Inspiration Tuesday: Basement Thoughts

This viewing room was designed by Windsor Smith.  And because I have basement brain, it's inspiring me to think of colors for the basement. We're considering leaving the floor joists exposed, instead of drywalling the ceiling. They're not as high as the ones in this picture, but they are about seven feet up there, so there's plenty of clearance. We've even talked about installing lights similar to these to direct the light down out of the joists.

I'm not typically a fan of red and tan together, although I think this room pulls it off quite well. I know that I definitely want to do really warm tones in the basement though, because of the fact that it is a basement. And even though we're putting drywall over the cinder block and we'll be using lots of really thick, plush rugs,  it's still a basement, so I want to make it as visually warm and cozy as I can.

I like the idea of using an old trunk or something else different for a coffee table/foot rest. The basement will be our hang out room, game room and TV room all in one, so we're going to want somewhere to put our feet up.

We've decided to find the perfect rug first, then pick out other stuff like couches, paint colors, etc.  We've done the opposite in our living room, and we've discovered that 1)we're really picky about rugs, 2)our tastes vary greatly and 3)it's really hard to find a rug after the fact.

So that's where we are with the basement. We're doing funky colors in the laundry area, classic colors in the bathroom, and warm cozy colors in the great room. And somehow I will figure out how to tie it all together. :-)