Basement Design Ideas: Storage, Workshop, Laundry, Gym and Lounge

Home PlannerApp Team · December 22, 2022

Five ways to use the space below your home, and what each one needs from it: temperature, heating, light and room.

You have a basement, and right now it holds boxes, a mower and a few things nobody remembers buying. It is extra space you already own. It could be cool storage, a spare bedroom, a game room or a small movie theater. These basement design ideas start with one question: what is the space for?

What to do with a basement?

Decide its purpose first. Everything else follows from that choice: the furniture, the finishes, the lighting, even the stairs.

The options are wide. A laundry with a dryer. A second living room or a game room. A cozy movie theater. A spare bathroom. A cabinet under a glass staircase. A workshop, or a well-equipped pantry. Some features change the whole room, such as a built-in fireplace, a new ceiling, tiles or a new staircase, so plan them before you build.

The most common uses of a basement are:

• leisure room;
• gym;
• gaming room;
• laundry;
• additional bedroom.

Which small basement ideas make a cramped space useful?

Give even a small, cramped basement one clear job. A storage room in an apartment building counts. It is extra space you can use as you like.

What fits depends on the design, the size and the conditions down there. A basement is usually a little colder than the rooms upstairs. In a small one, that rules out a gym or a drying room. It suits the two jobs that like the cold: a pantry and a storeroom.

Shelves along the coldest wall. Put stable, durable open shelves against a wall, preferably an outside wall, where it is coolest. Store jars and cans there. Split them into sweet and dry foods, and sort them by date. Check which other foods you do not eat every day can move down from the apartment.

A place for wine and vegetables. Give wine its own shelf. Add a box for vegetables that like the cold but should not go in the refrigerator, such as potatoes. You can even build a small arch for the box.

Racks for everything else. Racks also hold things that do not fit in the apartment: souvenirs and seasonal clothes. Keep them in plastic containers with lids.

A large basement: one room, several jobs

A basement under a house usually gives you far more options. With more floor area, and often several rooms, you can give it one function or several independent ones.

Comfort comes before furniture. Plan good insulation, efficient heating and ventilation first. Then match the look to the use: a workshop and an extra living room need very different finishes. The function of the room also decides the floor and wall materials.

A storeroom and a workshop

Almost every basement ends up as a storeroom. It holds the tools, accessories and devices you use now and then, some of them awkward to store. The right shelves, hooks and hangers keep the mower, garden tools, patio furniture and the second set of car tires safe through the season.

A basement is also a good place for a workshop. Start with a workbench, the kind people put in a garage. Choose one with a second, lower shelf, toolboxes and a vise. Add shelves, racks and a table with hooks for the tools you use most.

Basement laundry room ideas: what does the room need?

Think of the houses in American movies: well organized, with a separate room for washing and drying. A basement laundry keeps the noise of the washer and dryer away from the rest of the household. You can do the laundry even on a sleepless night, and nobody upstairs will hear it.

Besides the washer and dryer, add hanging racks to dry clothes, shelves for detergents and baskets for dirty laundry. Keep a place for clean, ironed clothes too.

Basement gym ideas: which equipment do you need?

The first ideas are the most popular ones. But if you play sports and exercise every week, a well-equipped home gym in the basement is worth considering.

Your training sets the equipment list. Choose devices and machines for the kind of exercise you do. For strength training, you need dumbbells and a kettlebell. For yoga or stretching, you need mats, balls and resistance bands.

Add a mirror. It lets you check your posture during each exercise.

A lounge for the things that did not fit upstairs

Nothing stops you from going one step further and turning the basement into an entertainment area. Treat it as an extension of the main living space. Put in the things there was no room for on the ground floor: a movie theater with a projector and a sound system, a PlayStation game room for a child, or a place to meet friends with a bar and a pool table.

Why it works: the main floor stays calm, and the noise stays downstairs.

The trade-off: a small basement has room for one or two of these, not all of them. Choose the ones you will use most.

A chalet with a fireplace

A fireplace with a log store makes a basement lounge feel warm. It suits the chalet style, which is popular now. A chalet room looks like a holiday home far away in the Alps. It uses a lot of wood, animal skins (or imitation skins) and a brown and honey colour scheme.

Common mistake: expecting a real alpine view. A basement has no panoramic windows over the mountains. Replace them with decorative wall panels and many simple lamps.

The fireplace is the centre of a chalet. Finish it with stone or brick, and decorate the fireplace door with carved elm or simple ornaments. Repeat those patterns on the walls and in the textiles, but use only a few. A chalet is calm and plain, not busy.

How to design a basement before you build?

Draw the plan first, then try each use on it and check that the furniture and equipment fit.

A basement is hard to change once the heating, the shelves and the fireplace are in. You can visualize your ideas for the basement remodel in Home Planner before you start.

Try your basement ideas on your own plan in Home Planner

Measure your space and draw 2D/3D floor plans. Furnish the rooms with products from well-known brands, see the result as a realistic image, and get inspiration from ready-made layouts for a bedroom, bathroom or living room.

Trademark notice. Home Planner is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.; their names and marks belong to their owners. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.