Here are 21 ideas (and a bonus) for the best ways you can make use of your extra basement space.
Turn your extra basement space into a game room, whether it be video games or traditional arcade games. You could even bring a pool and ping pong table into the space, although those do take up more space. Air hockey would be a great addition. You could even combine this with a home theater, which we'll get to next on this list.
Put up some sound panels on the ways, install a TV, bring in some comfy chairs or couches, and you have yourself a theater experience - in your home! You no longer need to spend $50+ to go to the movies because you can bring the movies to your basement. Don't forget your snacks, which you can store in your kitchen. See more about that next on the list.
Unfortunately, this is too common in basements, and most of us know someone who has this problem. Our goal is to rid basements of moisture and to allow you to make use of your basement.
An extra kitchen would be handy, wouldn't it? You can install a bar, sink, fridge, and cabinets to store snacks and more. This is great for parties and to invite guests over when the upstairs is unavailable.
If you have a lot of extra "stuff", using your basement as a storage locker may be a good idea. It's important to know, however, that if you have water problems in your basement, any boxes or other items you store may be ruined. Or worse, mold may accumulate on your items.
Do you work on projects regularly? Have you run out of garage space for those projects? You can always use your basement as a work station. Set up a work bench and some shelves on the wall to hold your tools, and you have a good start to your basement work shop.
Depending on where you live, the basement is oftentimes the safest place to go when tornadoes or other natural disasters occur. In the case of extreme emergencies, you can always store food, water, and other survival resources in an area of your basement.
Basements are great for home offices. They also don't have to be super elaborate. Find a small (or large) area, put up a desk, and you have an office!
For larger families, or when you don't have a living room in the upstairs, the basement a great place to put one. You can put a TV in front of some couches, and it will look great alongside a kitchen & bar. The basement doesn't even need to be all that large, either! Small living rooms work great as well as larger ones.
Have lots of drinks to store but nowhere to put them? Purchase a large rack (or build one yourself), and then you can store all your drinks in the basement. It's even better if you can set the climate or if you have a cellar in the basement specifically designed for drinks to be stored in.
If you have relatives over somewhat frequently or just want to have an extra room in case of an emergency, you can always put one or more guest bedrooms in the basement. It's a good idea to also have a bathroom and shower in the basement to go along with the rooms, but they aren't absolutely necessary.
Splitting up a multi-family home with an apartment in the basement is a smart play. You can deck it out to act just like a finished home with all the amenities that you'd see in a full-sized home. Or it's great to have the grandparents live on the main floor while the next generation sleeps in the basement.
There's no need to messy up the main level with all of your kids' toys. Instead, put a play area downstairs where they can make all the mess they want, and no one (expect you) will ever know what's down there. You could even go all out and make a jungle gym down in the basement or a foam pit for the kids to play in.
Basements are excellent spaces for home gyms. Depending on the height of the ceiling, you could put barbell racks, dumbbells, ellipticals, mats, medicine balls, running machines, and more! If your basement floor is built for it, you could even put a mat down to drop your heavy weights onto without worrying about the noise level.
Speaking of noise levels, if you put your laundry room downstairs in the basement, you won't need to worry about the swishing and swooshing of your clothes being washed anymore. You will also have more room to organize the clothes once they are washed and dried. A smart idea is to set up shelves and dedicate a slot for each person's basket.
This is the dream basement for many people - a hot tub or sauna! You will want to make sure that the room is set up to hold any water spillage and the moisture that will inevitably steam onto the ceiling and walls. Any water not taken into account could cause damage to your basement area.
If you have recording equipment, the basement is a smart place to put up some sound panels on the walls and create that album you've always wanted to. Or even if you don't wish to record, you could put a piano down there, or put up some guitars on the walls, and pull them down when you're ready for a quick jam session.
Another idea is to use the basement for art projects. Are you into drawing? Painting? Sculpting? Another type of craft? Make the basement into an arts and craft room, and you no longer have to set up the space every time you want to let loose on a creative project.
Do you own lots of books? Or maybe you want to, but you keep ending up having to throw out old ones because you're out of space. Put up some big shelves on the basement walls, and you can even organize them however you wish. It's your own personal library.
Videography and photography become bigger parts of people's lives year after year. You can use your basement as a studio to take a new family photo each year. Use a green screen, or you can set up new and unique backgrounds each time you want to take new photos or videos. Or you can build your personal brand with a unique set up behind the camera.
When you don't have space in your upstairs, the basement is a phenomenal place to store canned foods and other foods that won't go bad quickly.
A freezer room is a great extra place to have when you find yourself storing lots of meat and frozen foods for longer periods of time. You can use a room in your basement to stock two or more freezers so you no longer need to worry about running out of space.
