The Basement Makeover Project – A Sneak Peek

2010 began with a home project for us, one that was a bit overdue, but the months before the holidays are always tricky for DIY projects. So, January worked well for us.

The first project of the year was a basement makeover. This project is not yet complete, so the before and after photos will come soon. But I thought I would make some notes on the project itself, our inspiration, and the materials we worked with.

Our basement was left as-is since we purchased this house in 2009. The walls were a brownish-green which was tolerable and quite cozy actually. It worked for us for some time, but it was definitely in need of a face lift.

Here are a few pictures of the project mid-way through. As you will see, we discovered a few interesting things that had to be repaired. The giant hole in the drywall was our doing, as Billy took it out to fix some water damage that resulted in last summers torrential downpours. You’ll also see a lovely photo of what we found behind the hand rail. We knew there was a reason for those little square pieces of wood, we just didn’t think we would find 17 drywall anchors lurking back there. But, luckily this made the repair job a little easier then what we were expecting (a big, gaping hole).

The colour we chose is Wheat Bread by Behr. I’m not normally a fan of Behr paint, but I’ve seen this colour used in other design blogs and loved the effect. It’s a neutral colour that really brightens up a dark space without being too stark. So far I’m loving it.

At this point we’re nearly finished. We’ve done all of the repair work, painted two (yes, two) coats on the ceiling, one coat on the walls and all of the trim work. By the weekend we’re hoping to have the walls 100% good to go. We’ll also be installing some little bits and pieces that will really go along way in making the hole thing look great, including new handrail hardware, white vent covers, switch plates and a white cap for the electrical box in our ceiling.

Some things we’ve learning along the way. The last guy who lived in our house smoked, a LOT, in the basement. I hadn’t really noticed before, but the ceiling was a lovely shade of nicotine yellow. Gross.

The last guy who lived in our house was also not a handyman. He cut corners wherever possible, which is a drag. I am fairly certain that the basement walls are held up with chewing gum and staples, but we’ll see as the years go by I suppose.

Lastly, as lovely as our new paint is, it’s made our not-so-nice carpet look even worse. The plan has always been to pull this old stuff out, but it’s clear that it has to be done ASAP. So, we’ll be gathering quotes in the near future. If anyone has any recommendations, let us know.

This coming Sunday it’s off to Ikea we go for the fun part, the final touches!! For the most part, our basement furniture will be staying, and we quite like it actually. It’s all solid wood, and gives a kind of cozy cottage vibe that I love. But, we will be making some new additions. New blinds for sure and a new lamp or two, new artwork for the walls and a new storage system for our ever-growing DVD collection.

We really love our white cabinets in the upstairs living room, so we thought we would do something similar in the basement, but make them half size, in a colour to match our existing furniture.

After pictures coming soon!!!