Converting your basement is a great way of expanding your living spaces, particularly if you are running a family home and you know that your cellar has loads of potential. Converting the basement is just like having a converted loft in terms of the space it creates, although social areas and practical areas are easier to bring off with this sort of work than extra bedrooms.

Design experts are good at finding ways to get natural light into converted basements, but they often need help from your own interior décor. It’s best to paint the walls white or a shade of off-white so that light reflects around the rooms downstairs more readily. However, you can brighten the space even more by introducing colourful rugs.

Lots of designer rugs, from the traditional to the modern, make very intelligent use of colour and pattern. The bigger the better in converted loft spaces because you really want that colour to make an impression and for its brightness and boldness to be felt. Rugs are also ideal in these downstairs spaces because they allow to make an impression without limiting floor space and without using up wall space in a way that might darken the atmosphere.