Just a few decades ago, basements were considered the “dungeon of homes” across America. They were where you put all extraneous belongings that you didn’t want showing in the main part of your home or just stored appliances and other things like that. Now, however, basements are just as part of homes like the living room, bedroom, or dining room. Gone are dark utility closets of old, and in are the sprawling, carpeted, well-lit play spaces that you can watch television in, play video games, read a book, or just hang out in.
With basements in this new incarnation, they’re more like an auxiliary family room, maybe a place more designed for the kids, where they can watch movies that they want or run around more freely. With this new look at what basements could be, there is now a focus on decorating them — making them look as appealing as the rest of your home.
Frames, of course, are a big part of this. Having great posters, art, photos, or the like to look at on the wall can always boost a room’s aesthetic and just make people enjoy the space more. There might be some things you want to keep in mind when you’re framing in your basement, though. Let’s go over them! Hopefully, after reading this, you’ll have a pretty decent idea as to how you want to go about framing your basement walls.
Is Your Basement Above or Below Ground?
You might not think this is a big deal. Rooms are rooms, right? Who cares if they’re above or below ground? Well, what you want to keep in mind is light sourcing. If your basement is above ground, you probably have windows in it, leaving light to shine through. In contrast, if your basement is underground, you probably need to use light bulbs to keep your room well lit. If this is the case, you won’t have to worry as much about UV rays deteriorating your art, as the average light bulb emits a pretty negligible amount of UV radiation.
UV rays can, over time, deteriorate your art. While our acrylic does protect from some UV rays, it doesn’t do so entirely. This means that, in an underground basement, it might be good to place some artwork that you want to be preserved. It could be a piece of fine art or an older photo — something along those lines. In addition, you can control when you turn on and off light bulbs. In contrast, with natural light shining through windows, your frame will be exposed to it for at least, well, half the day. Unless someone is in your basement for the equivalent of twelve hours during the day, it will likely be exposed to less light than something exposed to natural light.
In addition, another thing you’ll have to consider is glare. This is, of course, more aesthetic than anything else. But it could influence what type of acrylic you’d want to get from us, or another vendor. Most frame sellers offer a non-glare variant of their covers. So that would be something to consider.
Think Of What’s In Your Basement
You want the decor on your walls to reflect what’s in the basement. And since basements are that wild card room of most homes, it’s not as easy to predict what’s going to be in it, in contrast to living rooms or kitchens. They could have massive televisions, big sofas, or just be open carpeted space. Whatever it is, try to work off that motif! If you want some inspiration, there are tons of articles and ideas about basement remodels to see.
These would be good to look at to get an idea of what frames might look best in your basement. Of course, that’s largely subjective. But it might give you a good point in the right direction! Are you going to have a hardwood floor in your basement, or carpet? Are you going to paint the walls or put wallpaper on them? Did you want to leave the brick exposed to create a more rustic look? If so, you should still be able to hang frames up. You just need to get a little creative.
Are there still appliances downstairs, such as the washing machine, furnace, dryer, etc.? They might shake or vibrate. This might have some impact on the walls of your basement, which would affect your frames. If that’s the case, you might want to get some extra security hardware, which you can buy from our “Accessories” page. This would help mitigate any issues that shaking appliances would have. We have hardware for both metal and wood frames, too, so you should be set regardless of the style frame you got from us.
Think About The General Theme Of The Basement
We said this before, but the exact contents of the basement are sort of… up in the air. In kitchens, you’d expect tables, chairs, cooking equipment, etc. Living rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, etc. all have certain things you just associate with them. Basements, however, are different — the wild card, so to speak. There are a few different basic themes a basement can be: a game room, a home gym, or a home movie theater-type room.
You would probably frame the walls of each type of room differently. If it’s a home theater or game room, you’ll probably want movie posters along the walls. We have some great tips on how to frame posters, and we’ve said this a bunch of times: our Ashford or Hanover frames are great for movie posters. They’d give your home theater a bit more of the cinema feel. In terms of home gyms, we’ve never really spoken about that before, but you likely want to frame some great motivational posters in that space or something like that. Why not use a frame that’s fit to carry weighty words? For this, our Stafford or Bradford would be best.
Of course, your basement might be a mixture of these things or none at all! So ultimately, do what you think would look best.
Framing From The Bottom Up
Basement remodelings are some of the trendiest home improvement projects. This is because people are viewing the bottommost rooms of homes a bit differently. No longer are they just large and dark utility closets. Instead, they’re places with an appeal and character all their own. Naturally, to make your own basement look more part of the home, you’ll want to put frames on the walls. Just be sure to consider these things:
- Think about whether your basement is above or below ground, as that can have an impact on lighting, which can impact your frames.
- Think about what’s in your basement, what the walls are made of, and if any appliances are down there.
- Think about the general theme of your basement. Is it a game room? Movie theater? Home gym, or something else?
If you got inspired by any of our tips and used them in decorating your basement, be sure to share photos with us on Instagram so we can see what you came up with!
