68% of homes in America have basements, and basement remodeling is one of the best ways to increase your living space and boost the value of your home. However, you can’t just rush into remodeling without first preparing your space. To make this easier, here are some simple ways that you can get started.

1. Identify Where You Will Need Additional Outlets

Before getting into the thick of basement remodeling, you will need to identify the areas where you want to have extra outlets added. Doing this early will allow you to take care of the electrical issues, before starting the overall finishing. While this can be tricky to visualize, especially since nothing is in place yet, try to think of where you will need things to go and work with an electrician to decide what placements would be best.

2. Don’t Forget Your Permits

Although you may not think it necessary, you will in fact need a permit to remodel your basement. The type of permit you need will depend on the scale of the work, the building codes in your area, and the zoning laws. Your contractor can help you get your plans together so that you can contact your city office to start the permitting process. In some cases, your contractor will handle this without you needing to worry about it.

3. Remove Junk

Basements can get cluttered fast, and in order to be able to remodel it, you’re going to need to decide how to clear it out. Make sure to give yourself enough time to thoroughly go through and sort everything into what you need to keep and what can be thrown away or donated. This can be made easier by dividing your basement into zones and tackling them one at a time. Keep in mind that once your basement is finished, you will have less room to store junk that you’re not using, so you may have to make some tough cuts. You may find the KonMari Method effective for this, as it challenges you to think seriously about what you need and what brings you the most joy to keep while respectfully discarding the things you no longer need.

Basement remodeling can be one of the best projects to complete in your home and it can both give you more space to enjoy and raise the overall value of your property. However, it’s important to think ahead and prepare as best you can before starting any of the work. Keep these three things in mind, and work closely with your contractor so that our basement remodeling project can go as smoothly as possible.