Hibernate This Winter in Your New Cave Dwelling! Basement Remodels for an Entertaining Season!

Get cozy this winter with a basement remodel to fulfill all your entertainment needs! Commonly known as man caves, we like to branch out and give it an alternative name, the women’s retreat.

Basement remodels can be a fantastic way to liven up the opportunities available in your home! Giving your basement the aesthetic you’ve always wanted will ensure a wonderful time inside during those cold, dry wind, snow-filled days!

Before setting out to make an overly zealous list for the remodel, we have got some tips for you to consider!

• Keep the basement light filled and positively bright!
  The basement can quickly become a location that serves an atmosphere of solitude and hermit like tendencies, but that’s no good for anyone! Ensure the basement has strong lighting that enhances the color of the objects and walls around it! Lighting has a strong correlation with mood, so lights that replicate natural sunlight the closest would be best! Don’t let the season bring your mood down!

•  Get creative! This is your private get away! Be as nerdy or meticulous as you want with the details and have some fun! You could, for example, install a section of the basement to be a little movie theater escape room! The chairs could be leather like the real movie theaters and have a wide screen with a projector! But don’t stop there! Design those seats how you want! They could be reminiscent of race cars with the design, or maybe have a strong outer space feel! The mind is the limit!

• Themes! When designing your basement, you have a few options. Stick with one theme throughout the entire space, or break it up into different themes based on the room! For example, consider one room to be more of a lounge and socialize area, filled with calm cool colors and strong decorative pieces reminiscent of the 70’s-80’s. Or An entire basement made to bring forth an atmosphere that brings retro video games back into the future! (see what I did there?)

• Move on up in the world! Literally! These areas of retreat don’t need to be held within the basement, that’s just where they originated. It’s totally acceptable to have the retreat become the first location that is entered in a home! Make the ground level of the home a place of leisure and relaxation so that as soon as you walk in, you can begin unwinding and thaw out! (warning, winter brings frozen limbs, a fireplace is recommended)

• Commonly installed in basements for a strong social setting is some form of bar. This can be a great place for conversations and a few drinks before moving to the movie theater room or lounge! Think of the bar as a separate room as well, planning the theme around it to be cohesive with the bar!

• Consider the flow of the basement! Don’t pack it super tight with fun gadgets and entertainment centers, be aware of the space you have available and the orientation of the objects in the room/s. Also consider the elevations of bars and counters for example. This can give a strong sense of intimacy within the room!

• Consider the functionality of the basement. Do you want this place to be a strong social gathering place, a study basement, to relax and work on hobbies/the gaining of knowledge, or a basement that fulfills the needs of everything you ever wanted so you never have to leave? This should be something to consider first and foremost before designing your basement. You don’t want to have a basement to be the jack of all trades, but master of none!

• Cave or no cave? Don’t limit your creativity based on stereotypical examples of basement ideas/layouts! Your basement doesn’t need to feel closed off to the rest of the home, it can be a place that is transitioned into from different levels of the home!

• Lastly, lets consider for a moment the idea of a cave, in the attic! That’s right, just like before, you can actually have the basement ideas in a different location! Consider the options available to you for a basement remodel, and then take those ideas and try to apply them to other locations of your home to see which floor of the house it would work best!

We hope you have some ideas flowing for some great additions/remodels! Give us a call and let us help you, be ready for the coming seasons and really get the most out of your home!