Home Gym Decor Ideas - Our DIY Gym Design
While public gyms have become increasingly popular in recent years, more and more people are seeking the convenience of exercising at home, fueling a surge in DIY home gym transformations and inspiring budget-friendly home gym ideas. Last year, I talked you through how we converted our basement room into a DIY home gym. Today, I'll guide you through how I designed the interior of our gym space and share plenty of tips to keep in mind when creating your own home gym.
Paint Colours
This room only has a small window just above ground level so with the lack of natural light, white walls would have felt dull and flat. Because the ceiling height in our basement room is only 2.07m, I wanted to paint the walls and ceiling in the same bold colour to blur the line between them, making the ceiling feel higher. As an added bonus, it also meant no cutting in which in turn meant a very happy husband. We considered a black shade but we eventually decided on Little Greene's Harley Green - a very dark green with a hint of blue. I chose a bright yellow (Mister David) as a colour pop for the newly restored window to make it stand out.
Flooring
We spent a while deciding on flooring because a) it needed to be hardwearing enough for a home gym, b) we didn't want anything boring or industrial, and c) we needed a budget-friendly solution. In the end, we decided on a sheet vinyl in a terrazzo style from Best4Flooring. I love how this looks in the space! It’s only £13.99/m2 and it looks so much more expensive. It’s not as hardwearing as other options but the rubber mat in the power rack area protects the flooring where it gets more wear.
Exercise Equipment
Your home gym equipment obviously depends on the type of exercise you want to do. Our home exercise room needed space for strength training, cardio workouts and pilates sessions.
We already had a power rack in our previous home gym setup with a bench press, pull-up bar and pulley system for free weights. We had also recently invested in a rowing machine and dumbbell set. The layout needed to incorporate enough room to store and use this equipment with empty space left over for a yoga mat. Here's the layout we came up with.
Layout plan
Getting the layout right is especially important in a small space. Our room measures 16 square metres (52 square foot) and every inch of space has a clear job to do.
Storage space
Every gym space needs storage for things like yoga mats and resistance bands, as well as somewhere to put a water bottle. I always like to incorporate wooden pieces in a room because wood adds a lovely warmth and texture. The Anyday Ridged Sideboard from John Lewis does the job perfectly.
Mirror wall
Full-length mirrors are really important in a basement home gym for practical reasons and also because they help to bounce light around. We considered several options, including using the Bloddlon mirror tiles from IKEA. Eventually we decided on 6mm floor to ceiling mirrors from Made to Measure in their stock sizes. They cost just over £400 in total for all three (there’s another section of mirror on the wall to the left). They’re very heavy so strong fixings were really important - we used J channels to fix them to the walls.
Lighting
Because the ceilings are so low, downlights were the most suitable option as the main lighting source. They're on a dimmer switch and they have black bevels which make the light feel so much softer than white or chrome bevels. A table lamp on the sideboard softly lights that corner. And finally, we incorporated a neon sign from Planet Neon - a great solution for a home gym with a fun and lively feel. I usually find that the neon sign and/or the table lamp provide adequate lighting without needing to switch on the downlights but it's always good to have different light sources in a room for flexibility.
Decorative accents
House plants are a great way of bringing the outside in and adding a natural feel. For wall art, we chose a couple of the lads' favourite exercise-themed film posters for a personal touch. I’m also on the lookout for some artwork with a bit more colour to go to the left of the window.
This home workout space is a great addition to our home and we've already made a lot of the money back in commercial gym fee savings! I hope these home gym design ideas have inspired you to get creative with your own space! Let me know in the comments.
