7 Tips for Lighting Up Your Basement

Basements located underground do not have the option of having a window thus making it seem like a cave when no proper lighting is used. Are you one of those homeowners who are looking for ideas on how you can make use of your basement with great lighting? Planning on the lighting is not that hard and you can actually have a basement room that you would love to spend time in. Here are some great ideas on how you can light up a dark basement.

Fake a Natural Light

[one_half_first]You can actually make the room have the feel of natural light in it. Design the room as if they have windows on it. Put some drapes to cover the supposed windows and behind the drapes, place some lights that will give an effect of a natural light coming through the windows.[/one_half_first][one_half_last][/one_half_last] This will give your room the feel of having natural light coming in from outside. However if your basement would allow natural light to pass through, make sure that you design your windows in such a way as to ensure the maximizing of the amount of natural light into your basement. This will give your basement the warmth that it needs from natural light.

Design the Basement Lighting Fixtures

Your basement usually has a lower ceiling giving you that “cave-like” feeling. Make use of lights that would make it seem that the ceiling would look higher than it seems by making use of the indirect lighting where splashes of light will appear on the ceiling in large pools. Then you can place mirrors on the walls or on the ceiling to have some lighting effects in your basement. A fluorescent lamp may do you just great in saving energy; however, this does not fit in any decorative lighting. Table and floor lamps may give you the decorative and at the same time functional lighting that you need.

Manipulating the Walls

Another way of lighting up your basement is through painting your basement walls with light colors. It would not be necessary to paint it white but make sure you will use light colors so as not to add dark tones to your basement. And because light colors do not really make an interesting decorative theme, adding artworks to your walls would help it make a statement. Place frames where you can add lights to give it a focus. This would really be a great lighting idea for your gloomy basement. These are lighting ideas that you can use to light up your basement for you to have that once “cave-like” basement turned into a room where you can comfortably hang out in. You can turn it into a comfortable refuge where you can stay at times when you would want some quiet time alone. Lighting up your basement can change your concept of what a basement is like. In other words, this would turn your dark basement to a well-lighted haven where you can enjoy your stay.

Basement decorating ideas

You may decide to go all out and add carpet to the floor of your basement. Most basements have hard or concrete floors (also wooden furniture), so it’s especially important to choose a high grade padding for your basement floor. It’s always a good idea to spend a little more and buy carpet padding when installing new carpet no matter what type of floor you‘re applying it to. Carpet padding adds comfort and also curtails dampness. You can improve the interior appearance of your basement by building little boxes around unsightly pipes and wire junction boxes. When you do this, make sure to use hinges or screws in case there needs to be easy access to these areas later on. Finishing a basement can be a big or small project. It depends on how far you want to go with it and how much you’re willing to spend. If you’re going to give the basement a major overhaul, you may want to consider the assistance of a hired contractor. It’s a good idea to talk with different contractors before making a final decision, and it’s imperative that you ask for references and follow up with them to get opinions of the contractor’s work.