20 Basement Renovation Ideas

A finished basement is a world of opportunity. Whatever your square footage, your basement has the potential to add one large room or several smaller rooms to your home – and those rooms can be anything you want them to be. Perhaps you want a hosting space, more bedrooms for guests, personalised hobby spaces, or an elegant home office suite. You can build in luxurious bathrooms, spacious utility spaces, or entertainment rooms of all designs. They don’t even need to be rooms that are conventionally included in home design.

How will you renovate your basement? We are delighted to share 20 of the best basement renovation ideas in Great Toronto Area (GTA)  to inspire your designs.

1) Create Your Gourmet Dream Kitchen

Build a vast gourmet kitchen in your basement with all your favorite luxury kitchen fixtures. You can have acres of counter space, the perfect golden triangle, and innovative cabinetry with clever storage that is always perfectly at hand for every cooking station. Add an island or peninsula with a glass stovetop to host your own cooking show or a spacious dining area to make hosting dinner parties a dream.

2) Build a Stunning Accent Wall

Accent walls look amazing in basement design where each wall is an opportunity for design. There are many different options depending on the vibe you want to create. Marble sheets provide a subtle yet stunningly luxurious look to your basement design, while a tile mosaic may offer a more colourful or playful alternative. If your basement is designed for entertainment, a built-in TV with panels and cabinets for add-on features (like game consoles and sound systems) might be the perfect touch. For a relaxed social vibe and cozy evenings, you can even add a fireplace.

3) Design Spacious Laundry Room

Few homes have a satisfying laundry room. Give yourself all the space you need, plus a few built-in extras, to make laundry easy – even fun. Make room for your machines, or even lift them on a platform for easy front-load reaching. Add built-in counter space, fold-out tables, and hanging bars to make folding easier than it’s ever been. Create room for hampers and even a laundry chute above to reduce basket-carrying.

Bonus: Add a smart sound system or television to your laundry room so you’ll never be bored doing laundry again.

4) Build a Family Den and Game Room

Many basement renovations focus on creating a cozy space for the family to relax. We love the half-and-half family den and game room design. One end of your great room, install an incredible entertainment system with a built-in big screen television, cabinetry for game consoles, and lots of comfy seating. On the other end, include toy storage, a game table (ping pong, foosball, ect) and a few wall-affixed fun items like a basketball hoop, climbing wall, or arcade machines. The basement is the perfect place for noisy fun for grownups and kids.

5) Add Layered Smart Lighting for Any Mood

What are the best basement design ideas for lighting your underground space? We recommend layered lighting and smart lights. Layered lighting involves overhead lights, lamps, and light strips so you can choose just how much light you need and set the mood. Smart lights not only give you voice command control, you can also change the colours for mood lighting, party lighting, and special events. You can even set up special routines to easily change the lighting levels, colours, and how you use your light layers.

In other words, smart layered lighting makes your basement welcoming, fun, and versatile.

6) Separate the Space with Glass Wall or Wood Partition Dividers

If you want both an open-plan basement and designated activity spaces, separate your spaces with elegant dividers. Glass walls allow you to create isolated areas while keeping that open plan feel. Glass walls and doors are excellent for creating childproof spaces that are still beautifully visible, like your wine collection, workout room, or stylish home office.

You can also create an open plan that flows naturally into different designated spaces with wood partition dividers. Wood panels are always elegant and allow you to control your space without fully closing off specific rooms.

7) Isolate Your Ideal Home Office

If you need a dedicated home office, your basement is the perfect space. A home office is one of the best small basement remodel ideas. Quiet and private, you can build the perfect professional environment to get your work done apart from the rest of the house. Build yourself amazing office storage. Set up everything you need like a printer station, a coffee station and, of course, your ultimate corner desk. You also have the opportunity to build an elegant video meeting backdrop directly into your home office renovation plans.

8) Host Parties Around Your Basement Bar

Dreaming of a better space to host get-togethers with your friends? Build a basement bar. A custom-built wet bar with bottle storage will delight your friends as you gather for drinks and social fun. You can build in a sink, fridge, ice bin, and customise the bar itself any way you like, from a marble bar top to LED under-lighting. As for the rest of the basement, you can designate a small space or open up the floorplan with tables and a dance floor, depending on the kind of parties you like to throw.

9) Craft a Beautiful Wine Cellar

If you have a wine collection, give yourself the gift of a gorgeous wine cellar. Build a temperature and humidity-controlled space with elegant wine shelves lining the walls and a golden-lit tasting table in the center. From a glass-enclosed walk-in to an elegantly decorated room, your wine cellar will soon inspire you to build your collection into a masterpiece.

