Our current house has an unfinished basement that I’ve spent many hours dreaming about renovating into a recreation room. A space where I had an office area, the kids had room to play, and we had space to spread out and watch television. Somewhere tucked away from the rest of the house so that I wouldn’t be mortified every time someone popped by. You know, because we live in our living space and all. Which means it’s always cluttered, my laptop and notes are often sprawled all over the sofa and, because we have an open concept house, everyone gets a nice view of what we had for breakfast if I’m not on top of the dishwasher thing.
Which is why, after the awful news that our landlord is selling our house, I had to start thinking about what we needed in this next phase of our lives. We made a playroom out of one of the bedrooms upstars and I moved the boys in together. That’s worked moderately well except the boys need way more supervision than I can give when they’re upstairs and I’m working in the living room. FASD is fun like that. And that’s not likely to change much as they get older.
So we’re looking for a space with a finished basement where I can create an office space, a play room, and a media/family room for all of us to hang out together. Since I live in a small town, the reality is, we’ll take what’s out there and make due but a girl can dream, right?
Here are some of my favorite basement rec rooms that I’m pinning away to my Family Room Board these days. (Seriously. What did we do before Pinterest?) I included shopping links (affiliate links…see our full disclosure here) to help you build a similar look. I tried to choose items that were close and the lowest cost when I looked for shopping links. Happy browsing.
Love the greys, the navy feature wall and the use of space in this basement from Apartment Therapy
We already have a blue sofa. Hmmm, I can see this working for us. This color palette really brightens up what could be a very dark space. Plus, that craft space behind the sofa? Love.
How awesome is this open storage under the TV from Thrifty Decor Chick? I think even my guys could tidy up with this amount of storage.
Love these gorgeous built ins featured on Houzz.
Maybe we can squeeze in a bar area like this one featured on Zillow.
Great media seating area although I worry about how cold leather can get in a basement. Might need to get lots of throws 😉
Love the dark ceiling and tin wall in this finished rec room on Houzz.
Another great ceiling in a finished basement from Houzz.
Love the way they used the area under the stairs to build in the TV and storage at Board and Vellum. And we can’t ignore those gorgeous built ins on the back wall, either.
The paint and accent colors make this basement living area from Beach House in the City so light and bright. Love it!
Are you inspired to remake your basement yet? Pin it to save it!
