Fabric is your friend...if you can't find yards and yards of it for cheap, then hit the goodwill for drapes and bedding options. It can be stapled to beams to create temporary walls.

I wouldn't cover a fuse box, but you could cover around it.s

The paneling may work too, if you have a way of supporting it all the way around...but you don't want it falling on anyone.

If you get LED lights you can string lots of them as they are very low wattage. You might also look into paper lanterns which are cheap ways of softening lights.

Let's see:

1)Leave the silver insulation -- perfect color for New Years Eve! :)

2)Measure the fuse box -- and the amount of space taken up by the wiring -- allow for extra space - and cover (for the evening) with a basket or box or wire crate/basket in black or silver -- if you do use a cardboard box -- punch some holes in it for ventilation ...

3)If possible -- use the plywood to create a divider screen -- and spray paint it high gloss silver -- check discount shops like Big Lots if you need inexpensive curtain panels to "finish" the ends

4)I would guess that three light strings might work -- but check the box for the light strings for more information ...

5)Love the idea of the large cut-paper snowflakes and large silver ornaments (maybe spray paint pinecones in white and silver?) -- check the Dollar Stores around your area for more silver ideas

I really think this might be a good time to put drywall up. You don't have to mud/sand/paint. Just cover the wires and insulation. That might be less expensive than the fabric, dividers, etc. and, you will be one step closer when you decide to finish the basement. My house has been the gathering house for years and I have never had them put holes in the drywall or stains in the carpet. Although that is a possibility I think it is rare.

And, maybe this is a good time to address the storage area. Take time to sort and pitch and then get some shelves. The best time to sort is when you are busy or have a deadline. Then you can't overthink it and have to rely on your instincts. Maybe cabinets with doors if you are more comfortable.

I am not a huge fan of "temporary" and try to do things right when I do them. So, I would look at it as a good time to stop procrastinating and tackle the project.

All that said. The kids aren't going to notice. Hang some streamers, shove you things in the corner, tape the wires to the wall so they aren't tempting to touch and have a great time. Teens are a hoot you might have more fun than them!

If you can find a great bargain on fabric you could creat something like this.

Maybe use twinkle lights in mesh to create something magical.

Also the fabric will help with acoustics.

This post was edited by Faux68 on Sat, Dec 7, 13 at 12:31

I'd extend the silver insulation with more silver, e.g. aluminum foil, tinsel, or cheap fabric (Ikea).
Then string little Christmas lights everywhere. This here is available via ebay for 6.00

Here is a link that might be useful: 3x8 tinsel curtain

Do you have exposed ceiling joists? If so, consider staple-gunning party store colored plastic tablecloths, to them for instant walls.

Juliekmo, great idea. Use silver tablecloths. Drape them like above. Add lights and music. Good to go!!

Not sure what kind of look your daughter is going for, but when I was a teen, we had lots of dance parties in unfinished basements. One party, the host put up black garbage bags, or plastic, and let the kids spray paint the plastic for decor. It was really fun and a breeze to clean up.

Rig up an inexpensive mirror ball -- we put one up for a teen basement party a decade ago and never took it down we all loved it so much.

We used Heavy Duty tarps in brown to divide and hide junk in one part of our basement.

The tarps come in different sizes. We used screw in hooks to hang the tarps from the ceiling/floor joist.

The link below shows some in silver/black. Our you could get blue.

PS - If you have a basement door to the outside, make sure it is watched so that kids cannot go our to their cars and bring alcohol in the back way. Believe me, with 3 children that were once teens, we have seen every trick in the book from them and their friends. Thank goodness they survived the teen years and are all grown adults. ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: Silver Tarps

This post was edited by newhomebuilder on Sat, Dec 7, 13 at 16:30

I am absolutely loving all these ideas....thank you, thank you! I really think we can pull this off...silver tarps, disco ball...wow..great ideas!

Newhomebuilder, thankfully, there is no outside door to the basement and my husband will be watching these kids like a hawk, although we've had no problems so far in 7 years of raising 2 teenagers (but we are not stupid either..we've been there ourselves!)

Any and all ideas will be considered...please keep them coming..you all are so creative!

"If you have a basement door to the outside, make sure it is watched so that kids cannot go our to their cars and bring alcohol in the back way."

This sounds familiar. Our DD had a small gathering when she was around 15 or 16 that quickly turned into a fifty person party with more coming all the time. The basement door to outside was at the side of the house next to a field....all the "guests" arrived on four wheelers so we wouldn't see them parking behind the house. She didn't even know most of the kids there, she was home on a school holiday.

I think the silver ideas are great, especially the disco ball! However, I would follow the suggestion to go ahead and put up drywall if you can do it yourself, without taping or mudding.

I'm not sure putting up drywall is that easy - you have to have all the wiring done, frame, then hang it, And probably need permits to do so. The kids aren't going to notice the decor. You could make a PVC frame and hang fabric in front of it to hide the storage. My kids attended a dance where they cut swirly shapes out of fluorescent colored poster board attached them to the walls and had black lights around. Not my idea of great decor but it looked really cool. You could do stars or even white snowflakes. Leave the insulation.

deleted duplicate message.

This post was edited by baseballmom94 on Tue, Dec 10, 13 at 11:30

Thanks for the advice - drywall is not an option right now with this timeframe...our son is in college and our daughter is a junior in high school so at this point, we won't be finishing the basement. We do have a bonus media/pool table room on the first floor so this is the usual teen hangout --it's just not big enough for dancing.

I did buy some silver tarps and some beige drop cloths to see which one will work better. I was planning on stapling them to the floor joists above. There are some hvac ducts and pipes that we will have to work around so we would need to cut the material to fit around these. I was thinking of trimming this out with duct tape if we use the tarps and with patterned burlap ribbon if we use the drop cloths.

Are we safe to have the tarps or fabric next to the hvac ducts?

Found a cool large silver ornament that looks like a disco ball on sale at Hobby Lobby and bought 5 strings of white lights so far. The main problem is hiding the storage area.

This post was edited by baseballmom94 on Tue, Dec 10, 13 at 11:27

I was in Spencers last week for a funny Secret Santa gift. Haven't been there in ages - and I was taken aback by how crude this store has become....

But anyway - they had inexpensive disco balls. See link below.

Also - for my friend's Halloween party a few years back, she used a bolt of tulle from Joanne Fabric on her ceiling and strung lights within. You can google ideas on this - put in "tulle ceiling lights" and you'll come up with ideas

Here is a link that might be useful: disco ball

I can't imagine hvac ducts getting so hot as to cause an issue with fabric. But don't put any holes in them.