Red and blue stripes reminds me of a sports team - is his favorite sports team's colors red and blue?

You need to add a scaled drawing of the room if you'd like to receive helpful advice/suggestions on how to set up the room. Photos may seem like they show the full "picture" - but to people who aren't familiar with your basement, they aren't really that helpful.

It's not that difficult to prepare a quick sketch of the room. I tend to do them by hand - using graph paper (you can print off graph paper if you don't have any) because it's easier than using a ruler. Decide what the scale will be (for example, one box = 6" or 1' - depending upon the size of the room if using graph paper OR 1/2' = 6" or 1' if using a ruler).

Include the dimensions of any doorways and windows in your drawing + show where the ceiling height drops.

You really will receive much more useful advice if you put it just a little bit of time to draw something up and attach it in a comment.

Yes - he's a hockey player and it's his team colors.

Here is a floor plan of the room (labeled exercise room). It's a small room with no windows. The thick black wall (bottom in this picture) has the soffit drop down. Ceilings are 7 feet.

Oh - and I know how I want to set up the room.

Soffit wall - 65in TV on a 59 in wide gaming TV stand with storage.

Top wall - sofa, we have bean bag chairs to go in the center. Beverage fridge to the right of the sofa, with snack storage above.

Rt side wall by the door - air hockey table.

We have most of the content of the room already and it fits well in the spaces identified above.

So - essentially I need help with the painting design for the walls. We are good with painting and have done stripes with tape successfully before.

Hi. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

For a basement you might consider painting in a way that draws your eye up rather than using the horizontal stripe. Either vertical stripes, or diagonal sections.

Hi,

It's true it's a basement, it's not a large room and the ceilings aren't very high. However, I don't think I'd like vertical stripes and I'm not sure I'd know in what way to do diagonal, especially if I want to continue it around the room.

Maybe I just can't visualize it? Any suggestions or images of what you're thinking?

I like the first and third picture. If you choose the third, could you run the stripes on the soffit?

Maybe....but the soffit is very wide...not typical - you can see in the initial photo of the room- so that's throwing me off. I've seen photos where people recommend painting all sides of the soffit in the same wall color...would that work with this large deep soffit though?

The third photo with blue and red stripes looks like the side of a USPS truck.

I would suggest painting the bold stripes along the soffit. Be sure to repeat dominant color elsewhere in the room.

Rho - that's funny. It's also my least favorite of the 3 ideas

Best Dressed - interesting. Were you thinking that you would continue the stripe along the top of the other walls in the room?

Of the three ideas initially posted, I really like the navy background with the red and white stripes. Wondering if there's a way to do something with more navy on that focal wall and then continue the stripe around the room?

Perhaps paint the face of the soffit the lighter blue color of the stripe.

Edwmom. … aesthetically, I do not like the look of soffits. In this case , I tried to turn an inconvenient necessity (soffit) into a “feature” to make it look more intentional. I also thought placing the stripes up high might help “raise” the ceiling . Not “seeing” the complete room, the stripes might be overwhelming on all the walls, especially at this height. Maybe think about carrying it around the room BUT change the direction of it and make it flow vertical down another wall . Ps..I too thought this was my least fav stripes UNTIL I created a virtual rendering.

Best Dressed - what would you do with the rest of the walls in the room (color?) if you do the stripe on the soffit and maybe diagonally on the walls?

Ok...so I went down to sit in the space and try to figure this out a bit more. That soffit is HUGE ugh... So I thought I'd share a few more photos (please pardon all the junk in there there's still some stuff we are moving elsewhere).

I can actually envision wrapping the front facing part of the soffit with stripes - from left to right. The soffit crosses the room and heads down to the floor on the right side (see photo)...

I shared one photo of the vantage point from sitting on the couch looking toward where the TV will be. And then another that shows the view into the room from the doorway.

If you did a stripe on the soffit, what color would you do on the walls? And would you paint the underside of the soffit the color of the wall or the ceiling color?

Let me know what you think...

I think stripes will break up the room and be too busy. Consider painting the ceiling/soffit or walls/soffit the same color so it disappears and will feel more dramatic.

Let the accessories be the feature vs stripes, especially given this great wall.

IMO those stripes are best in his bedroom since friends might not have the same love of that team

Hi Patricia - his friends all play on the team and it's also same the colors from our city's NHL team - we will have other decor items in the room from that team. Plus, it's his room. We're good with the red and blue. Maybe add a tan color (walls) to warm it up?

Maureen. I like the idea of a color on that focal wall that extends up to envelop the soffit. Question - If you look at the new photos I shared, the soffit extends across half the room and continues down the wall on the right side. You'd recommend doing all of that on one color? Should I be concerned about how low the soffit is and doing that color making the ceiling look lower?

Given the height of most of the room, it should’t have much effect. If it feels lower, it could also make that area feel cozier. It’s only paint and you could stop if you don’t like, as it’s hard to determine until you try.

Maureen - Given the color palette he's asking for. Would you recommend maybe doing the wall under the soffit and the soffit itself a blue maybe? And then we could do a neutral tan on the other 3 walls? (Add some red in with accessories). The other 3 walls definitely need to be painted (they're currently in a terrible flat white the previous owners left us with, which is now riddled with black puck marks lol)

Debbi - Yes, the room has a lot going on unfortunately. It's way less than ideal, and has really made it tricky to figure out how to make it look cool for him. I'm usually not this indecisive when it comes to paint and I'm comfortable with color.

Start with the one wall and soffit. Then step back. Don't overthink it.

I would also paint the niche and the doors - carry the strips through them as well. Then if you like it continue the blue ( no more stripe )

This is supposed to be a fun space - it doesn't matter if the color is a little too dark or if the ceiling doesn't look high. It is a fun place for the kids to hang out. They are not concerned about those sorts of things.

Since it is sports team colors, make sure to take a logo and get the right colors/tones no matter what!

I would not do the soffit and call more attention to it and now I understand the team thing I would start with one wall in te stripes and not the TV wall. Then maybe some fun furniture in color like a few red bean bags or a red sofa. I think the space needs input from the kids since this will be their space .

It’s a busy odd shaped room (not judging but it is). The stripe will not work well. I would vote for the dark blue on the whole tv wall (tvs look great on dark backgrounds) and bring the red in another way- blue sofa red pillows. But honestly I’ve never understood sports ball so I’m the wrong person to ask. But I would not complicate that room further by adding stripes.

The blue/tan with red accents and some warm wood would be a great combo (ignore the bar lol).

The question still remains on where to stop/start paint. When it comes down to it, whatever you decide on, the room’s overall effect will be similar.