I love basements. For me, it’s all bonus space. Plus, it’s usually the coolest space in the house temperature-wise. It’s also casual and for me comfortable. While I prefer a walk-out basement with windows, I’m fine if the entire thing is submerged underground.
Below is our extensive collection of basement design ideas (photos).
Rooms to put into a basement
As you can see from our basement ideas gallery above, many different types of rooms can be included in a basement. In our neck of the woods, many people include a suite that they can rent for extra income. It’s not a bad idea, because if you choose not to rent, you get a kitchen, living room and bathroom. At the very least it’s a great guest room.
Here’s a list of rooms and ideas for your basement:
- Rentable suite: A great idea to generate income. However, there’s something a bit disconcerting about having a stranger living in your home.
- Family room: This is a no-brainer. The basement is an ideal space for a large, casual family room for watching TV, playing video games or just hanging out.
- Bar: Many home bars are situated in the basement.
- Man cave: Many man caves, with the home bar, are situated in the basement.
- Game room: I love game rooms because I enjoy foosball and table tennis. I also don’t mind playing pool, but I’m not very good. Growing up we had an air hockey table and table tennis table. When our kids are a bit older, I want to get these fun table games… although I’m not sure how much kids play these things these days given all the device options available.
- Bathroom: If you’re doing a full scale basement reno, it’s a great idea to include a bathroom, even if it’s just a half bath.
- Bedroom: If you don’t want to go full mother-in-law suite, consider a basic bedroom. Teenagers tend to like residing in basements. I did growing up and loved it.
- Exercise space: With the concrete floor, you have the solid surface for weight lifting. Just put a viable gym floor surface down and voila, you have a great home gym.
- Craft/work space: You can also turn a portion or all the space in a basement into a hobby area, be it for crafting, a shop or model trains… whatever your hobbies are.
- Home office: My home office is currently in our walk-out basement. It’s quite nice and works well for me.
How much do basement renovations cost?
This is one of those impossible reno cost questions. A full, high-end basement reno can easily cost more than $100,000, especially if you put in a kitchen and bathroom. On the low end, if can cost a few thousand if you do it yourself and keep it to lower cost rooms such as a basic family room and perhaps a bedroom with no frills.
