Synthetic chemistry is not really something you want to learn on your own in your basement. You can do it, but you're much much much better off just following real laboratory courses in college. They'll teach you proper lab safety in a safe environment, and the range of reactions you'll be able to perform will be much wider than what you could do in your basement. Most undergrads will perform a Grignard reaction, but I would not advise you do that in your basement.

If you're interested in theory, then it's a whole other thing.

(I'm a chemist.)