lime Improvement
From Dreary To
Transform your basement with a new ceiling.
L
ooking to add more living space to
your home? Try the basement! With
a little imagination, you can turn your
unfinished basement into a home theatre,
a family room, a playroom, a man cave —
even a bedroom. There are many different
basement design ideas to choose from. Find
the one that matches your lifestyle and then
begin planning your dream space.
One of the design elements you'll need
to consider for your new basement is the
ceiling. A ceiling helps to create the look
and feel of a real room — and it covers up
exposed floor joists, wiring and ductwork.
Steve Watson of Stamford, Conn.,-based
Steve Watson Design says, "The ceiling in a
basement is probably more important than
a ceiling in any other room of the house
because of its height. A finished ceiling in
a basement makes the space a room. You
tend to notice the ceilings in basements
more because they're typically lower."
BASEMENT CEILING DESIGN IDEAS
Armstrong Residential Ceilings has a variety
of decorative ceilings to help you take your
basement from dreary to dreamy. If you're
looking for something a little bit different,
Armstrong's easy-to-install 12" x 12" Tin Look
tiles are for you. With detailed historical pat-
terns, Tin Look is an eye-catching basement
ceiling that creates a cozy, vintage feel.
Another basement finishing idea is Easy
Elegance coffered ceilings. This ceiling type
offers the classic coffered ceiling look but at
a fraction of the cost of custom work. You
can even install Easy Elegance yourself. The
panels are made of rigid PVC and fit into a
standard drop ceiling grid.
"Typically in basements you are closing
off ductwork and other mechanical items for
a more finished look so those obstructions
seem to fade away," says Watson. "Consider
a multi-level ceiling and then accent it with
color or faux exposed beams depending on
the height to give it that ultimate designer
touch. Keep the ceiling color off-white or
lighter than the walls so the space does not
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Floor Space Magazine •
November 2013
Easy Elegance Coffered ceiling by Armstrong.
feel like it is closing in on you."
Of course, drop ceilings are still a popular
choice for the basement, but they're not the
"office-type" drop ceilings you might expect.
Today's drop ceilings come in stylish 2'x 2'
panels with textured or smooth visuals and
edge treatments.
CEILING PANELS RESIST MOLD, MILDEW
Another reason to choose a decorative ceil-
ing is performance. Many ceiling products
can do more than look pretty — they actu-
ally help improve the comfort of the space.
Many of the products help reduce sound
and resist mold and mildew. Unlike a typical
drywall ceiling, Armstrong ceiling products
can actually help improve the comfort of
your basement.
"For mold and mildew resistance, look
for drop ceiling panels enhanced with Bio-
Block," says Lori Rowley, marketing manager,
Armstrong Residential Ceilings. "This is an
anti-microbial treatment that inhibits the
growth of mold and mildew and other types
of bacteria, which is ideal for basements."
If you want to create a "green" basement,
most of Armstrong's ceiling products contain
at least 24 percent recycled materials and
some as much as 95 percent.
You can find Armstrong ceilings at home
improvement retailers throughout the
United States and Canada. For more infor-
mation, call (800) 233-3823 or visit www.
armstrong.com .
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Courtesy of Home Improvement News and
Information