How do you use your basement?

I grew up in Levittown, where no one had basements. My husband never had one growing up either.

We don't really count a basement as usable space, even if it's finished, although I know that's not realistic. I know they're not all like this but we think of them as cold, damp areas that we probably wouldn't want to spend time in. (crazy, I know)

Besides a possible guest bedroom, we could only really see ourselves using one for storage. We will not be having children, and would want our tv or entertainment areas on the ground floor.

How do you use your basement?

Message edited 4/3/2007 9:19:42 AM.

Re: How do you use your basement?

Right now, we have a full unfinished basement.

It's being used for laundry and storage.

At some point down the road, we will refinish part of it to allow it to be used as a kid's playroom or den, but that's 5-10 years down the road.

Re: How do you use your basement?

right now it is a dumping ground.

we have our washer/dryer down there

and it is a full unfinished basement..

it is one of the last projects we intend to complete.

Re: How do you use your basement?

we don't have a basement now, but growing up my parents used our basements as a den, home office & playroom. Then they turned it into an apartment and we lived down there for a bit and now my sister is living down there.

Re: How do you use your basement?

our basement growing up was a playroom, but ours is now just utilities.

Re: How do you use your basement?

Posted by angnick

right now it is a dumping ground.

we have our washer/dryer down there

and it is a full unfinished basement..

it is one of the last projects we intend to complete.

Re: How do you use your basement?

We just re did our basement. We will use it as a TV room/kids playroom. I had cabinets built in so that we will be able to store the kids toys one day.

Re: How do you use your basement?

I have a partial unfinished basement that is mainly used for storage and also houses the washer/dryer. Growing up my parents had a finished basement with carpeting and we kids used it as a playroom and I think if you have kids, that is a fantastic use of a basement for many reasons....kids dont care so much what a room looks like, they can mess it up and have their toys all over and no one really sees it.... My dd is only 1 but if we stay in our current house, I plan to refinish it. I have seen awesome finished basements complete with bars and I think they can definitely add to the real estate of your home.

Message edited 4/3/2007 9:47:26 AM.

Re: How do you use your basement?

Right now we have a full unfinished basement that is used for laundry storage and DHs gym equipment. One day we hope to finish at least part of it to a TV/play room area.

I have to say while I dont love spending time down there, having grown up with no basement I TOTALLY appreciate the extra storage space and potential it gives.

Re: How do you use your basement?

We use ours for laundry right now. Our hotwater heater and oil burner are down there.

We plan on drylocking it this summer and eventually putting a gym in down there for us.

Re: How do you use your basement?

We don't have a basement in our home, but growing up I did.
We had our washer & dryer in the basement. We had a playroom, my Dad had a workshop, our oil tanks, burner, etc were down there.

Oh and my favorite - my friends and I used to rollerskate down there. We had a HUGE ranch house with a full basement. We would spend hours rollerskating down there.

Re: How do you use your basement?

We don't have a house yet (we are in the process of looking now though ). But we want a fully finished basement. Growing up I didn't have a basement, but my DH did. We both have really large families, so we def. want a finished basement for entertaining and when kids come along it would also be a playroom. DH family basically lives in their basement except to sleep; the bedrooms are upstairs.

Re: How do you use your basement?

right now: laundry

down the road: craft room, laundry, storage, play room

*note: it's BIG so i'll have the room for all of that stuff. thank God

Re: How do you use your basement?

Our's is finished. We use it for Andrews playroom, DH's TV room, laundry and storage. I am down there everyday!!

Re: How do you use your basement?

Our's is completely finished. We only have a formal living room on our first floor so we use our basement all the time - to watch TV, when we have alot of guests over, etc. We also have our laundry room down there and we had a good amount of closets built so we'd have a good amt of storage space.

Re: How do you use your basement?

currently: laundry and storage

getting ready for a remodel so that we'll have:
*office
*guest bedroom
*full bathroom
*small storage/utilities/laundry room (laundry room might end up a separate room)
*small kitchen (stove, sink, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave)
*playroom/media room

Re: How do you use your basement?

It's our main TV room. Aside from the kitchen and our bedroom, this is the most used room in the house. .

Message edited 4/3/2007 11:22:18 AM.

Re: How do you use your basement?

when i was little we had a basement and we used it for a laundry room, playroom, and my dad had all his tools stored down there

Re: How do you use your basement?

We have a full unfinished basement that we currently use for laundry and storage. It is a dry basement - no outside entrance...and it is really cold in the winter.

I'd like to finish 3/4 of it and turn that into the den/office/playroom area while keeping the remaining 1/4 as utilities/laundry/storage.

Message edited 4/3/2007 11:46:29 AM.

Re: How do you use your basement?

We only have a 3/4 basement but it is for storage purposes. Our burner & oil tank are in there. Eventually if we have more then 2 kids, my DH will make it his office.

Re: How do you use your basement?

Other:

We have a full unfinished basement. We have the laundry area, gym area, and a section for my tools and woodshop. We also have storage in whatever nooks and crannies we can find...

Re: How do you use your basement?

I felt the same way, but we just built our house and made our whole basement a playroom--my kids have so many cousins the around the same age, and I am always entertaining family at my house,so its great to have a place for the kids to go.
we carpeted the stairs and floor and put cameras on the wall so when were in the kitchen we can watch the kids!

Re: How do you use your basement?

My husband has a bar down there. I have the laundry room. The other half is in the processing of being finished.

Re: How do you use your basement?

we have a full finished basement. we haven't used it for anything but storage/laundry to this point. if we stay here, we plan on making it a den/living room.

Re: How do you use your basement?

I have a finished basement and I hate going down there. It's not finished to my liking. I'm sure within a few years it will be much cozier.