So you all know there have been a lot of projects going on in our house. While we have finished most, there is always more to do. One of the bigger projects was updating the basement. Basements can be so much fun and a great place for a family to hang out. For some reason we typically don’t spend a ton of time in ours. Go figure, its a great space! Regardless, this basement took a beating. The changes in our simple basement remodel transformed it into an open hangout. Now it’s the perfect place to cozy up and hang out.

Our before photos are not the greatest, so bear with me, but they should give you a good idea of what it looked like when we started.

One of the first thing you notice when you come down the stairs is the multiple versions of flooring. Yikes! Not to mention the giant stair at the bottom. I’m not really sure what’s going on here, but I’m not a fan!

See the transition of the green and red carpet and the orange stained floors. All in different textures and styles make my head spin.

It’s hard to see in this photo, but there is a small room off the bottom of the stairs. For some reason, I can’t find any good shots of this space. Which is too bad, because we made some of the biggest changes to this area.

This is the only photo I could find that shows the original layout of the space.

This was used as a dog room and even though we have dogs, this room didn’t make much sense for us. For me, it seemed like there was a better way to use this space so….demo, baby!

Sorry for the angle of the photo, but I want you to see the original trim, fireplace, and how dark the hallway behind the couch is with the dog room still intact.

Get a good look. It’s looks nothing like this now.

One of my favorite parts of this room now is the fireplace. We replaced the original mantle and built a new one, leaving the actual fireplace insert untouched. To add more of a focal point to the room we choose to extend it to the ceiling and expand it to the width of the existing hearth. There is something both cozy and industrial about brick that I love.  We added a smearing technique for an extra pop of character and viola! Beautiful!

The basement has the same wood flooring as the rest of the house and all the doors, windows, and trim got a fresh coat of white paint. Come to find out after we bought the mother-load of flooring that the basement floors are heated. While this was great news, I have to confess I was a bit bummed! Had I known, I would have ripped out the carpet and stained and resealed the existing concrete floors! The only reason we choose not to do concrete floors was because we were worried about the floors being too cold with the Wisconsin winters. The look of concrete floors makes me drool…..l am a huge fan!

Look at how different this area looks now! You can see the small wall that was part of the frame from the dog room. We kept the partial wall because of the sceptic pipes, which ended up not looking too bad. The hallway space is now so much more open, definitely better than before.

Look at all this space now! Basically, we just added another open room to the basement! There are endless options of how to use this area now. And no more multi shades of floor and carpet!

What do think of the nesting boxes? Check out the story of how these came about in my Chicken Nesting Box post [HERE].

No more weird step, glorious!

The sideboard was a thrifting find that I was going to originally refinish and resell it. The top had a weird veneer on it which made it tricky to get a good finish on it. The end result just wasn’t up to par for my standards, so, for quality purposes, I guess I better keep it. I would hate to sell someone less than perfect work. HA!

This room went from a head scratcher of randomness to a cozy room that calls you to come curl up by the fire. I believe that there is always beauty to be found by salvaging old bones. Both this room and the sideboard are perfect examples of that. Don’t let a less then perfect space or idea scare you off. My ideas and projects don’t always go as planned and can be overwhelming at times. That’s all part of it. Find the inspiration and take the chance!

Thank you for being here with me on the blog, today and everyday!