Need help with design for basement

last year

We are planning to refinish my basement. My basement is long and skinny (39' x 12.9' to be exact just shy of 500sqft). It is unfinished now and will probably be a little smaller once the dry wall is in. The ceilings are fairly low, about 6'2". The plumbing is in the middle of the wall on the left and I'm hoping to put a kitchenette there and minimize moving plumbing. I can seem to make the space work. I want to have a seating area, a playroom area, and a gym area, but I'm not sure what the best layout would be. I'm looking for ideas outside the box! If we MUST move plumbing, not far, I'm open to it to make it work. Below is a floorplan as well to give you an idea from a birdseye view. I have also added a picture of it unfinished (excuse the mess!). The door to outside is on the bottom left.

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yvonnecmartin

last year

I suggest that you not box in the ceiling, but rather paint it white or black. A 6 foot ceiling is too low for comfort.

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Comments (8)

Forrest Roberts
last year
My suggestion is to draw a to-scale plan, then place masking tape on the floor to enable you to walk and ”live” the space. Consider lighting too.

As far as plumbing, adjust you plan to minimize need to relocate existing.
freedomplace1
last year
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GN Builders
last year
What are the exact dimensions of your basement, measure from the block foundation and take into account any obstructions, and framing from both sides, etc. As someone said without a scaled drawing hard to say anything.
Valinta
last year
If you find a huge pot of gold have basement floor reduced to 12” from current level. No gold? Agree with moving all overhead you can, install a beam for support that will reduce any other supports. Paint ceiling black or white as suggested. Install LED strip lights between the joists.
la_la Girl
last year
last modified: last year
We did a similar basement reno - at first we had the ceiling open (freshly painted white) for the height but it always felt dusty & cobwebby, no matter what we did - so we opted to dry wall it and boxed in plumbing where we needed to - we moved some air returns

now its a great movie room with a big comfy sectional and a round table and chairs for snacks and cards, apartment fridge for drinks.. feels clean and cozy with the new drywall

for your project - I would do the drywall and then re-assess functionality - I think it is going to live smaller than your layout suggests, I would not get too attached to the different zones

eta - other things to consider - new electrical and windows, we also had concrete flooring and did LVP
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Nancy R z5 Chicagoland
last year
I think the space will look the largest if you keep the ceiling, the walls, and the floor very close in color to each other, whatever color you choose. And I would go with something on the light side, but not necessarily white. I think white has a tendency to look dingy in basements--especially on the ceiling.
Jenn-z9b-AZ
last year
Is a ceiling that low even legal for habitable living space?