How to Make Your Basement Look Good on a Budget
The last project that many families who have just purchased a home tend to tackle is the basement. It is often the most dreaded area of the house, and the biggest project for everyone. That’s typically why most of the families junk ends up in the basement. Below are a few ideas on how to make your new home’s basement look great. Even if you did not buy a new home, your basement may still be in need a make over and these suggestions may prove helpful. It may also make it a more enjoyable place for the kids to play.
1. Check for mold and mildew
Before you start doing anything in the basement you will want to check and see if there is any mold or mildew lurking around. If you do find some moldy or mildew spots, you will want to first work at getting rid of this. There are plenty of You tube videos that will show you how to do this step by step. Take the time to do a search on You Tube.
2. Make it waterproof
The first thing you need to do with any basement, is to make sure that there is no water spilling into the basement. Water entering the basement can come in many forms. You may not have a large size waterfall pouring into your basement with every rain storm, but moisture can still leak in. In order to keep your expenses minimal, you can waterproof the basement yourself. As long as there are no major issues as far as water coming in. To water proof the basement you can use some material called Dry-Lock. You can click here for some great step by step instructions on using Dry-Lock to water proof the basement.
3. Give the concrete floor a fresh look
The next thing that you can do is to paint over the concrete floor with an oil based paint. This will make the basement really look a lot warmer and inviting. Just make sure you choose the right color for the new look of your basement.
4. Organize your storage
Most of us still need to use the basement for storage purposes, but you can make the space look a lot neater by organizing your storage. For example you can purchase some shelves and place them up against the wall and use this to store smaller items. You can hide them by using a decorative curtain to cover up the area. It’s also a good idea to go through your items to see what you really need to keep, and see what items you may be able to get rid of. This may leave you with a lot more space in your basement at the end of the day.
5. Carpet an area of the floor
Getting an indoor outdoor area rug that matches with your decor can really make the room look nice. It will no longer look like the dingy, gloomy basement that you once had. Yes there is some money that will need to be spent when it comes to the carpet, but if you visit the scrapes area of your local Home Depot store, you may be able to find some left over pieces of carpet that you can use as an area rug. In some cases you may be able to find someone to finish the edges of the carpet to give it a nice clean look.
