apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

It's such a personal decision and you may not know how you react to the lack of light until you are in there -- and then it might be too late. I lived in a ground floor apt. in Brooklyn for 4 years. I was hesitant but moved in because it had a garden and outdoor space was also important to me. The apt. was perfectly fine and the location was excellent -- but I HATED having to have a light on ALL THE TIME. Having a garden did not compensate for me. I would never ever again live in a place without natural light. I learned from living there. Once I moved out, I felt so different waking up to sunlight and having a view. The only advise I would give is that if you are the least bit hesitant and have an inkling that you might be bothered by the lack of natural light, don't do it. Something else will always turn up. Good luck.

i do live in a basement apartment, and have done so for more than five years now. you can do a lot to avoid it looking gloomy - but what you really have to do is to understand that it will have less natural light than a top-floor apartment.

my place has its big plusses (neighborhood, the room layout) - fr me they do outweigh the light situation. and i do try to get out of the house and into the sunshine :-D

A lot of upward casting lights and a white ceiling will help disperse light throughout a room. Mirrors can help "fake" a window too if sized/shaped like an actual nearby window - and reflect/double any actual natural light that you do get.

I once had a bedroom with no natural light so I constructed a lightbox from a big old window I found on the street. I lined the glass with pieces of vellum to make it opaque, and had it light up with full-spectrum fluorescents a couple feet behind it (I actually installed it in the top of a closet.) I put the lights on a timer that went off each morning to help me wake up, but could turn it on whenever.

I had a friend with a sunny basement apartment in Boston. It was kind of amazing really. You never know. I live in a street level, south facing breadbox. The light only fills the main living area. I got used to it, but dearly miss living on a top floor with windows facing east and west.

You need to see the space and consider the direction the windows face and any buildings or obstructions.

Very sensible advice. Also keep in mind that if you're working you're usually out most of the day anyway.

as mentioned above, it's a totally personal decision. for me, natural light is very important, and I am willing to sacrifice space/location for it. especially in the NE where you spend a decent amount of time indoors b/c of the weather.

Personally, I think basements should be left to storage. However, I have seen some ground floor/basement apartments that look pretty decent. I think that the larger the windows, the nicer the place. I'd also prefer a basement unit with taller than average ceilings, which could combat some of the cave feeling you can get from being below ground. But, if you don't like things being dim some of the time, it probably won't work for you.

If you love the way the apartment looks otherwise though, I'd probably go for it. I've definitely seen some nice basement spaces, so it's all about what you do with what you have!

I live in a basement (garden level) apartment right now and the bigger problem for me than lights is bugs! I'm not sure how much you care about that, but I have had more creepy crawly "basement" bugs than anywhere else I've ever lived. I clean regularly and they are not because of my own dirt (aka ants or fruit flies) but are just a product of living in a basement. Something else to think about when looking for apartments.

I agree with BB. One of the reasons I am moving out of my current apt is that it faces three buildings and gets very little natural light. We have to have lights on ALL the time. I should have known better, but when I was looking we didn't come to see it in the day (only evening) and even though I asked, I really should have seen it during the day. Something else *will* turn up as long as you are able to wait. Good luck.

I also live in a basement apartment for 4 years and actually I moving into another one down the hall (its bigger). I have had no problem with it, I do miss having plants, but I buy fresh flowers. The cheaper rent in a nice neighborhood has far outweighed the lighting issues. I also read from a lighting store guy that the Full spectrum chromalux 5500K bulbs mimic natural light and actually help some people with seasonal affective disorder. It probably depends on how much/when you are home and how much you are outside. I'm out and about and at work during most of the daylight hours and mainly home in the evenings and it's dark by then anyway, so it doesn't really matter too much to me.
Good luck whatever you decide!

To be perfectly honest all of the tricks are great but it really comes down to your personal preference.

When I first moved to Chicago I had to pick my apartment in a weekend. My apartment is on the second floor of a 4 floor building in a courtyard. I completely forgot to look and see what the light situation was. There is a tree right in front of my large living room window. By the time 4 aclock rolls around I have to turn on my harsh lighting to light the room.

