ᐅ House with or without a basement

When we were looking for a plot of land, it was always clear to us: we would build without a basement... And then we found a sloped plot... Well, that’s how having a basement just made sense. Raising the ground level would have been almost as expensive. :o At least if done the way we wanted it. So now we have a half basement where an office can be set up later (currently used as a bike storage) and a large wellness area with a sauna. 😀 (whenever it finally gets finished). But nowadays, having a basement is simply not a must anymore.

We consciously decided against having a basement. We took an inventory of our current basement in our existing house and found the following: Many items were unnecessarily moved twice and will be discarded. The laundry area will be relocated to the upper floor anyway. Then there was a sofa, which will go into the children’s room. The refrigerator will be placed in the utility room, shoes will go into the wardrobe, bicycles into the garage, and the collection of folders into my wife’s office. This left us with a virtually empty room—and since the living area will increase from just under 95 square meters (1,023 square feet) to 176 square meters (1,895 square feet), there will also be more space available. Additionally, some sealed plastic containers will be stored in the attic, where about 15 square meters (160 square feet) are reserved for storage.

We definitely wanted a basement as well. After we found out the price, we visited several people’s basements... Now there is no heating etc., it’s in the large garage, the laundry room is upstairs, and storage is in the room above the garage. And even there, I could imagine doing without it. I’m very strict about accumulating stuff and regularly sell things on eBay. Unfortunately, my husband thinks differently :-) Garden tools in the basement? I find that impractical.

We don't have a basement either. If I had the money for it, I would rather invest it in a nice conservatory, as you get more use out of that.

And music room, guest room, large office, hobby room also in the garden? 😀 Don’t get me wrong, but some people actually use the basement as living space, with daylight windows and underfloor heating throughout. For garden tools, an extension to the garage works 😉 We love our basement and definitely don’t just store stuff there; in addition to a utility room and a storage room, we have real living spaces... would never want to do without it.

Conservatories... weren’t they really trendy back in the 90s? 🙂 I personally find those glass extensions on house facades awful. But it just shows how much taste and practicality can differ, and that’s actually a good thing.