Organize your Basement: 5 Practical Suggestions

Basements are normally a part of the house that is left forgotten, dark and with stored items in disorder and disarray. It could be a great idea to organize your basement if you need more space in your house, if you want to sort out the belongings you have stashed away, or even if you want to create a new living space to spend time with your family.

The basement can tend to be a gloomy room, without heating or ventilation. Do you have many stored items, piled up and gathering dust? You could be wasting a potentially great living space in your house! So with that in mind, we have here 5 suggestions to organize your basement and make the most out of this room.

1. Clean out your basement

The first thing you should do is plan to have a free weekend together with your family. Use it to spring clean the basement of your house. Take out all the stored objects and empty it completely. This will make it much easier to clean.

2. Organize your basement and get rid of items you don’t use

To organize your basement, you should classify all of your stored items into various groups. For example:

• Gardening items
• Tools and paint
• Old games and toys
• Fishing gear and items for summer hobbies
• Old furniture

Once you’ve classified all your stuff, it would be a great opportunity to get rid of broken objects and items you don’t use anymore. Take advantage and get rid of those old items that aren’t of use anymore, or if you don’t need them it would be a great opportunity to donate them to people in need.

3. Paint and remodel if necessary

If the walls of your basement are dirty or damaged, you should repaint them. We recommend you paint the walls in lighter colors if you want to use the basement as a second living room, for example. Lighter tones such as off white are ideal to give more light to the room.

If your basement doesn’t have any windows, you could remodel it and incorporate a large window or skylight. This will illuminate the room and provide a ventilation system at the same time. This will be very important since closed and crowded spaces must have some kind of ventilation system.

4. What type of living space do you want to create in your basement?

Depending on the space you want to make available to use, you will need to distribute the remaining items and organize your basement into different areas. If you’re thinking of creating a living room or an entertainment room to spend time with your family for example, you should include some fundamental things.

Install comfortable sofas

To create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere for the whole family, you can use comfortable sofas in light colors. That way, you can enjoy time and relax together.

If necessary, a small kitchenette

If you wish, you could install a small kitchenette with some cupboards and a bench. That way you can enjoy a family dinner with family and friends without needing to hide yourself away in the main kitchen of your home.

An extendable table

Including an extendable table is absolutely necessary if you have a large family or if you are used to having a lot of guests. Try to find a table that extends, is comfortable, and that goes perfectly with the existing colors and the rest of the existing furnishings. You could restore some old pieces of furniture and recycle them to create the ideal table.

Create a small games corner

If you have small children or teenagers, you could design a corner with games for them. Decorate it with bright colors, and include things such as a football table for example. That way, the family can enjoy different activities while being together in the same room.

5. A storage space

Your basement may still need to be used as an alternative storage space. You will still need room for those other objects that you can’t store elsewhere in other rooms of your house. You should include some kind of storage system in your basement.

Add boxes, shelves and cabinets with doors. You could use an entire wall and hang large shelves or use a large cabinet with doors to store all your smaller objects. Remember to group the items together, so it will be easier to find them when you need them.

Organizing your basement can be a job that can take a lot of time, especially if you want to restore or remodel the space. Dedicate the necessary time to paint, reorganize, decorate and distribute the furniture according to your tastes and needs.

With these suggestions, you can take advantage of a new living space in your home. You can make the most of the space and organize your belongings to be able to find them when you need them. Then, you can enjoy your new basement with your family, with friends or on your own.