When it comes to first time buyers who live in cities, basement flats offer a very good prospect. They are more affordable than a lot of other housing stock, come with their own front doors (rather than a communal entrance and then your door) and often, exclusive garden access. However, the reason for their affordability is linked to their less desirable qualities: a lack of natural light and lower ceiling heights, alongside a fairly common propensity for damp, simply due to their somewhat subterranean nature. However, all these things can be tackled with the right decoration choices.
Alice Bettington and Ellen Cumber, who run Golden Design and recently added an incredible basement suite to a Georgian house in south-east London, are full of sage advice when it comes to basement flats. “Rather than trying to fight against these limitations, we prefer to embrace them and think about basement spaces as being cosy and enveloping and designing the layout and decorating the space accordingly,” they explain.
Colours
Colour is a key consideration in a basement flat as it reacts so much to the light a room receives and can truly set the mood. Given the lower light levels of such properties, Alice and Ellen advise “avoiding cool colours or bright whites and instead using warm mid-tones that give a cocooning feel”. Such colours would be warm neutrals (think buttery, creamy tones and the modern take on magnolia), yellows and pinks. Counterintuitively, a bright white wall “won’t make the space feel lighter, it will make it feel clinical,” so steer well clear and look for warm undertones in your favourite shades.
To up the ante when it comes to a cocooning feel, consider colour drenching your rooms. The added benefit, as Tash Bradley of Lick explains, is that “it is a brilliant way to make a room feel more expansive. It removes harsh visual breaks, helps the eye travel effortlessly across the space, making it feel larger and more unified.” Another clever paint trick that stops a room feeling cramped lies in your ceiling colour choice. “A bright white on the ceiling will make the walls look darker,” says Joa Studholme, “as well as making you more aware of where the walls end and the ceiling begins; this makes it look like the ceiling height is lower.” Her advice is either to colour drench the room, or, if that's not for you, use a complementary white (something with the same base colour as the walls) on the ceiling instead.
Light and layout
When it comes to layout, there are some things worth considering for basement flats. Naturally, some rooms aren't going to get as much light, especially if windows and doors are only at the front and back of a property. “Definitely think about whether there are any spaces that really don’t require much natural light to function well and consider putting these rooms in the darkest parts of the flat,” say Ellen and Alice. Rooms such as a utility room (if you have space) won't miss having windows as you don't spend much time there, similarly with a spare, small loo. The latter can be wallpapered in something super fun to make it more appealing anyway.
“If you’re in a smaller flat and have a bathroom or bedroom that doesn’t have any windows," they continue "consider adding some high level glazing to these rooms to allow some natural light to filter through while still maintaining privacy.” A last consideration (and a very smart one) is to put fanlights above doors so that light can filter from the front and back rooms into the middle of the flat.
When it comes to artificial lights, Alice and Ellen recommend that you “shy away from overhead lighting and instead use mostly lamps and wall lights”. This is exactly what interior designer Thea Speke did in her own basement flat, where wall lights – with a gently curved arm – lead you down the hallway, giving the feeling that you’re in a wonderfully cocooning space rather than a basement.
Window treatments
Window dressing is important no matter what house you live in if it faces onto a busy street as they provide all important privacy, but where basements are below ground level and more prone to prying eyes, this can step up a notch. If your flat is closer to street level, then Ellen and Alice advise using café curtains as “these look charming, add to the cosy vibe inside but still allow plenty of light to shine through”. However, “if you are well below ground level, sheer pelmets could help to prevent people looking down into your space from the pavement above”. This doesn't mean losing out on a using a favourite fabric though.“You can also have sheer roller blinds fitted behind your fabric blinds. The top of the roller blind can be hidden behind the fabric blind header – so it’s not unsightly and really allows both privacy and light”.
Flooring
One thing that may not seem obvious is that basement flats can be a little colder than others as your floor is built right on top of cold earth. This means that what you put on the floor can have a big impact not only on your comfort, but your heating bills too. “Carpet (with a nice thick underlay) and timber will be much nicer underfoot than tiles,” explain Alice and Ellen. However, “if you are having tiles (for example in a bathroom) definitely consider underfloor heating or you might feel pretty sad in the winter months”. In her basement flat, Thea chose timber and then sisal carpet for the bedroom, as well as layering a jute rug over the timber in the living room for an added layer of cosiness. This layering is definitely something to consider regardless of what flooring you choose, as it will keep everything feeling warm.
Damp concerns
Rest assured that not all basements will have a damp issue, and it's something that a survey can easily confirm if you are buying rather than renting. Still, given that they are generally more prone to this classic British problem, there are some considerations to make when decorating. “I probably wouldn’t rush to line walls in fabric,” says Alice, who instead notes that “using natural, breathable paint is always a good idea (such as Edward Bulmer's lovely range). Don’t render your exterior walls unnecessarily – bricks and mortar breathe, releasing moisture naturally over time and some renders can mess with this process. If you do want to render, make sure that it’s breathable.”
Beyond that, you are free to decorate as your whims should take you but just “make sure you have proper ventilation and don’t leave any rooms totally unheated in the winter” to ensure a happy, healthy, damp-free flat.
