Tips on How to Make an Ugly Basement Cute on a Low Budget

Paint the walls with a fresh coat of paint in a bright, vibrant color. For most small basements, a gallon or two of paint is all you will need. If you aren’t sure what color you want to paint the basement, consider going to a paint or hardware store to see what is on sale to try and save money. Many paint and hardware stores have closeout prices on premixed colors that were incorrectly mixed -- but are still usable -- or paint that was premixed and simply didn’t sell.

Hide the clutter and small items in decorative storage boxes on stand-alone shelves instead of on the floor in plain cardboard boxes. Getting your stuff off the floor will help to open up the room and give it a better sense of style. If you don’t like the look of the shelving, cover it with a movable decorative screen.

Replace basic window treatments with more fashionable ones. If you have large windows, floor-to-ceiling curtains can give the room a more elegant look, even if you have half windows. For a more casual, contemporary look, use nonpleated half curtains, Roman shades, vertical blinds or shutters. Many fabric stores have low prices on certain types of fabric sporadically, so check with a local fabric store to keep the price of changing your window treatments down.

Put a decorative rug on the floor to cover up an unfinished or scuffed floor and to tie any pieces of furniture in the room to the paint color and window treatments. You can use one large rug in a smaller space or mix and match several rugs if your basement has a lot of square footage. Avoid rugs with large prints in a smaller basement, as the print will make the room look smaller than it really is.