TO FINISH OR NOT THE FINISH: THE BASEMENT DILEMMA

Ah, the basement. For some of us it's merely a place of storage, where creatures, holiday decorations, and our ski gear from the 1980's live. It may never be anything more than this. For others, however, the basement may be brimming with potential. A home office, a recreation room, a pseudo apartment for your teenage son (and his affinity for heavy metal music). There is a plethora of reasons to take your basement to a whole new level, at least metaphorically speaking.

A Finished Basement Increases the Value of Your House: Sure, some of you plan to never leave your house: you will live there forever. Others, however, may see a house as a temporary abode or investment property. And, of course, there are those who plan to stay forever, but life - in the form of a job transfer or financial struggles - gets in the way. Plainly put, you may end up selling even when you don't plan on it. Planned or not, a house with a finished basement will sell easier and sell for more money.

An Unfinished Basement Can Start to Resemble the City Dump: No offense to unfinished basements, but most of the ones I know and love are cluttered, messy, and a waste of potentially good space. Unfinished basements are places where old belongings tend to flock: one by one cardboard boxes, Halloween costumes, and camping gear march down the stairs and into their homes. Storage has a way of accumulating.. That is, until you put a stop to it. There is no need to keep everything you've ever owned in your basement: clean it out, and donate to charity, or have a garage sale.

A Finished Basement Discourages Critters: It might not be filled with lions and tigers and bears, but an unfinished basement filled with spiders, roaches, and mice is enough to drive you up the wall. There is just something about a cool, dark place that critters find appealing. A basement that is finished, however, and filled with carpet, lights, and traffic, won't be as welcoming as one that is desolate. A finished basement is like an eviction notice for any creatures lurking in the shadows: they'll get the hint and pack their bags.

A Finished Basement Gives you a Place to Go: Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and sometimes you want to go where you can have some personal time. A finished basement is perfect for the latter. Everyone could use a little time to themselves, time to relax, reflect, or just engage in an old fashioned nap. Other rooms in the house, such as the living room or den, or often loud, well lit, and populated; basements, however, are generally quite and peaceful.

A Finished Basement Helps You Keep Your Kid's Near and Dear: Children, particularly those in their teens, often prefer to spend time away from home: mom and dad's house, after all, is "like so uncool." This is, however, unless there is an awesome recreation room or game room in the basement. A finished basement filled with a ping pong table, video game consoles, and an entertainment system is an ideal way to encourage your kids to have friends over, instead of vice versa. This helps you worry less by allowing you to keep your kids under your roof…and under your nose.