10) Innovate a Basement with Hidden Features

Hidden features are among the most popular basement remodel ideas. A basement room can hide Murphey beds in tall cabinets, hide storage beneath built-in furniture, and hide entertainment behind elegant bookshelves. You can hide a pet bed under the bar or island, a playhouse behind cabinetry, or your private escape behind a hidden door. There’s no limit to the features you can hide behind casual and unassuming built-ins that make your basement more versatile through transformations that will delight your guests and allow for more floor space when you’re not hosting.

11) Add a Stylish Basement Apartment

Many people are looking for stylish basement ideas for a new apartment. A guest suite, luxurious master suite, a student getaway, or even an apartment you can AirBnB to paying visitors all benefit from an awesome basement apartment design. Consider how complete a basement apartment can be with it’s own sitting room, bathroom, and even a small kitchen.

12) Design a Playroom Clubhouse for the Kids

Build your kids a dreamland for play and imagination. Built-in lofts or bunk beds, hidden playhouses, and jungle gyms can create unforgettable memories and spectacular sleepovers. Paint a chalkboard wall for yearly murals or add a climbing wall with a big space for a foam block pit below. Build in plenty of storage for toys and display spaces for favourite stuffed animals and art projects. Your kids will love it, and your teens might, too.

13) Build a Home Gym

Why go to the gym when you can build the perfect workout space at home? Whether you need room for aerobics or floorspace for your workout machines, a home gym is the perfect way to pursue your fitness goals on your own time – blaring your favourite music as loud as you want. This is also a great place for that wall-to-wall mirror to make sure your form is just right.

14) Or Lay Out a Ballet Studio

Of course, your workout space doesn’t need equipment. That mirror, paired with a barre along one wall and springy wood floors, can provide your dream at-home ballet studio. Which can also double as a martial arts floor for your little combat specialists. With felt-footed and rolling furniture, you can even build your entire basement into a ballet floor and push the furniture to the edges when it’s time to dance.

15) Create a Hobby Workshop

If you’ve been dreaming of the perfect hobby space, now is your opportunity. Include a workshop in your basement design plans with a workbench and floor-to-ceiling custom storage designed just for your hobby and personal workflow. We also love to see double workshops where two people in a household build a long room prepared for two different hobbies – on each end with a shared workspace in the center. Pursue your craft in a space that has everything you need organised and at hand.

16) Hang Seating from the Ceiling

Hanging seating is a “boho” (bohemian) decorating trend that is perfect for a basement renovation. Basement ceiling beams tend to be especially sturdy, so hanging features are safer when installed in your stylish basement family rooms, playrooms, or bedrooms. Hanging seating, lamps, plants, and even swings can be firmly secured to the ceiling structure above while providing a fun and comfy way to decorate your basement space.

17) Gift Yourself a Luxurious Home Spa

Home spas are all the rage. Home saunas, bathrooms with soaking tubs, hot tubs, and even massage tables are creeping into home design. If you don’t have room in your master suite, build a home spa in your basement to pamper yourself any time you want. Make it part of your new basement master suite or install spa features the whole family can enjoy alone or together.

18) Install the Ultimate Home Theater

If you love movies, a home theater is even more impressive than a den with an awesome entertainment system. A home theater features a big screen projector, tiered theater seating, theater lights, and surround-sound for the ultimate movie-watching experience. We love designs that also include a miniature concession stand, complete with an old-school popcorn machine.

19) Build a Personal Recording Studio

If you are into music and play an instrument, the basement is the perfect place to build your own recording studio. Pad the walls with audio panels, hang your microphones, install your soundboard, and create a comfy space for you and fellow musicians to record some amazing tracks. This could be your chance to produce an original album with studio-quality sound.

20) Hide a Secret Getaway

Last but not least, you can create a hidden room that is your private getaway. Your hidden room can be anything you want, from a classic polished wood speakeasy with pool tables to your hidden art studio where you paint or sculpt in perfect, inspiring isolation. Hide the door behind a wall panel, a bookshelf, a framed mirror, or even a giant painting. You’ll delight every time you slip into your hidden room or reveal the secret to a trusted friend.

Renovate Your Basement with Rich Home Inc

If you are ready to finish your basement or transform a finished basement into a truly personalised space, Rich Home Inc. is here to bring your vision into reality. Contact us for a free consultation and quote on your dream basement remodeling ideas in the Greater Toronto Area.

Basement Renovation FAQs

Can I move lights or plumbing in a basement renovation?

Yes, you can move fixtures and install new fixtures when you renovate a basement, including lights, outlets, and plumbing.

How many rooms can I build in a finished basement?

It depends on your square footage and plans. You can build a great room or separate your basement into several rooms of various sizes.

Can you raise the ceiling in a basement renovation?

Sometimes. Your basement has a maximum height, of course, but you can sometimes expose the beams for a little more ceiling height.