Anything with yellow is cheery and adds energy. Yellow with white trim would really pick up the available light and help magnify it, I like some of the softer yellows available, lemony would be too overwhelming, but a very bright yellow might work as an accent wall, with the others painted a much lighter shade.

I used a celery green in my basement play space that has light pergo floors and white trim. I has only a tiny bit of natural light and dark wood beams and it seems very light. In the pics it looks mintier than it is in real life.

I think you have to be careful though with yellows. A lot of them do not work very well in rooms that don't already get some warm natural light. Some of them don't work very well when lit with artificial light, which a basement is.

I think something warm in a green shade or warm in a taupey shade would work.

The key is not to try and make the room look bright and sunny because it isn't and it never will be,,,but you can try to make it look warm despite the fact it doesnt get much sun.

Our basement is an aquamarine. We brighten it with lighting.

I think a creamy yellow would work, but agree-not lemony.

SW Ivoire or Jersey Cream might be nice.

Or you could go with an aqua as suggested by LuAnn. SW Rainwashed, e.g.

We have a walkout basement and have one of the rooms painted SW Softened Green. There are cherry stained wood floors and I think the green looks great with the floors. But that room has a couple of windows and does get natural light. Pretty combo, though.

Thanks for the suggestions! I love the idea of aqua or green but the red brick fireplace is throwing me off. Not sure the greens would work with the brick.

Red and green are complementary colors, so I think with the right shade of green, it would look great with the fireplace.

I like the celery green pictured above.

Don't know if you've thought about lighting, but several florescent or LED fixtures, with color corrected bulbs, would really brighten up your space.

We had our offices down in the basement in our previous home and without those lights, it would have been a dreary, depressing place to work. With the lights, it was as bright as our west facing rooms upstairs with windows. We didn't notice that there were no windows.

If you do decide to add additional lighting, you might want to do your painting afterward because the colors are going to appear very different with and without lighting.

SW Napery is a light creamy yellow. I used it in my family room with a brick red fireplace, and with white trim it looked lovely.

Paint everything -- including the fireplace -- in bright white!

Add sisal rugs -- and Ikea Ektorp white slipcovered furniture.

Add LOTS of silver lamps (table and standing) and dark-wood tables. Lamps will add warmer light sources.

Add lots of white white shelving with baskets for storage ....

Add lots of bulletin boards with reproduction posters (great colors!) Add lots of family photos in brightly colored mats and frames ...

Thanks so much! Lots of white and lamps would definitely brighten this space :)

I just tested BM Limesickle, which is a pale fresh green. When I "googled" it looking for pictures, someone had used it in the basement along with Polaris Blue and white. Looks great. If you google those color names, I'm sure you'll find it.