If you love nature, being outside, and hate turning on unnatural light then I promise you you are going to hate living in a basement or anywhere without ample natural sunlight.

yeah, if you otherwise love the place, get yourself one of those UV lamps for people with seasonal affective disorder and eat your breakfast/dinner by it each day and i think you'll be fine!

It really is a personal preference. Does your current place get a lot of light? Do you like to sleep in, or wake up with the sun? Do the seasons affect your mood (S.A.D.), and do you find yourself more gloomy during dark, rainy days?

Think about how light affects you on a daily basis...if you like your home to be dimmer and cozy or if you require a lot of sunshine. There are some tips to mimic light and to bring as much natural light as possible, but nothing can compete with a southern exposure above ground. Make certain it's something you can live with because with Winter around the corner, it could be a depressing move.

I have lived in basements twice in my lifetime and I have to stay that I would NEVER do it again. If you are prone to feeling depressed etc....stay away. The winters are killer. You will most likely end up sleeping until at least noon on your days off. The basement bugs during the spring including the occasional waterbug is something else to think about, but on the upside the apt. will stay refreshed and cool during the summer. This helps with you electric bill. Something will turn up, don't give up. It took me 3 months of apt. hunting but I finally found a beautiful 3rd floor apt. in Brooklyn the lighting is phenomenal and well worth the wait. Good luck.

I lived in a basement apartment once, and found that full-spectrum light bulbs in every lighting fixture worked just fine. Of course, I was working at a botanical garden during the day, so I had plenty of natural light from 9-5. If you're in a fluorescent-lit cubicle all day -- or if you plan to work from home -- natural light may be a real issue.

I live in a basement apartment in DC and I don't think its too dreary. Then again, I do enter the apartment from ground level and there is one room attached to the back of the house that has natural light. During the weekends my boyfriend and I do go out alot and we aren't even home the majority of the day. The one thing that bugs me the most is that the ceilings are low. On the plus side, it seems to stay cooler than the upper levels and the rent is relatively cheap for DC. I probably wouldn't live in a basement apartment again, but it's good for someone like me who is a recent college graduate.

I considered then passed on a basement/ground floor apartment in Jersey City, NJ. I would visit the apartment in the midddle of the day and see how much light the place receives. A cloudy day might be best as you can see what the apartment is like under the lowest natural light conditions.

By biggest issue with a ground floor or basement apartment is water and moisture. Though you may not be on the lowest level of the building, (many buildings and townhouses have a basement under the ground floor), you are still subject to the same moisture and water issues associated with basements. So make sure you look for teltale signs of moisture issues:

Staining of walls or floors, especially black stains or splotching (mold). Examine corners of rooms or closets carefully.

Musty odors in closets or baths.

Higher than normal humidity levels.

Evidence of moisture loving insects, centipedes, waterbugs, etc.

The presence of a dehumidifier.

Landlord has heat on during a warm day or air conditioning on during a mild day. (HVAC activity hides musty smells)

Dirt or debris covered drains near exterior entrances and window wells.

Another issue is water main rupture. Every year especially in New York, major water mains rupture sending thousands of gallons of water into the street. A ground floor apartment located at or below sidewalk level or the rear garden can be especially vulnerable to flooding from these events, as the volume of water will overwhelm street drains and enter homes. Therefore consider this risk carefully and make sure your tenant's insurance policy provides coverage for this type of event.

Living in an apartment full of light and living in one without natural light are really two entirely different things--like the difference between living in a cave or living in a treetop. If you acknowledge that up front, you can move on from there. Three years ago, I moved from a light filled house to a semi-basement scenario. My living room is dark, period. Luckily, my bedroom is very light, with three windows starting at ground level and going up to the ceiling, and looking out at woods and trees. So I do have an "escape" from the darkness.

I just went with the flow and made the living room a very cozy dark room where we watch TV. I had a "lunarium" (dark solarium!) built into one end, using antique steel-framed windows, which is my workshop/library. I love it. In other words, I treated the darkness of the room as a positive factor. There's a lot you can do to embrace a dark space.

