44 Basement Ceiling Ideas

Check out 44 basement ceiling ideas including exposed basement ceilings, plank basement ceilings, wood beam basement ceilings, and more!

Many of you followed along with the small basement renovation last year at our third fixer-upper. The basement was the last space to be renovated before we put the house on the market.

It was approximately 600 sq ft, and already included a walkout door.

The home was from the 1960s and the ceiling was not very high although passable by code. In order to make the basement feel bigger as well as limit extra costs, we designed an open-concept ceiling which meant leaving the joists exposed.

Here is the ceiling before.

Here we have removed all of the insulation, and the staples from the joists and consolidated the electric.

Determining how to finish the ceiling of any basement remodel can be challenging, so I compiled a list of 44 ideas to finish a basement ceiling broken down into 7 categories.

1. Exposed Basement Ceilings
2. Plank Basement Ceilings
3. Metal Basement Ceilings
4. Decorative Tile Basement Ceilings
5. Drop Basement Ceilings
6. Coffered Basement Ceilings
7. Wood Beam Basement Ceilings

For more basement ideas be sure to check out:

Basement Ceiling Ideas

1. Exposed Ceiling

More often than not an exposed basement ceiling will entail wooden floor joists, but depending on the construction it could involve metal rafters or beams as well.

Consider whether you will leave the materials naturally exposed or cover them with paint.

The darker the paint the smaller a room will feel as it visually lowers the ceiling.

White paint will tend to make a room feel bigger.

I would not paint a ceiling dark if you have an overall height that is less than 9 feet.

Basement Ceiling Ideas

2. Plank Ceiling

Plank ceilings typically involve tongue and groove boards of some sort that could be made of wood, PVC, mdf board, etc.

They can stand alone or be accented with wood beams.

Basement Ceiling Ideas

3. Metal Ceiling

For a more modern industrial look consider a metal ceiling. For a cheap option find a scrap yard and repupose discarded metal sheets.

Basement Ceiling Ideas

4. Decoractive Tile Ceiling

Decorative tiles can be bought at many hardware stores and are typically glued to the ceiling.

They can resemble pressed tin or embossed ceramic tile.

Some can be painted over. Others resemble metal or stone.

Basement Ceiling Ideas

5. Drop Ceiling

The cheapest and simplest ceiling solution other than leaving a ceiling exposed.

The advantage to a drop ceiling is not having to mess with any of the exposed electric.

Basement Ceiling Ideas

6. Coffered Ceiling

A coffered ceiling is referring to the beams installed in a box formation over the ceiling.

Basement Ceiling Ideas

7. Wood Beam Ceiling

The wood beams can be installed over any existing ceiling – plans, drywall, tiles, etc.

The beams could be solid wood or faux construction.

I hope you enjoyed this gallery of inspiration and maybe even found just the right idea to finish your basement ceiling.

Need extra ceiling ideas? Check out 15 Ceiling Types For Your Basement from my friends at Happy DIY Home!

For more basement inspiration be sure to check out:

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