Ok, I've moved from the Houston area to north of Edmonton, Alberta.  YEP, it's cold, cold, cold up here.  But that promise of $$$$ was too great to turn down.

I've taken a duplex and it has a basement, being from Texas and other southern places I've NEVER had a basement.  I MUST use this space.  The shooting space is 13 1/2' wide by 22' long, on the common wall (between duplexs) there is a rough concrete wall, the other walls are unfinished, with the 4th wall being open to the utility area. 

My plans are to keep the raw concrete wall (I just think it's a cool place to shoot against) and I'll be placing my seamless paper backdrops here.  Midway of the outside wall I'm thinkiing of a faux brick tile for a shooting backdrop and on the opposite wall from the concrete wall I was thinking of building a glass block wall (this wall will be able to be lite from the backside.  For the floor I'm thinking of putting down a dark wood laminate.

At present I've got two mono lights with various softboxes, grids, snoots and such.  I'm gonna look for additional lighting later.

I'm asking you guys, if you can give me more specific (read that better) direction on what I may do to the space to give me more latitude in shooting?

Thanks in advace for your time.

This isn't photography related, but having had basements where I grew up, up north, I'd invest in a dehumidifier.  Basements can get damp if not heated/cooled.  That could definitely affect your equipment if stored down there over time.

I was going to say the same thing.  A basement is probably what I miss the most about living in Chicago.  Get a dehumidifier.  Not just for the equipment, but anything else you store down there, and to reduce the chance of mold.  Seems to me like we had a 5-gal tank that we emptied daily.  But it kept the basement very dry and comfortable. 

And, not to be negative, but be sure to store your equipment off the ground.  Depending on your location, the weather, and the house, basements do flood on occasion.  Only happened once in 30 years to us, and it was only about 2 inches of water, but that's enough.  That said, I'd gladly trade my attic for a basement.

By the way, I really like the glass block wall idea.  We had one separating two parts of the basement.  But I wasn't into photography at the time.

Yeah guys this basement is heated, it's get's F**ING cold up here, was -47 just after New Years so without heat you would NOT be able to stay down there.  Also is an automatic sump JUST in case any water hits the floor.  Also is a vent to keep the air moving from the basement moving!  I'm gonna pic up a tool that keeps track of humidity down there and insure I don't have a problem.

We have basements in the south, they're called indoor pools. ;)