Bringing Light to Your Basement

One of the most challenging parts of decorating a basement is lighting.

Many finished rooms have rather low ceilings, and this can cause the room to appear dark and almost cave-like.

Another fact to contend with is that many basements are entirely underground, therefore not even having the option for windows. This lack of natural lighting only adds to the cave-like issue.

So what can you do about bringing light into an otherwise dark room? The first step is to accentuate any natural lighting that is available. If you do have even one lone window, make sure your window treatments allow you to access any available sunlight.

Use pale, partially translucent curtains that are easily tied back, or decorative blinds that pull up or to the side.

If you have one room in your basement with windows and one without, consider the placement of the door between them and how much light can be transferred through the doorway.

Perhaps the opening can be broadened into a double doorway to allow more light to pass through. And doors with clear windowpanes work really well in between such rooms to allow any natural light to travel into the further regions.

Another way to make the most of the lighting you have is to paint the walls a light color. Not necessarily white, just light. While at first this may not sound too interesting in the decorating sense, it can really help with your lighting challenge.

And the walls in a basement can become a backdrop for artwork and other decorative touches in the room.

Once you’ve capitalized on all available natural light, or if there is not any available, what next? Because of the low ceilings mentioned earlier, recessed lighting is a great option in a basement.

These lights can be placed to give off a lot of light without taking up valuable headroom in your basement.

Recessed lights can also be strategically placed over the areas of most use, such as seating areas, tables, or workspaces.

If you don’t have room in the ceiling for recessed lights, track lighting can also work well in low ceiling spaces such as basements. Track lights can be placed in areas of low walking traffic, and aimed at areas of high use such as the seating or work areas mentioned before.

With track lighting, as with recessed lighting, you can put light just where you need it.

For practical workspaces such as study areas and worktables, halogen or florescent lighting works well. Florescent lights give off a lot of bright light so they may be more tempting to use in basements, but halogens may be more practical.

Halogens can be put on dimmer switches to allow you to choose how much light you need by what activities you are doing in a particular area. Halogen lamps can also offer you more decorating choices than florescent lights.

Getting the right light is definitely the first step to decorating your basement area. After all, what good is the rest of the decorating process if you can’t see the room?