Your Basement
First up is lighting your finished basement. Most finished basements have little natural light and can easily feel very dark. Recessed lighting offers good light without decreasing your ceiling height. If you go with recessed lighting discuss with your contractor if he or she has a standard number and type of lights that are included in the estimate. You may want to add more lighting or pick a different style of recessed fixture. Ceiling fixtures can add an interesting design element, with only minimal decrease in head space. Wall-mounted light fixtures and sconces can add more light along with more design choices. Do you want the lights on dimmers? One money-saving idea here is that light fixtures can be ordered on-line at about half the cost as in lighting and hardware stores. Be sure to check around as you can save yourself hundreds of dollars. Also, contractors often charge an overhead fee for buying your supplies and by finding your lights and ordering them yourself you can save this overhead charge.
Basement flooring is an area with a wide variety of choices today many of which can be done by a do-it-yourselfer. You can simply paint your concrete or put down linoleum squares fairly easily. Carpet tiles, ceramic flooring, and laminate flooring can all also be done by the do-it-yourselfer albeit with more work. If you choose to do the basement flooring yourself, be sure to determine if the product you use has a built-in moisture barrier or if you will need to add one separately. Even a basement floor with no signs of cracks at all can have moisture seep through and you don’t want your flooring ruined. If you don’t want to finish the floor yourself, then you also add the choice of installed carpeting, laminate flooring or hardwood flooring.
Carpet tiles are another trick for saving yourself some money. Your color choices are more limited and you have to do the work, but today’s carpet tiles look very nice in a room. In doing cost comparisons for installed carpeting versus carpet tiles remember to factor in the extra carpet that you will be required to buy. Carpet comes in rolls of 12 or 20 feet wide and if your room is only 15 feet wide you will still have to pay for that extra 5 feet of carpeting on the roll and that extra square footage can really add to your costs.
One final area to consider when you finish your basement is your paint. The basic rule is that lighter colors will help a space to look bigger and darker colors will make it look smaller. Don’t be afraid to use color in your basement to brighten it. If you are worried about picking the right colors one easy solution is to pick your furniture first, then pick a paint color that matches your fabric. Many furniture stores today offer free interior design help so take advantage of that to get some good suggestions. If you are including a playroom or other children’s area chalkboard paint is a fun option.
When you finish your basement you give yourself a great new living space. Take the time to plan it out well and you will enjoy your finished basement for years to come.
