Creative Basement Ideas?

Did you want to close it off completely or simply mask it from the rest of the areas?

You could certainly do some sort of curtain or drapery facade to it...even using drapery rods to make it appear as a window. It all really depends on where it is located in the room, if this is temporary, just something to hide for the moment, just a cheap way to build an enclosure for it.
You could find milk crates and adhesive them together, spray paint them some color you enjoy, put them on hinges and make a wall where you could store folded laundry items. Okay..so thats over the top but, you know..its cheap.

Welcome to A2K by the way-Im pulling your leg about the milkcrates but, hoping to make a point as well.

Need more info, really

Creative Basement Ideas?
I really just need something to mask those areas. This is me and my wife's first house, so we don't plan on being there very long and I'm not sure I will even bother finishing this basement, but I would like to make it somewhat liveable. Didn't know if anyone had heard or seen some cool inexpensive ideas?

Thanks.

What about a screen to hide the laundry area?

So, you plan on being there for a couple of years but, not permanently so resale must also be kept in mind...Im thinking more of a temporary masking off of the area then.
Draperies, simple fabric treatments could help, or perhaps a folding screen. Thats all I can come up with without knowing more, etc etc.
Cheap is fine, we all like cheap but, do you mean really cheap, as cheap as possible or would you be willing to say purchase a piece of furniture you could use to block the view of the area?
Also, you say you dont want to rebuild the area but, would you be willing to build an enclosure?

You could buy those cheap hollow core doors and hinge them together to make a screen.

They're cheap, light weight and thick enough to be sturdy. You can paint them, paper them, let the kids scribble all over them - whatever. You can even buy some chalkboard paint and make big boards out of them.

Great ideas.

bauermtm

I don't know what climate you're in, but laying (gluing or laying peel off paper tiles) vinyl tile on a cement floor is very inexpensive. But it does make your feet cold if you're sitting around. Be sure to vacuum and vacuum to eliminate horrid little bumps. Oh, be sure to chalk a + on the floor starting in the middle to insure a professional look and staight lines.

If you want the ceiling finshed and have a head room problem, you might do what I did. Paint or stain 1 X 3's and nail them along the bottom of the joists with an equal amount extending. Not across the joists, but along them. the strips are 2 1/2" wide. the joists are 1 1/2" wide. From the end ikt would look like an upside down "T" So the strips provide a 1" "bracket" to hold any material such as celotex.

Here are a few fun ideas I can think of and have used personally...
1. For the ceiling: You can buy sheet metal and nail it to the unfinished boards. It creates fun lighting and a silver glow and it's really cheap. Also it makes it so that you can access anything that's up there such as cables, pipes, etc.
2. You can paint the concrete walls a tan or neutral color to creat a warmer feel instead of basement feel!
3. We have a ping poing table (not pool table) but we set that up in an area and bought a small pub height table from Target for cocktails to sit on, and bought a few extra bar stools to sit at as well!
4. we also have a desk and computer in an area and bought 2 of those folding walls with picture frames in them to enclose a little area.
5. Lastly to close off laundry room (our specific problem as well). Getting fun tapestry or curtains is what we did. It's not fabulous but totally does that trick!

I hope you like any of these ideas
Good Luck!

Just what I was going to say. Either a couple of three way screens, or, probably better, a sturdy self supporting shoji type screen, which is fairly easy to make with a bit of lumber and either white plexiglas (expensive) or some sturdy material of your choice, even tapestry type.

My husband and I just ran into the same problem, we purchased our 1st home a month ago and the basement is unfinished. We wanted to finish the basemnet but it is toooo expensive now. We went to home depot and purchased the cheapest paneling we could find( about $5.64 ea) and we used double sided velcro strips(uses the heavy duty kind) and we made walls. We are in the process of painting the wall white to brighten the area. We haven't finished it yet but so far we love it . We are thinking of using those interlocking foam squares for our flooring.----Hope this helps

I am a novice on home improvement stuff. I recently bought a condo with unfinished basement. As most of you said here, it is very expensive to finish it. I have pool table, exercise machines down there. Boiler and all are in basement. Can someone please shower idea? appreciate it.

The basement is the perfect spot to ditch the traditional and create a unique space for you and your family to enjoy. An original basement design will make a trip downstairs feel like a respite from the stresses of everyday life.