But it's dark. I went through an early phase of making it a light room. I painted it white white white, and I made a Flavin-esque wall sculpture of round florescent bulbs that covered all of a corner of the room. Bright-light colored upholstery and painted furniture. It was really cool--and light!

Are there any areas of the apartment you're thinking of that are [relatively] bright? Can you tell us more about it?

My first apartment was in a basement and I lived there for 6 years. It was big and although there was less light it was cooler than the rest of the units in the summer months and warmer in the winter. My last apartment was a second floor corner unit with a lot of natural light which was nice some of the time but in the summer when the sun blazed inside, the place got so hot I had to invest in an air conditioner.

If you are prone to SAD don't go for a basement but if the layout is nice, the size and location are good and the price is right, then it could be a good for a few years...

I live in a basement apartment now and I like it. I live in Center City Philadelphia and it's impossible to tell because it's extremely quiet.

I have a ton of lights to make up for the lack of natural light and the landlord purchased a nice dehumidifier for it as well. It's a pain in the butt to empty it every other day, but it's worth it.

Like avajames said my only problem is bugs. I try to spray once a month which keeps it under control, but might do it more often since it's starting to get cold.

I lived in a first floor studio with just one (north) window. It was pretty dark, but a lot of nights I wasn't getting home until 7pm when it was dark outside anyways.

The mistake I made was slowly accumulating more and more artificial lights until I'd gone way overboard. I had a hanging fixture in the kitchen (b/c the one installed with the rental was fluorescent, uggh) little touch lights under the cabinents for the counters, two bookshelf lights, two desk lights, two upright lamps and a table lamp. All in a 400 square foot space. Major light clutter! Eventually I got to a point where there were fixtures I used to give the right mood, and there were others that sat in a corner and were never turned on. If you live in a dark space, plan the lighting for each room, instead of randomly buying cute lamps because the room feels dark.

I had a basement apartment that flooded when the sewer drains backed up during a heavy storm - NEVER AGAIN! I am so much happier living in a 5th floor apartment with lots of natural light and very little chance of flooding.

When I lived with my parents I had a room in our finished basement. It was fine at the time because I was away from my mom's room (instead of right next to it), but I had the hardest time waking up every day. I could sleep in until noon and I wouldn't even realize it, I always thought it was still early.

Now I'm on the second floor and its so easy to wake up and so much brighter. I thought I was just a deep sleeper, until I realized how much nicer it was to have that morning sunshine.

Having spent time around stage productions, I think that a killer lighting design could overcome any deficiency in natural light. But if the place is dark, and light matters to you, then it may take a serious investment, and possibly a professional lighting designer, to make the place livable.

you have to create a ROMANCE about it... think of a word now never used: garret... poets and artists lived in those little attics and made love instead of eating or heating (fairytale element but beguiling)... "basement" can be made into that kind of narrative... also GO with what it is... if you have a room or corner of the room where NO light reaches, paint it a dark rich color you have always loved but never used because it was 'too dark' like a RED or Scarlet (good for cold nights and rising damp), and in the room that has light or the end of the room that does (basements can be long narrow affairs) go white and bright especially around the window.

use candles a lot and get wall sconces for them


mirrors NEVER make good pretend windows. nope. what they do do is reflect light into the darkest reaches... why did all those old small windowed houses employ gilt so much and mirrors and silver and pewter objects?... because those are all light transmitters and amplifiers.

it's like a game of light-catch, lighted tossed back and forth and back

it may not be bright light, but it can be FLATTERING

dude, it's a challenge and a project... delicious domestic problem solving piece by piece and little by little. home as hobby.

save money, live alone, have FUN.

everyone on this thread is being brilliant by the way.

I lived in a basement in Boston and the one window that I did have faced my own private garden. Utlimately, it was just not enough light for me. Besides the lighting situation, the height of the ceilings was just too clausterphobic. I might be more willing to reconsider if they were average height.

Also.... I definitely had issues with bugs and snails.

I somehow managed to forget that you were doing this alone. I definitely recommend moving pretty much wherever if it allows you to rent alone.

