If your basement remodeling project lincludes the family room you've dreamed of, don't let the long wait limit your plans to past dreams. Plan for the future: Families and family rooms change.
A family room 20 years ago, for instance, probably included comfortable seating and a TV set, but little else. The family room of today serves a number of roles—it's not just a place to watch TV. It now houses a whole wall of media modules, counters, tables, and desks for hobby or office activity, even space for exercise equipment.
Follow these tips to make your family room practical, comfortable, and enjoyable:

basement development

1. Decorate it with brightly colored furniture and accents that reflect your personality.
2. Open the room to light with a south-facing window, but protect it from direct sunlight or glare with window coverings.

1. Arrange seating so it's comfortable-make conversation groupings at least 10 feet square, with no more than 8 feet between any two people. Place seating for television viewing no farther than 10 tt 12 feet from the screen and at an angle с 45 degrees or less from it.
2. Provide tables and countertops for games, hobbies, and snacking.
3. Install a kitchenette for casual food-preparation—an apartment-size sink, refrigerator, and counter will do the job.
4. Build in cabinetry that will display— or hide—your media equipment. Mix opa shelving with drawer units and storage protected by doors.
5. Plan electrical wiring for the future. W the room with enough outlets, and install special circuits for any equipment that needs them. Run cable and computer wir in walls when possible.
6. Creating just the right space for children's activities calls for balancing the size of the space, access for supervision, and sound control—for both the noise the children make and outside sounds that can wake them.

basement renos

If your children are young, you'll want convenient access so you can supervise them; a first-floor bonus room might be a better location than a basement room. Basements, however, can be ideal for older kids. The low ceilings, high windows, and structural supports associated with basement construction are of little concern to youngsters. The solid floors and walls will take a lot of abuse, and it's easy to control basement noise. Keep these points in mind:

1. Make sure the floor area—their playground— is spacious and uncluttered and that you can alter it as the children grow.
2. Use a space-saving bunk or trundle bed and add storage for books, games, and all of the other things kids collect. Bins on casters make cleanup easy.
3. Build a table or child's work surface for drawing and painting.
4. Install flooring material that can take abuse. Resilients are a good choice, along with laminate and engineered wood products.