Outside of the capital, the word ‘basement’ is synonymous with the damp, dimly lit space beneath your house that’s usually full of broken kitchen utensils, boxes of dusty kids’ toys and rusty bikes. And, thanks to countless horror films, it’s more than a little bit creepy. In London, though, we embrace the basement as a thing of beauty – after all, we’ll take any space that’s going and do our darnedest to turn it into a human dwelling. Some though, are a little more special than your average basement flat. Here, we’re taking inspiration from those who’ve turned the most unlikely spaces into beautiful underground homes and watering holes.

1. Feeling flush

Architect Laura Clark saw potential where nobody else would have: an abandoned public toilet in Crystal Palace. To be fair, she did nab herself a period property – the public conveniences were built in 1929 – albeit one that had been filled up with rubbish and all sorts of other unmentionables since it was last used in the 80s. She’s done an incredible job converting it, too: stylish, light and surprisingly spacious, it even has its very own subterranean garden with a swing. Now that’s what we call having vision.

Credit: James Balston

Credit: James Balston

2. Say ‘Eh-oh!’

Talk about a room with a view! This innovative home on the Pembrokeshire coast was built in 1998, and has since become a Welsh architectural treasure. With its turf roof, log burner and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the sea, it’s a cosy, cleverly designed bolthole nestled inside a hill. And because of its sleek design, moulded into the landscape, it feels at one with the natural world around it – despite being nicknamed ‘the Teletubby house’.

Credit: S4C

3. Green living

One of the most attractive underground homes we’ve seen is in Vals, Switzerland, which is known for its thermal baths and breath-taking views from the tops of its mountains. Unlike the surrounding properties, this house is embedded deep into the earth and thus doesn’t impede the view whatsoever – plus it’s an energy-saving dream, staying nice and warm in the winter but cool and breezy in the summer. Living underground has never been so glamorous.

Credit: Iwan Baan

4. Garden room

Tim and Zoe Bawtree appeared on Grand Designs back in 2007 when they embarked on a project to create a section of living space within the strip of garden attached to their terraced house. Again, it’s an eco-friendly structure that uses ground-source heat to warm the house, and it retains a surprising amount of light thanks to huge windows and a landscaped courtyard. In spite of all this, the couple struggled to sell the property back in 2009 and instead raffled it off on Twitter, based on a microblog filling up with paid ads to meet the £800,000 asking price. Resourceful, we say.

Credit: PA

5. Night on the tiles

It’s not just residential conversions we’ve been inspired by, either. A number of subterranean spaces – particularly in London – have cropped up over the past five years or so. One of them, Cellar Door in Aldwych, has also made use of a converted public toilet to create an intimate drinking destination. In their own words, it’s ‘a space just big enough for cats (both human and feline) to swing’.

Credit: WJ London

Similarly, Attendant, based in trendy Soho, is a gourmet snack bar that’s retained its original urinals as table tops. And despite its £100,000 conversion and the fact that it does look pretty damn cool now, we’re not sure we could get over the connotations of the setting enough to chow down on a sandwich without a second thought. But, hey… each to their own.

Credit: Attendant/Facebook

Have you seen any cool underground homes? Or know anyone who enjoys living underground? Here at Boxman, we’re all about making the most of the limited space you have through clever space-saving solutions and super easy, on-demand storage. To find out how we can help you de-clutter and live a little better, visit our home page.