How to Prepare Your Basement for the Holidays

If you plan on hosting large gatherings this holiday season, you’ll want to utilize as much space in your home as possible. As you scramble to open up your living room, kitchen, dining room, etc., don’t count out your basement. Even a partially finished basement can provide plenty of extra space for guests, whether they’re spending the night or just enjoying the day. Here’s how to better prepare your basement for holiday entertainment this year and beyond.
How to Prepare a Basement for the Holiday's
Keep Your Basement Well-Sealed
It’s important to tackle the most practical matters first. Because basements are located underground, they’re highly susceptible to a slew of environmental threats, including moisture intrusion, thermal shock, pests, and more, especially during winter. Snow and ice can gradually melt into your home’s foundation, insects and rodents may seek warmth and shelter in your basement, and temperatures can drop significantly -- all of these problems are more likely to occur if your basement is riddled with cracks, holes, and other kinds of openings. In order to provide a warm, dry, insulated holiday haven for friends and family, you’ll need to thoroughly locate and seal any and all basement breaches. Moreover, implement the necessary interior basement waterproofing coating solutions to ensure that moisture doesn’t make its way into your cellar.
Apply Fresh Coats of Paint to Your Basement Walls
After you’ve secured your basement from external threats, you can start thinking about its aesthetics. If the existing paint on your basement walls is peeling or chipping away, the upcoming holidays provide a perfect excuse to tackle interior painting. Fresh coatings won’t just make your basement look more vibrant and modern -- they’ll also provide further protection from impact, abrasions, and other types of damage. If you’re committed to turning your basement into a holiday-themed getaway, consider incorporating interior paint colors that suit this spirit, such as whites, greens, reds, beiges, browns, etc.
Brighten up Your Basement with Vivid Lighting
Even if your basement receives some amount of natural light from high up its walls, it's bound to be inherently darker than other areas in your home. As such, intentional lighting is a crucial component of a holiday-ready basement. If possible, experiment with different types of lights (e.g., coverage, tint, brightness, source, etc.) before deciding what’s best for your basement. After all, different lighting scenarios can result in vastly different visual outcomes in any room. Once you’ve got a grip on your basement’s standard lighting configuration, you can get festive by adding holiday-themed lights as well, such as white-yellow string lights.
Refinish Your Basement Floors
No basement is truly complete without sturdy, beautiful floors. And if you wish to impress holiday guests this season, applying the right basement floor paint or coating can seal the deal. There is no shortage of basement floor coating options, and the best one for you will depend on multiple factors. If your basement floors are built from concrete, we at Anderson Painting recommend Penntek polyurea coatings for their durability, visual variety, slip resistance, and quick installation.
Set Up a Stellar Cellar Celebration this Holiday Season
Your basement is filled with hidden potential, and it might just be the perfect room to host a holiday party to remember. Let the experts at Anderson Painting help you get your basement ready with our various services, including interior painting, floor coatings, popcorn ceiling removal, and so much more. To learn more about us and all we do, call today at 919-610-1855 or email us at info@andersonpaintingnc.com!