BASEMENT GUESTROOM / BEDROOM IDEAS

If you have a basement that has a bathroom, you might have a suitable area for an extra guestroom. Many houses may not have enough rooms upstairs for all the kids and a guest and so one of the pracical basement ideas is to turn it into a bedroom.

One of the first problems though with a turning your basement into a guestroom is to figure out the heating situation. If you are going to use it as a bedroom, you need to make sure the basement has some insulation in the walls. Additionally, even if it does, you may find it exremely hard to heat in the winter.

In the summer time, a basement bedroom or guestroom will work great because it will be hot outside but naturally cool at the bottom of the house. In the winter though, heating your basement to a degree that it is livable could be expensive. you may have to have a stand alone heater or heaters to do the job. Radiant heat downstairs might also work well but that could be too expensive for many budgets.

Another problem you might have is installing ample lighting in your new basement guestroom. Many basements are partially or totally underground and thus have very little natural lighting. This means you will probably have to have several bright lamps or ceiling lights to give your guests enough light to see.

The color you paint your basement walls can either help or hurt the lighting. If you paint the walls a dark green or black, it will make the room look that much darker. However, if you use brighter colors it may help with the poor lighting situation many basements face.

As mentioned at the outset, a basement bedroom works best if you have a bathroom on the same level. If not, it may still be doable but having a bathroom with a shower is best for anyone staying down there. The more complete a room you can make the better and the more it will help with resale value as well.

BASEMENT BATHROOM IDEAS

If you have a basement that you want to use for a specific purpose, you might want to consider adding a bathroom. Whether you want to use the space for a basement office, basement game room, basement home theater, basement gym, basement bar, or basement guest room you will find that a bathroom downstairs is very convenient.

If you choose to install a basement bathroom, it will add significant value to your home because it will suddenly make that are below your house usable for many things. The more versatile a house is, the more people will be interested in buying it.

If you are doing a basement remodel, that is the time to seriously consider adding a bathroom or redoing the old one that is there. It is much less costly if you do all the work at the same time.

Adding a bathroom to your basement is something that is beyond the skill level of most people. As it will involve tearing down or adding walls, extensive plumbing work, and electrical wiring, it is best to get a professional involved. A qualified professional will save you time and money in the long run and you can sleep at night knowing that you will be avoiding most of the problems you would encounter if you were doing it yourself.

Depending on what type of a basement you have and what you plan on using it for will determine whether the basement bathroom needs to be complete with a shower. If you are going to only use the space for entertaining or working, you don't need to invest in the added cost of installing a basement shower. Having only a sink and toilet (a powder room) will be plenty. However, if you anticipate using your new basement as a guest room or extra bedroom, having a shower downstairs will very convenient and might be worth the extra cost.

Many people are deciding to upgrade and expand portions of their homes now rather than move to bigger houses. With the terrible economy, they are deciding it is less of a risk to put more money into the house they already own rather than uproot the family and move to a bigger house. This means that more and more people are looking into finishing their basements and making them into rooms they can actually use for something.

Adding a bathroom is one of those basement ideas that makes sense on many levels when you start to figure out ways to get more out of your house. People are understandably hesitant right now to spend the extra money on a basement remodel but when the economy eventually turns around they will most likely be glad they did. A basement bathroom is something that most homeowners are glad they thought of once the hassle of installing it is over.