Basement…just that word itself is depressing! For many of us having basements, they are often times treated as low priorities on the decorating list. It ends up being relegated as a someday project. Well, that someday came for Tom and me.

Since moving into our 1918 house back in 2007, we’ve taken on numerous projects inside and out. We spent over a year on the main renovation with included gutting the old house and building an addition with kitchen, dining, family and mud rooms. After the big renovation, we tackled sections of the garden each season. With each project, our budget became, shall we say, tighter ