Four Ideas for Transforming Your Basement

Of all the places in our home that get our attention, the basement gets the short end of the stick. They can be quite large and yet many people just use them for storage or for nothing at all. If you have a basement you aren’t sure what to do with, we want to help you out. We’ll give you a couple ideas for transforming your basement to get your creative juices flowing and get you in the right mindset for change.

Playroom

If your house is smaller but still has a basement, it’s a great place for the kids to have their own space. Not only does this keep their toys and games out of the way of the most used rooms in your house, but it also lets your kids feel like somewhere in the house is uniquely theirs. You can go small with just an open area for play and some storage shelves, or you can go all out with an indoor jungle gym and games table. The scope is up to you.

Home Gym

Every home could always use an exercise area. The basement is great for this because, as with the playroom, it keeps items such as dumbbells and weights out of the way of everywhere else. Your home gym is up to your own interpretation and budget. Get some fancy weight machines or exercise equipment, or just get one barbel and floor mat—whichever works better for your situation.

Spare Bedroom

Want to bump up the number of bedrooms you can say your house offers when you put it up for sale? Try turning that space in the basement into another bedroom. There are a few things to remember about renovating the basement into a place you’ll actually want to spend a lot of time, but just try to make the area as cozy as possible.

Office Space

For all of those who work from home, you don’t need to spend every hour of work at your dining room table. Of all the ideas for transforming your basement, this is arguably the most practical use. Having separate rooms for work and leisure will allow you to focus more on both, whether you’re on or off work. All you really need is a functional desk, a comfortable chair, an internet connection, and you’ll be ready to tackle the challenges of the day.

Guest Post - How to Make A Home Gym

As we all know, gym memberships are the cheapest things in the world. And as the whole world has shut down there are more and more online workouts that you can do from the comfort of your home. So, if you don't want to commit to a gym membership but still want to have a chance to work out, here is how you make your own home gym. 

Find the Right Space

First and foremost, you will need to find the right place where you can comfortably do your workouts. Depending on what kind of exercises you will do, you might just need enough room to lay down a yoga mat but if you are more into advanced like HIIT workouts you will need to have more space to move. If you are looking to have a heavy lifting regimen you will have to dedicate a whole room to it. Therefore, you might only need to declutter a part of the room or the whole one. You have to be creative with this one and find the best setup you can so you don't hurt yourself and so you can do all the exercises correctly. 

Equip Your Home Gym

Of course, you don't need to have a fully equipped gym in your home with all the machines and equipment but you do need to have the bare necessities. There are so many different workout pieces of equipment that you can choose from, some can even be really inexpensive and small. One of the best ways to make a home gym while not having a big budget nor space, treadmills are some of the best equipment pieces you can choose. If that is too much for you, a simple jump rope will do the job. For someone who prefers to do more strengthening workouts rather than cardio, you have to realize that you don't need to have a chain of gigantic cable machines to do it. Instead of splurging on something like that think about getting a good-quality power rack, resistance bands and some kettlebells. That way you will be able to do different workouts with the same equipment. 

Create a Good Storage Plan

The key to having a good amount of equipment without having to dedicate a whole room to the gym, storage is the key. If you are planning on doing simple yoga workouts, a great thing to have are storage containers where you will be able to store all of them when you are not using them. Pick a storage container that can fit under your bed or in your closet neatly. On the other hand, if you are interested in doing more weight workouts, look into having compact racks where you can store your dumbbells and weights. Keep in mind that whatever you choose needs to be sturdy enough in order not to collapse under the pressure. 

Design Your Perfect Setup

If you are going to be doing a more serious workout, it is important that you have somewhere to watch your form while doing it. Therefore, when you are creating your own home gym you can't forget about mirrors. Make sure that the room or designated spot has enough light so you can see yourself clearly as well as not trip on equipment or hurt yourself. Another really important thing if you are dedicating one room just to working out is to install gym flooring or put it on top of your carpet or hardwood floors. That will give your better cushion while you are working out, it will help you not hurt your feet and knees as well as protect your floors from getting sticky and slippery during your workouts. 

Go Secondhand for Bigger Items

One of the best ways to get bigger equipment pieces when you are making your home gym is buying second hand. There are so many different places where you can find even unused equipment. It is definitely something that should be looked into. 

Once you have found out everything that you need, it is time to assemble the gym and start using it. For some people having their own gym will motivate them to use it more often but if you are not one of them keep in mind that it will benefit you only if you use it often. 

Author Bio

Allan Wickerson is a passionate blog writer who is extremely keen on writing about health, lifestyle, home improvement and technology. His exclusive hobby is to surf the net to find amazing articles that can inspire him with some fresh ideas for article writing. He loathes being a common person who wastes his time. Follow him on Twitter.