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How to Bring a Sense of Light and Windows Into a Windowless Basement Family Room
HOW TO 
Tags: Lighting a Basement, Lighting in Windowless Room, Windowless Rooms
Playing vampire in the basement when your doing the laundry is not nearly as fun for you as it is for your eight year old nephew. Lets shed some daylight on old Dracula!
| 1. | Use light and lively colors liberally. Large surfaces in the basement should be light in color to brighten things up. Walls, for example, should be painted white or warm shades such as yellows, light reds and oranges. Select light or brightly-colored rugs or tiles, as well. Even large pieces of furniture can make a difference in how bright the room appears, so go for warm, vibrant patterns on sofas and chairs. |
| 2. | Build contrast. Select some darker pieces of furniture (end tables, for example) or dark wall hangings to contrast with the light colors of the large surfaces. Select dark moldings for walls and ceilings. These measures bring out the brightness of the lighter colors and impart a more natural-feeling shadow effect. |
| 3. | Explore your lighting options. Lighting that hangs down from the ceiling is fine for other rooms, but in a basement it poses two problems. First, many basements have low ceilings, so hanging lights can make it difficult to get around. Second, hanging lights take up space and make the room look smaller. To remedy this, select recessed lighting in the ceiling, and complement that with wall sconces, table lamps and floor lamps--the indirect lighting will light up the ceiling and help get rid of that cave-like atmosphere. |
| 4. | Choose the right light bulbs. First, those old fluorescent bulbs are out. Soft white incandescent bulbs will make the lighting seem more natural. An even better option is to use full-spectrum bulbs, which cost a bit more than regular incandescent bulbs, but which mimic the sun's natural light. |
| 5. | Make your basement look more like the rest of your house. If your basement has exposed concrete walls or wood panelling, install drywall and paint it to give the room a more finished appearance. If you have suspended ceilings and exposed boards cover them up with drywall and paint, as well. You may not be able to cover all exposed pipes and ductwork, but you can paint such fixtures to match the rest of the room, or creatively hide them with furniture, plants or wall hangings. |
| 6. | Open it up. If you have unnecessary columns, pillars or walls in your basement, consider tearing them out. The more open the floorplan, the brighter the space will appear. |
| 7. | Get some plants. Plants can make any room healthier by removing toxins and adding oxygen. They can also give the room a brighter mood. Of course, not all plants can survive in a basement. Visit the related wikiHow on choosing an office plant for some tips. |
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