Are You Overlooking An Awesome Area In Your Home?

Do you have a basement in your home? Probably. Do you use it? Probably not. It’s not clear why but many basements are left completely untouched. Perhaps, we’re worried that if we wander down there, we’ll find something like the horrors lurking in The Conjuring. Usually, you’ll enter the basement once when you buy the home, have a look around it and then never go down there again. But this is a massive mistake.

 

First, the basement is a highly useful area of your property. You might find that the basement stretches across the entire area of your home. If that’s the case, then this is a lot of space that you are simply not using and completely neglecting. It’s a waste, particularly when we guarantee that whatever you paid for the home will have included a calculation of how much that space is worth.

 

Of course, some people will be put off using the basement because of how much work will be needed to get it ready for use. Once again though, this is a mistake because the work to get a basement ready for use probably isn’t that extreme. Let’s look at some of the possibilities here.

 

Getting The Basement Ready

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If you haven’t used the basement, you could find it has a number of issues that need to be fixed before you start utilizing this space. First, be aware that insects and bugs don’t want to be disturbed. So, if you do have a problem with a bug infestation, it’s highly possible that you’ll find them lurking around your basement. If there are just a few creepy crawlies around, bug traps and repellents might be all you need as well as some elbow grease to clean up the place. However, you might find there’s a nest down there. In that case, you really do need to think about hiring a professional crew to eliminate the issue.

 

Of course, you might have more issues than just the bugs. It’s quite possible that you get down to your basement and step in a puddle of water. If that’s the case, you need to quickly get a sump pump. A sump pump failure can happen, but they’re not that common. As such, once you have this type of set up, you should be in great shape at least for keeping the basement dry. Depending on the level of water damage already, you might also want to think about purchasing a dehumidifier. This will quickly help dry out the area.

 

There’s also the question of lighting and heating. Both might be fairly nonexistent in the basement. If that’s the case, you want to think about hiring an expert to complete some wiring in your home. DYing is a little dangerous as the wrong wiring can cause a fire hazard. You don’t want that.

 

Now let’s look at some of the ways that you can use this space.

 

Storage

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As soon as you have cleaned up the space, you probably see the potential for storing items that you don’t use or don’t need in here. It’s a great choice, particularly if your home is quite cramped and crowded. The good news is that once you’ve dried out the basement and made sure that you’re not going to have any additional issues with flooding, you don’t need to modify it to use it for storage. It should already be a fairly great space. Though, you might want to think about adding some shelving and units, just to keep things neat and tidy.

 

Children’s Play Area

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You can also think about using the attic as a child’s playroom. Now, this does make quite a lot of sense for a few reasons. First, it’s largely cut off from the rest of the home which means that you won’t hear loud noises, crashing and banging. Just make sure you check in on them every now and then to make sure they’re safe.

 

As well as this, there’s probably a lot of space which means they’ll have plenty of room to play games and be creative. Yes, the basement is the perfect space for messy play and much more. Or at least, it will be once you make some modifications.

 

You do need to think about changing the flooring. Your first instinct is probably going to be carpet. That’s the safest choice for trips and falls. But, if you want our advice, you’ll choose laminate flooring instead. The benefit of laminate flooring is that it’s easy to clean and any stains or marks can just be wiped off. Aside from this, you’ll just need to think about what toys and games you want to add to the attic. Classic choices include Twister, Scalextric, and a foosball table. It all depends on what you want to spend and what the kids are interested in.

 

Man Cave

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Of course, you might also want to commandeer this new space for yourself. Many of the benefits are the same. It’s cut off from the rest of the home which means that it’s easy to soundproof and it’s the perfect space for everything from a home cinema system. You can add everything you want from a mini-fridge to a speaker set or even a pool table. It’s entirely your choice and, once you start kitting it out, you might find it becomes your new favourite room in the home.

 

Hurricane Haven

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Or finally, you might want to think about using this room for a practical purpose. If you live in an area where hurricanes and tropical storms a common, the best way to use the basement might be to set it up as space, you can all comfortable spend a couple of days or at least a few hours. Put some comfy chairs down there, books, a few board games and anything else that can be used to pass the time. If you do this, you’ll have the perfect place to keep the kids calm and distracted from the storm raging outside. It’s also definitely one of the safest places to be, and you can make modifications to ensure it’s even safer.