My apartment-living history includes two stints in basement apartments. The first one I lived in was very bright and airy, despite nothing but frosted glass windows, which could be claustrophobic at times. The second was a dungeon in terms of lighting, but very cozy, particularly in the winter.

Although they can do strange things to your circadian rhythm, finding alternative ways of maximizing light can work wonders for your space. If your larger furniture pieces (sofa, chairs, coffee table, etc.) are light-colored, this can help.

Also, use diffused lighting - DON'T USE YOUR OVERHEAD LIGHTS! Lamps outfitted with dimmers and full-spectrum bulbs (like the GE Reveal ones) placed in corners, and rooms painted in light & warm hues (as opposed to stark white) will make your apartment seem brighter in the winter months and less crack den-like.

Of course, it's entirely up to your preference and personality, as well as your budgetary constraints, but I would hold out for something a bit higher up, if it were me. I spent a year in a first-floor Boston apartment in a narrow courtyard that got a tiny sliver of sunlight for, like, five minutes each day. It was dank, dark, and dirty. I wanted the curtains open for any measly bit of sunlight, but closed because of the lack of privacy. It sucked, and I'd never do it again.

On the other hand, maybe the place you found is cozy and you can make it work!

I live in a garden apartment facing a very deep front yard in Brooklyn. To combat the root cellar vibe, I've taken care to make it feel as light and airy as possible: light grey-blue walls, blond bamboo floors, sleek white kitchen cabinets, lots of mirrors and furniture that doesn't take up visual space like a glass top table and clear acrylic chairs. Most important, I have lots and lots of interesting lighting options which is crucial. I also really hate to use lights during the day so I keep my sheer white curtains open during the day. My bedroom is super dark since it faces the alley but I see that as a bonus.. it's the most comfortable place I've ever slept. Another upside of basement apartments, at least mine: It stays cool enough in the summer that I don't need an AC.

Would I love big windows and a great view of the city? You bet. But I've worked with what I've got and am really happy with the results.

I live in a basement now, with the tinest windows ever (about a foot tall and a foot and a half across... one in the living room and two in the bedroom) and we never get enough light to not turn on the overhead lights if we want to actually do something. That stated, if our landlords didn't suck, we would stay here for a long long time. We put up a photo of Chicago over the sink, a mirror over the stove, and don't have curtains on the windows (we try and wear robes when we are lounging around) which helps with the idea that we are getting natural light. I agree with the lamp ideas. Investing in at least one floor lamp per room really helps it seem cozy and romantic.
Anyways, its just a year lease, right? In all reality, you can live with anything for a year!

Think about when you are home the most....I have a 1st floor apartment, but there is a big tree out front and the porch belonging to my upstairs neighbors juts way out, blocking the majority of my natural light. During the day it can be really depressing...no rays of light, just a dull half-glow. But I figured since I'm home mostly after dark (and in Chicago it gets dark early during the winter...and winter is most of our year) I just went with it and painted my walls a dark grey, with chocolate furniture, a beige couch that I intend to slipcover white, and pops of white and light blue. I love my apartment at night...I have one floor lamp and and one uplight that cast a warm, inviting glow. I also keep my bathroom light on...the bathroom is off center from the living room, just slightly down the hall, so it casts a glow on the other side of the room. The lack of light drives me nuts during the day, but I always look forward to evening because it just transforms my place from dreary and dark to warm and inviting. The savings in rent is worth it for the time being, and I barely ever have to turn my heat on.

I live in a basement apt in Boston, or "finished ground level," as I like to call it, I just moved in a couple of months ago so I don't know how the winter will be but so far it's ok. I have the same reservations about it getting dark so early here and I wonder if I will regret this, but the rent is cheap and it's my own place. I have a large window/door in my room that opens to a garden so I get a lot of light in there but otherwise I have 3 tiny ground level windows. I put plants in those sills and I feel like I am in a terrarium, which is better than feeling like I am in a basement, I don't have curtains in those windows either, I don't see the need. I have seen some house centipedes but I also had those in my other apts, which weren't basement apts so I think it is a Boston thing, gross I know! It is nice and cool when it is warm and feels warmer when it is colder outside. I have bright track lighting, I am not sure what kind of bulbs, it is almost like museum lighting and I also have other lights all over and mirrors everywhere. And like Sabrinaa said, it is only a year (or 2 for me) so I can take some subterranean living for a limited time. I also painted the walls that were very dark colors light, bright colors and it looks so much better. Check for mold though! Esp in the bathroom, you don't want to deal with that, I run some bleach over walls, ceilings once a week in there just in case...haven't seen any yet. Best of luck!

