If you can modify the lighting, LED lights have come down in price a lot, and they produce a natural, "sunny" colored light that doesn't distort other colors. I would start there, and also with a very pale or pastel color on the walls.

My sewing room is in e basement and we're midway through finishing it. We did insulation and drywall, and we painted a generic pale color we had on hand, but my plan is to paint it a Caribbean-type blue this winter and to add lots of lighting when we do the drop ceiling. We have a sliding glass door that let's in some sun, but the "patio" (aka cement slab! 😉) is covered, so most of the sun is blocked.

Happy paint and good lighting, and you won't even be able to tell it's a basement!

My sewing machine set up is on the main level of my home but my stash, cutting area and serger is in my basement. The few windows down there are behind a wall that hides the water tank, pump etc. There is a small window in my stash room that is almost at ceiling level. It is often blocked by my cat lying in front of it. It actually works well as we have a ping pong table that I can use for laying out and or basting my quilts. There is plenty of room to set up a quilting fame and there is a large TV I can watch while doing any of those things. It is cool in the summer and with the help of our woodstove it can be warm in the winter. The only disadvantage is that there is no bathroom on that level.

I recommend natural spectrum lights, as much as you can. I think part of the "gloominess" of sealed rooms is the light wavelength - our brains know when it's wrong! You could even do faux windows - set up light boxes on the walls with natural spectrum lights and put light curtains over it to hide the fact that they go nowhere but still let that "natural" light filter through. Might help fool you into feeling a little less underground!

Just take into consideration what your basement is like and see what works best for you. Great suggestions from this board all the time.!

I'm in the basement right now as that is where our offices are. I have no windows in my corner but the cement blocks and ceiling are painted white and we have the shop lights above each space with the regular lights. And pictures and posters on the walls with some decorations on the top book shelves and filing cabinets. Nothing on the cement floor...just never got that far.

I have had my sewing room in the basement for about a year. I have two very small windows that let in some light. We are going to drywall and make it more of a room and put in a lot of overhead lighting. I'm going to paint the walls a cherry lemon yellow on the top and mint green on the bottom for more light. I love the space and I can have my laptop and TV down there to keep me company. Our basement is very dry also and the only thing I haven't decided on yet is the flooring. I have carpeting on that half of the basement right now that we took out of our family room when we put in hardwood. What do most of you have on the floor? I don't just want to paint the concrete because that's too cold for me.

I have "industrial/hotel/motel" grade (short pile) carpet over bare concrete. It's been down for over 20 years and is still "respectable"

Much nicer on the feet than a hard surface. Pins are fairly easy to find on it, too - if one bends over to get them right away!

It will melt if a hot iron gets on it for more than a few seconds. (I don't want to share how I know that!)

Wow -- there are a lot of good suggestions here -- I almost wish I had a basement! It sounds like you will be able to lighten your area and make it really homey. Post pictures of your work in progress.

Make yourself some faux windows with clear strand lights (Christmas lights) behind and old window that's been frosted.