1/18/2015

Basement Makeover: Part 1


As I mentioned in my inspiration post, we've been chipping away at the basement for the past few months. We finally reached a good mid-way point this weekend, so I wanted to share some photos!

Here is a photo of how the room looked a few months ago. Ugh. Dreadful.
ugly basement beforeThe storage shelves were handy, but not ideally located. Since our goal is to turn this into a family hang out space, we decided to take them down. The boards are actually a lovely cedar, so we removed all the nails and saved them for another project.
removing nails from salvaged planksAfter the shelves were removed, Jesse installed six recessed can lights and we also had the ceiling spray painted black. The spray job wasn't cheap, but it saved us a couple weekends worth of time so I think it was a good investment. The color is off-the-shelf flat black from Glidden, available at Home Depot.
exposed ceiling spray painted blackI gave the cinder block walls two coats of bright white paint and also painted the floors with Valspar Latex Porch and Floor Paint. Painting the floors required a LOT of prep work because you need to remove every speck of dirt, but it cost less than fifty dollars so I really can't complain!
budget basement makeover with painted ceiling and floorsA quick break down of the floor painting process. First, I used a scraper to remove tape, globs of paint and other mysterious substances from the floor. Then I used a drywall sander and went over the floors twice to smooth out any remaining gunk and loosen dirt, sweeping in between. After that, I vacuumed the floor twice and finished with two rounds of mopping. Whew! It was a workout, for sure! Once the floor was spotless, I set up a fan, had some wine with my mom, and waited a couple hours for the floor to dry. Then I painted it the same way I would a wall, cutting in the edges and rolling the reminder. I did a second coat of paint right away the next morning (before more dust and dirt could settle on it).
exposed basement ceiling and cement floors paintedOh, and Jesse built this combination climbing wall and fort. No big deal. Just kidding. It's freakin' sweet! Once the inside is finished, we'll do a full post on it. Actually, I want Jesse to pen the post since the wall is his baby, but I'm still trying to convince him!
basement climbing wall fort

1/09/2015

Inspiration for the Basement

Our basement is a dreary, unfinished space; it's cold, dark, and poorly lit. Maybe a little dungeon like. But, on the bright side, we have lots of room for storing our junk and once we get it fixed up a little, we'll have a couple hundred square feet of additional living space! We started making changes a few months ago and it's finally taking shape, but first I wanted to share our inspiration and plans. 

I love everything about this room. The black ceiling, sectional, color palette. It's amazing.
Part of our plan includes a cozy seating space. I've spent hours searching but I can't seem to find a sectional that meets my picky taste and limited price range. What's completely silly is that I work for a huge furniture retailer and have access to employee pricing, but still can't decide. So, yeah.....I think we'll end up building something. I really dig this sectional made from two twin sized beds.  
I found a couple yards of this pretty fabric on sale at JoAnn. I'm not sure what I will do with it, but I love the colors and pattern, so I snatched it up! Image link is to a scuba fabric, but mine is like a heavy faux silk. I couldn't find it on their site.
Image: JoAnn Fabrics (Please pin from original source)
Our basement bathroom is unfinished, but this image inspired me to try fixing it up on the cheap. I've already painted it gray, which was a big improvement and I have a few more plans. But, I dunno, it will either look rad like the bathroom below, or like lipstick on a pig! 
Jesse and I used to climb a lot and now that our kiddo is four, we want to start training and planning weekend trips again. Jesse just finished building a sweet wall / fort combo and this retreat in Japan was our inspiration.
   

As I mentioned above, we started working on the basement a couple of months ago, so a few of the items on our list are finished or "this close" to being finished. Here's our plan for phase one of the basement, sprucing up the main room and bathroom:

Main room:
- add six ceiling lights
- paint exposed ceiling black 
- paint the cinder block walls bright white
- build a combination climbing wall, playhouse.
- paint the cement floor. 
- build a corner sectional 
- Install a small section of plank wall, hang a TV on it

Bathroom:
-paint walls
-paint floor
-install new-to-us light fixture
-new faucet
-add some type of storage
-decor including a large mirror, shower curtain, etc.