My boyfriend and I lived in a basement apartment for two years. It was cheap, but we slowly grew to hate it. Although we had three small windows on one side of the apartment, they didn't let in much light, and everyone on the street could see into our apartment when the blinds were open.

Besides the lack of light, we also had huge ant problems in the summer and our apartment flooded three times while we were living there.

If you are trying to save money, I would try living there for a year or less, but not any longer than that.

besides the worry about light and bugs and moisture, i'd also be concerned about the safety aspect. i'd want to make sure you're in an apt that is safe from people breaking in to it, but you're also not trapped inside because of bars on the windows...

I lived in a basement apartment on Marlborough Street, and since my living room windows were full sized and faced south, I got plenty of light in there. The bedroom windows were north facing and small, so that room stayed darker, but it was great for keeping the bedroom cool in the summer months!! I say go for it, you can always get great lighting fixtures if you still feel it is too dark.

my only advice is, if it's on the first block of Marlborough, be careful. we just moved out of a studio last month and it might be the one you are looking at. it was so awesome on first glance, but the landlord was really bad. If it says "sprinkler room" on the front of the apartment and the apartment backs up to the laundry room, you're looking at our old place. Run! Thank goodness it was a sublet.

I bought a street level condo in East Boston 2 years ago.... due to it's placement at the base of an incline the back of the unit is more basement than street level.


The issues:

Mice and other basement type pests (a reality in any neighborhood in which a lot of construction and development is going on)

With no one below to insulate.... and a door that opens to the street...BRRR

In the back end of my unit I can hear and feel the vibration of car stereo bass and loud house parties...blocks away (it travels through the street)

Lower ceilings with less sound proofing... I can hear my upstairs neighbors and all their intimacies...like clock work at 9:30 pm.

Less light.... curtains or blinds block it all. None creates a safety and privacy issue.

Dirt... with a door that opens to the outside world and a major street 10 feet away... it never stays clean.

The solutions:

None for the pests yet. All of us owners are still trying to fight our way into a condo association. (Long Story)

Going to frame out a mud room type entry way so that there is a buffer between the main area of the unit and the outside world. This should help with the cold air and the dirt issue.

I am an insomniac...so I go to sleep after the last cars stop pounding around 1 am OR I turn a fan on to the highest setting to create a white noise buffer.

Low ceilings...paint everything a light color..... think art gallery and use your stuff as the color. With the walls, floors and ceilings all white.... I no longer feel like I am being strangled.

The windows? How much do I LOVE Gila window film?!!! Easy DIY frosted windows give privacy and allow light! YAY


With all this said.... yes it is frustrating and somedays I am angry for buying something that I never would have rented in a neighborhood inferior to my last (JP) However, I live alone with my dog. I can make changes and knock out closets and change things around because it's mine. I don't need to have room mates to cover expensive rents and I no longer have to deal with crazy land lords (yes I had a few of those in JP thank you very much). AND hopefully, when the market improves and the world is back to normal.... this will have been an investment that allows me a little freedom to buy something a bit more above ground.

Cheers and goodluck!

Personally, I need natural sunlight. I had to leave my spacious and sunny 2nd floor apt because my senior dog couldn't manage the stairs. With my specific needs, there were very few options. I almost took this one place that was large with tons of storage, fenced-in yard on a quiet street. But it was dark, dreary with low ceilings. Thankfully the landlord took forever to get back to me. In the meantime, I found a smaller place with tall windows in every room. I did make several compromises - small space with no storage, which meant a lot of downsizing, and no outdoor space. I'm so happy I didn't take the other place because even though there are bars on the windows, my entire place has natural light until sunset.