Many homeowners tend to neglect the basement bathroom because it’s just the “basement bathroom.” But if you think about your family’s happiness, as well as the functionality and value of your home, you’ll realize that it’s worth the extra effort to make your basement bathroom an elegant and comfortable space. In this guide written by Ben W., the bathroom contractor for iBathrooms, we’ll discuss the 8 best basement bathroom ideas to transform your basement bathroom.
Why Renovate Your Basement Bathroom?
You might be asking: Should I spend money renovating my basement bathroom? And several reasons may convince you to start the design process with an expert bathroom designer like the ones at iBathrooms. First, it’s about the quality of life for your household. Having an extra usable bathroom in the basement, especially if you have a family, is a huge lifesaver during the daily morning routine when everyone is clamouring for a shower or using the mirror.
Basement bathrooms have also been proven time and again to yield big returns when it comes time to sell your home. You put a lot of pride into other parts of your home, so why not the basement bathroom too?
Install Good Lighting
Because most basements are underground, bringing natural light into your basement bathroom can be challenging and costly. Sometimes, cutting through the concrete foundation to add an opening for a basement bathroom window may cost as much as an entire bathroom renovation.
With that in mind, there are a few alternatives to bring much-needed light into a basement bathroom. A well-lit basement bathroom will use a combination of colour-balanced LED pot lights, vanity lights of the same colour temperature, and an excellent choice in wall paint as well as floor and wall tiles. Once all of the above components come together, the result is as good as having a basement bathroom window without spending thousands of dollars in excavation and structural work.
Add an Elegant Shower
If the problem is that you don’t find your basement bathroom particularly useful, then adding an elegant basement shower might change everything. Adding a shower increases the value of the home and makes the bathroom more functional. Again, it takes the pressure off of the daily morning routine.
Alternatively, if your basement also has a guest bed or pull-out couch, your visitors will be living in the lap of luxury with access to their shower for enhanced comfort and privacy. Ask our designers for their finest bathroom shower ideas.
Cold Basement Floors and Heated Bathroom Floors
It’s not a secret that most of the basement floors are straight on the concrete slab and tend to be cold all year around. Adding a heated floor in your basement bathroom is one of the best ways to change the feel and function of the bathroom. There are so many benefits to adding a heating floor to your basement bathroom.
First, your new or renovated bathroom in the basement is the closest to your electrical panel compared to other floors of your house since most electrical panels are located in the basement of the home. So the electrical work to install a heated floor is the cheapest in the basement bathroom. Second, your floor is the coldest in the basement, so having it heated will be the most noticeable compared to other bathrooms in your home.
Use Natural Materials
Incorporating natural materials is an excellent way to elevate your basement bathroom. You can instantly add warmth to this space by using a combination of natural materials. Natural materials like granite and marble require more maintenance as compared to their alternatives. The good news is that there are many made-tiles and finished materials that resemble natural stone and wood. These options are also much more cost-effective and require less maintenance.
Use a stunning wood vanity and clay-inspired tiles to create an earthy look in your basement bathroom. You can also use porcelain floor tiles with a heavy wood grain look for that Nordic spa-like feel. The possibilities are endless.
Choose a Bright and Contemporary Style
If you want to get the most value out of your basement bathroom renovation, then you’ll choose a bright and contemporary design scheme. Not only will this make your bathroom look amazing and on-trend, but it will be a timeless look, and should prevent you from feeling the need to renovate the bathroom anytime again shortly.
Light, warm and soft colours are all usually preferable to something loud and dark. But of course, whatever style you want is what the experts at iBathrooms will deliver!
Install Vanity, Toilet, and Electrical Fixtures
Sometimes simply swapping out your electrical fixtures, a basement toilet, and a vanity can be enough to effectively hit the refresh button on your basement bathroom’s design. When everything looks updated and clean — your basement bathroom can truly shine.
And depending on how old the appliances and fixtures were, you may even be saving more money on utility bills by using a basement toilet that takes less water or installing pot lights that take high-efficiency, non-heat-emitting LED bulbs.
Add Trim
Your basement bathroom trim goes far beyond baseboards and casings. Trim can enhance the look, feel, and functionality of the bathroom. Adding things like shiplap, crown moulding, wall panelling, or finishing your ceiling in tung and grow panels can completely change the style of your bathroom.
Trim is also a much more affordable way to introduce a feature wall to a bathroom renovation compared to products like decorative stone or mosaic tiles.
Paint the Walls
Pretty much every homeowner knows how effective a fresh coat of paint can be when it comes to a home renovation. Simply changing the colour or brightening up the walls of your basement bathroom can make the space look bigger, newer, and cleaner.
Because basement bathrooms are always so full of moisture, a lot of dust, dirt, and grime can build up over the years, and that’s why a fresh coat of paint every so often is highly advisable, no matter how nice your basement bathroom is, to begin with.
Contact Us
Are you thinking of renovating your basement bathroom? Then you’ve come to the right place. Transforming your basement bathroom will not only add quality to your life but also improves your home’s value. But finding the right bathroom contractor can be a difficult task. We understand bathrooms because we specialize in bathrooms only – that’s why we make the process easy and straightforward at iBathrooms. See what others have said about working with the iBathrooms team. (link to reviews)
iBathrooms provides a full-service bathroom renovation that includes basement bathrooms. Bathroom design is not for everyone, but if you are looking for a clean, simple, straightforward approach to design and execution, you will be the right fit for our bathroom renovation process. Contact iBathrooms for more details.