Just because the basement of your home is unfinished, it doesn’t mean that you can’t use that space for more than just storage. Turning an area of your basement into a playroom for your children will give them a dedicated place to play and keep them from interfering with other areas of the house. Sure, it may not a completely finished area, but the kids likely won’t even care. Just distract them with toys and they won’t even notice! If you’re thinking about adding a playroom to your basement, check out our list of Unfinished Basement Playroom Ideas.
1) Paint Your Walls
If you want to add color to your unfinished playroom, the easiest way to do it is to paint. Most likely, the outer walls in your unfinished basement are either cinder blocks or poured concrete. Painting concrete basement walls is a little different than painting a wall finished with sheetrock. Moisture is one consideration and getting the right paint to coat concrete is another. Click here to learn more details.
2) Curtain it Off
Hanging curtains in an unfinished basement is very easy. Since the floor joists from the upper floor are most likely exposed, you will have plenty of places to attach curtains. Curtains can be used to define the area of your basement playroom and to cover the walls. They can be hung from rods or tracks installed in the floor joists. You can always try this nifty DIY method.
3) Lighting
As with curtains, you have a lot of flexibility in lighting your unfinished basement playroom, and for the same reason; exposed floor joists. Proper lighting for a kid’s playroom is very important. It needs to be bright. You’ll want to maximize the natural light that you have and hang lighting fixtures that will provide the best illumination. Here’s more detailed information on properly lighting a basement.
4) Ceiling Swing
Exposed floor joists will also give you options to hang other items from the ceiling. Suspension straps and rings can be hung if you have a child that loves gymnastics. Even if your child is not into gymnastics, you can always hang a swing. There are a lot of different swing designs, from relaxing hammock chairs for reading to traditional swings. Take a look here to shop for options.
5) Basement Gym
A great idea for an unfinished basement playroom is to make it a gym for your kids. If you live in an area where winters are long, having a space indoors where your kids can be active is a definite benefit. There are a lot of choices for gym equipment for kids, from trampolines and dome climbers, to climb and crawl playsets and weight benches. To start shopping, follow this link.
6) Indoor Playground
Another way to help kids be active indoors is to put an indoor playground in your basement. You can purchase prebuilt playground sets that will require some assembly. Most of them will have hanging rings, rope ladders, slides, and swings. There are a variety of designs and configurations, so finding one to fit your space will be easy.
7) DIY Playground
If you love woodworking, then building an indoor playground for your basement playroom is a project you could consider. It will allow you to define the play space as you want, as opposed to buying something pre-built. You can also decide how to paint and decorate what you build, allowing the playground to reflect your child’s taste. Check out what these homeowners built for their kids.
8) DIY Climbing Wall
If your kids love to climb, another idea is to turn an area of your basement into a climbing wall. Building a climbing wall is easy if you are handy with tools. All they require is plywood, paint, and climbing holds. Once built, they can be attached to concrete walls with masonry screws, or attached to finished walls with wood screws and a stud finder. For more information on building your own, click here.
9) Ball Pit
Another wonderful way to keep young children active is a ball pit. Ball pits help develop muscles, fine motor skills, and are great for sensory play. They also offer a place to develop social interaction, either between siblings or when friends come over to play. Prebuilt ball pits can be purchased here and come in many designs and options.
10) DIY Ball Pit
Of course, a cheaper option than buying a prebuilt ball pit is to make your own. This is super easy to do and requires very little DIY know how. This design can be made with PVC pipe, pool noodles, and mesh netting. Oh, and the balls of course, you wouldn’t want to forget those!
11) Safety Mats
If an area of your unfinished basement playroom is designed to keep your kids active, whether it is an indoor jungle gym or a trampoline, you’ll want to consider safety mats to protect your children in case of falls. Safety mats come in a wide array of designs, thicknesses, and colors. Interlocking mats can be purchased to make a large area safe as well as colorful. To look over some of your options, click here.
12) Kids Play Table
What playroom would be complete without a play table? A kid-sized table, where your child can sit to write, draw, or play with legos and blocks. If your child loves trains, then you can also purchase play tables specifically made for wooden train sets. Kids’ play tables often come as a complete set with matching chairs and places to store toys. You can find a vast array of choices here.
13) Lego Play Area
Kids love building blocks of all types, especially legos. So, another great way to make your basement playroom fun is to include a lego play area. To make a lego play area, you’ll need a table for your kids to build on and storage for all their legos. You can buy lego tables or learn how to make your own lego table with storage for less than $50 here.
14) Toy Storage and Organizers
Speaking of storage, you’ll want to make sure that your basement playroom includes places to store all of your child’s toys and craft materials. Shelves can be purchased or built to store bigger items. Toy chests are also an option for storage. Finally, you can purchase storage organizers with bins to store all of the smaller toys and building blocks. You can look at storage options for your playroom by following this link.
Hopefully, this article has helped you start thinking about possible ways to make use of your unfinished basement. With our 14 Unfinished Basement Playroom Ideas and a little work, you can turn that area into a space that will be beneficial to your children and give them a place where they are free to explore, create, and have fun.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any ideas of your own that you would like to share? Then leave a comment below!