My husband and I turned a portion of our unfinished basement into an exercise space -- basically concrete walls and floors, but with a full size window and plenty of light. We got a berber carpet remnant for the floor. I painted the floor and walls in colors I love (because I need all the encouragement I can get down there), albeit the color choices were limited because I needed to use a special paint for concrete. I did the floor in a creamy yellow, and the walls in a spring green. I also have a large piece of batik fabric with a dramatic and colorful tropical scene, which is mounted on a piece of foam core, to decorate the space. Despite the drama of the "art", it's a pretty mellow looking space. (But I still need to force myself to go down there to use the elliptical...).

Thank you callaloo...that sounds very cheerful & I agree that we need all the enticement we can get to go down & use those machines!! I had actually been thinking of a cheerful green & I really like the idea of something large on the wall...something graphic. Thanks again.

Our guest room doubles as our workout room. When I set about fixing it up, I knew that what would inspire me best towards getting in good, long workouts was thinking about where I really wanted to look my best, and that's at the beach. (We travel to Mexico a couple of times a year.) I painted the walls in S-W Aqueduct, which is a breezy aqua/turquoise that reminds me of cool water, and decorated with vintage bathing beauty and tropical photos, prints, etc. It's a fun room to "sweat" in ... and when I'm reminded of my next trip to Cabo, I'm definitely inspired to get in the best workout possible! :-)

My exercise room is painted BM Man on the Moon, a very pale yellow. It puts me in a sunny mood. I also have large mirrors on one wall to encourage me to stay in shape.

Thanks for the ideas, ladies! We are going to do a tropical look to remind us of Hawaii, my husband's favorite place! I'll take some of our vacation photos & enlarge & frame them...hope it motivates me to get down there more...hee!

Sounds like a great plan, Lizzie! I found a pic of my workout room, such as it is. It's quite colorful, but helps me to feel motivated! (We've replaced the white blinds with wood-stained blinds, which helps bring more of a natural look to the room.)

Cool! I like AJ's room a lot!! Makes it fun to go in there!
I would definitely do something spicey---not a color so sedating that you lose your motivation to work out. But I can understand not wanting to paint your walls a screaming orange or red either!
My local gym painted their walls a really soft yellow too. It's non-offensive and sunny. I think the trick is finding the *right* yellow.