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A basement is a larger room at the lower level of a house, often spanning what would be multiple rooms above. The basement may or may not be finished, with exposed ceiling items and walls, or could be a fully finished basement just like a regular room. The basement often features lower ceilings due to having to conceal pipework etc, and may not have been originally designed for maximum comfort. But a basement conversion could make the most of the space.

The basement can lend itself to extra family activities such as play areas, exercise spaces, entertainment or media rooms, extra bathrooms and guest areas. The basement is also often used for extra storage space - a place to keep bulky and less-often used items, as an overflow from the main house.

The Lighting you'll need in a Basement

The basement features comfortable seating areas, storage units, open play areas, shelving, practical furniture and entertainment options. The basement might not be used as often as the main rooms of the home, but when it is it should be efficient and comfortable. Typically there are areas for walking around, for accessing items and for sitting. Adapting your lighting choices to how people will use the room is important.

Overhead ceiling lights are important for lighting up a larger room. Leave enough headroom in the areas where people will be walking, so that they can walk underneath the light fixtures. Chandeliers and pendants are much less likely to work unless placed over low furniture.
Semi-flush or flush-mounted lights work well close to the ceiling and also leave plenty of headroom for walking underneath. The lower ceilings of a basement may call for flush-mount lighting only.
Recessed "pot" lights can be used for a very minimalist look, recessed into the ceiling. They take up no room height and shine downwards, but you'll need several to light a basement. Since the basement ceilings might be low, these can be an ideal way to light the space.
Wall sconces are a good option at the sides of the basement, especially near doors or behind seating areas, to add extra ambience. They complement the main light fixtures or could be used independently for a more relaxed mood.
Portable lamps such as table lamps, floor lamps and reading lamps place light at an ideal height for sitting, reading and relaxing. Ideal next to or behind seating areas, they can help to create a comfortable space and can be easily repositioned.
Use a desk lamp if you have a desk area, and consider buffet lamps if you have a narrow side table or buffet.
Add a ceiling fan to help with ventilation, heating and cooling. They can be placed over a seating area or in the center of the room and can double as a light fixture. Just make sure there is enough headroom for walking underneath if needed. "Ceiling-hugger" fans are available to minimize the amount of height taken up by the ceiling fan.
Accent lighting can be added. For example spot lights can shine focused light in a specific direction, to e.g. light up a piece of wall art or furniture. Accent lamps can add decorative touches of gentle light. And can lights can give an interesting upward-pointing light, mounted on the floor.

basement light fixtures

The use of Lighting in your Basement

The main function of your lighting should be to help people to see in the dark, especially in the evening and at night. Basements can tend to be dark with far fewer windows, so you'll need adequate lighting. You can add background lights, decorative lights and mood lighting but make sure you have a way to brightly light the room when needed and at all times of the day.

Also consider where in the room people will spend the most time and what they will be doing there. Will they be sitting in certain areas? Performing tasks? Moving around? Needing to read or write or work in detail? Will they be focusing on things close to themselves or at a distance? Reclining to enjoy entertainment?

Ambient Lighting is when the light is bright and spreads out in generally all directions, lighting up most of the room. Ambient light can also be background light. It is less focused and more diffused. Ceiling lights and wall lights can create ambient lighting.
Task Lighting is when the light is more focused into a smaller area, possibly aimed in its direction, and is used when performing tasks. Such as when reading a book or working on crafts, you'll need light fixtures or lamps nearby so that you can see what you're doing.
Accent Lighting comes from small accents of light generally in the background. This are the finishing touches such as small novelty lamps, can lights, spot lights, accent lamps and other decorative lighting. The amount of light output is usually less and limited to a smaller area.

basement exercise room lighting

Where to put Lighting in a Basement

Main Light Fixtures

A basement may be a larger area and require extra lighting. A single ceiling light may not be sufficient, so you might have to consider breaking the room up into sections like separate rectangles, with one light in the center of each. Centrally positioned lights will emit light in all directions and light up most of the room. Flush or semi flush mounted ceiling lights can be spaced out across the basement space to help light up the whole area. Recessed pot lights also work well but light a local area, so you'll have to distribute several across the room.

Secondary Light Fixtures

To complement the main light fixture and provide additional layers and levels of light, adding wall lights on side walls can be helpful. Wall sconces work well near to areas where you'll be walking, or behind seating areas.

Also consider floor lamps or torchieres, which usually give off brighter light than other types of lamps. These can be positioned in corners or ends of the room, or next to seating areas to light up dark spots. Since ceiling lights are less of an option in a basement, lamps can work well as portable lighting options which can be repositioned easily. Lamps also work well in a more relaxed environment.

Task Light Fixtures

Often in a basement you'll see table lamps, which work well positioned at the sides of a couch on chairside/end-tables. When a person sits next to them they can benefit from the local light to help with tasks such as reading. An alternative is a reading lamp, which is a type of floor lamp designed to help with reading.

If you have other small areas which occasionally need bright light, such as a desk, consider a desk lamp or a floor lamp nearby. Table lamps also work well at the sides of a room as more of a background light for a casual mood with less brightness.

Consider eyesight and glare

When placing lighting in a basement, remember that light comes from a light bulb in most cases. The light may or may not be covered in all directions. For example, sitting below an overhead light with a bulb that shines downward, if the light is high up near the ceiling it may shine into people's eyes who are sitting nearby.

Think about what direction the light will shine and what the line of sight will be. You might benefit from an overhead light when needed, but you may not want it shining in your face when reclining.

basement lighting ideas

How much Lighting does your Basement need?

The amount of light needed in a basement is usually at a medium level compared to other rooms. Also the size of the room and the natural lighting coming in through windows will affect the amount of light needed. If the basement has few windows you may need extra lighting.

Light is best measured in lumens, which is a measure of how much light reaches a surface at a given distance. In general it means "brightness" in a standardized way. You'll need to calculate an idea of how much light you want in the room, and then try to aim to achieve this across your light fixtures and lamps.

A general approach is as follows:

Measure the length and width of the room in feet..
Multiply the two numbers to get the "square feet".
Multiply the square feet by the amount of lumens needed per square foot for the room - for a basement this is 20-30 lumens per square foot.

For example in an 20 x 25 foot basement:

20 x 25 = 500 square feet.
500 x 20 = 10000 total lumens on the low end.
500 x 30 = 20000 lumens on the high end.

In terms of light bulbs: A single 60-watt incandescent light bulb outputs about 800 lumens. If you were using purely 60-watt bulbs, you'd need at least e.g. 10000 / 800 = 12.5 light bulbs minimally, up to 20000 / 800 = 26 bulbs maximally. So roughly 13 to 25 light bulbs at 60 watts each would be needed for a basement this size.

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