Anonymous wrote:I'd go with a shade of green.

http://www.materials-world.com/paint-colors/benjamin_moore/Benjamin-Moore-Color-07.htm

Something like "early spring green 203"

I agree with this - BM Flowering Herbs.

Bright bright yellow - NO.

We painted a room a bright sunshine yellow, and really, really regretted it. It was painful to look at. Some people love it though.

I'd go with a shade of green.

http://www.materials-world.com/paint-colors/benjamin_moore/Benjamin-Moore-Color-07.htm

Something like "early spring green 203"

Or BM Manchester Tan - another classic neutral.

If you want something neutral but more exciting than off-white, we just painted our basement Lenox Tan by Benjamin Moore - it contrasts nicely with the white trim and ceiling but doesn't feel too dark. I agree with a pp who suggested eggshell - it's easier to clean than matte. We've used eggshell for most of our rooms, and semigloss in the bathrooms.

We went with a paint color that may have been called "pistachio" or similar. Turned out to be GREAT. Kept the room light and bright, goes with pretty much anything.

OP here. Thanks. I had looked at the Benjamin Moore site but was frankly overwhelmed by the choices. To the PP that asked about the carpet - we went through Wheaton Tile and Carpet - purchased from them and they did the installation. Thought the service and quality was good.

We painted our basement playroom Straw by Benjamin Moore. It is a rich yellow color and it really brightens up our playroom which has no windows.

I'm going to be painting my playroom aqua with a lot of orange accents. I think it will be fun and cheery!

I wouldn't be afraid to go darker. A basement as a basement - unless it's a walkout, it won't feel like a regular room no matter what. We painted our basement Masada (one of the BM Affinity colors) and it's fantastic. It's sort of a deserty/rusty brick brown. It makes the space feel warm and cozy. You can take more of a risk in the basement, I say go for some color!

My basement is bright sunshine yellow. It came that way, and though I never would have chosen it, it looks kind of great in a basement. The furniture is blue, for a provencale look.

Go to glidden.com, and you can paint a virtual room. It's kind of fun. And they're giving away free quarts at the moment, I think...

I would definitely go with a color, not off-white. A no-color basement just screams "laundry room".

If there's not much light, I would say go lighter rather than darker. I'm a fan of off-whites, but there are a million shades of off-white that you can choose from. Decorate with large art, maps (National Geographic Society has great ones), posters. For a rec room, I would use eggshell or satin, not flat, because it is easier to keep clean and less likely to develop scuff marks.

Where did you get your berber, btw?

Yellow!!!!! And not pale buttercup, I'm talking bright sunshine yellow.

the Benj. Moore Personal Color Viewer on their website is awesome and has lots of sample room pictures. Try it.

We are finishing our basement. Already have carpet in (off-white berber with flecks of brown, green, taupe) and ceiling drywall and painting will happend next week. Should I just go totally neutral with off-white walls and white ceiling? Or someting more creative and fun? What about finish? Matte, etc, etc? Tell me what to do. Thanks!