Maryland Bright Basement Work Space Decorating Ideas

Hardworking office and crafts haven with bright colors, DIY touches, and tons of storage.


Sunny Style
Unlike some basements, this space is blessed with an abundance of sunlight. That makes this spacious corner the perfect space for a home office/crafting studio. The homeowners used countertops and cabinets to create an L-shape configuration that allows multiple workstations.

Savvy Storage
To keep clutter at bay, the homeowner/designer mounted rods on the wall. Now her favorite supplies are out of drawers and off of surfaces yet still within easy reach. Baskets, bins, canisters, and magnetic strips provide perfect homes for ribbons, stamps, paper punches, embellishments, beads, and other art essentials.


Clear Solution
These canisters are meant for the kitchen, but the homeowner/designer uses them to stash art supplies. Clear storage makes it easy for her to see and grab whatever she needs in an instant.


Light Bright
The homeowner/designer wanted to take advantage of the sunlight streaming in through the basement windows. But she didn't want to sacrifice privacy. So she had a plastics store cut these 12-inch panels of plexiglass and drill holes into the top and bottom of each piece. For color and fun, she affixed vellum and scrapbook paper to the back of each piece. Finally, she connected the panels with binder rings to create this completely unique window treatment.

Color Cues
Mixing and matching vibrant color comes naturally to the homeowner/designer. For her work space, she chose a palette designed to inspire creativity. Two bright shades of orange coat the far wall panels, while lime green accentuates the adjacent wall.


Orange Blossom
Mod, graphic flowers bring the palette to life. The homeowner/designer first hand-drew the floral design on a transparency sheet, then used a projector to enlarge the image onto the wall. She drew the design on the wall in pencil, then covered it in a coat of light orange.

Barstool Style
To dress up plain stools, the homeowner/designer sewed custom skirts. She used fabric that complements her decor, then added ribbons to hold the slipcovers in place.

Cabinet Creativity
These storage units looked awfully plain before the homeowner/designer got her hands on them. First, she and her husband found three unfinished wood cabinets. They added molding to give the pieces architectural interest, then painted them in their favorite orange hues. She used frosted window film to create the diamond designs on the glass cabinet doors. Pretty curtains suspended from tension rods give the cabinets a soft look.

Store More
Picking up on the floral theme from her DIY window treatment, the homeowner/designer used scrapbook papers to perk up plain white magazine files. Now the storage pieces look like they were created just for this space.


It's A Wrap
It couldn't get much simpler. Dowel rods suspended from inexpensive curtain hardware allows easy access to wrapping and crafts papers. She painted the dowels blue to align them with her color palette.


Clean Sweep
The homeowners chose easy-to-clean vinyl flooring for their work space. It resists scratches and scuffs, and it wipes up in a jiffy if paint happens to spill. The natural, woven-look pattern provides a subtle way to ground the bright wall colors.