Basement Renovation - Bedroom, Playroom, Bathroom, Laundry, Family Room, Office · More Info

I was thinking of bringing some light wood into it. This picture inspired me.

This I thought was interesting. I could bring the reddish colour back in by using either backless bookcases or painting the back of the shelves with a matching colour

look into Ikea hacks. they use billy bookcases or many of their others.

First thing though, paint those walls a lighter color. You'll need a good primer first. then paint. that red is sucking up every ounce of light.

Ballard has something like this

bring in a giant area rug, and some loveseats and chairs

paint a small wall w/chalkboard paint

Thank you! Some great ideas! Unfortunately the wall color stays--it's a shared space that my daughter and husband use and it was his choice of wall colour. We are fixing up some holes from what was there before, but otherwise we aren't planning to pain. It's super cozy and perfect for a TV room (the other half of the room is nicer). I'm trying to lighten things up a bit in the play area side without changing the wall.

As an alternative to freestanding floor lamps, which might get knocked over during active play, consider plug-in sconces that attach to the wall. Ikea has a good selection reasonably priced.

Use large art, with white background, like canvasses, to cover some of that red. IKEA will be a great place to get bookcases with bins, a nice white play table too.

Fiona, ok. but you did ask how to work w/the "dark" playroom.

you could bringing in more lighting if you're not willing to paint that room.

How about if you leave that one wall that color, but paint the other 3 a nice white? Could that be a compromise?

if you did something like this, and brought in a fluffy white rug, it would lighten up the space

The red is a nice color w/the wood floors and ceiling, which I really like, but if you did the other 3 in the white, you'd be amazed at how better the room would look.

tape off a lower portion for the chalkboard.

btw, does the entire space have to be a playroom? do you want to divide half of it? maybe use a portion for schooling or office or a lounging/reading computer area?

what if you painted that wall black, and did the other white, but brought in some red accents? The black wall w/the white book cases around it would look great w/all of the wood

Interesting ideas! I dont think hubby is interested in painting, but I’ll work on him. He has very strong opinions about colour. He likes it very saturated. the area I showed will be a playroom and hopefully ask storage for books, DVD’s, games etc. Its a multipurpose room as it is, but I do like the idea of adding an area to lounge. As the kids get older that will probably become more useful.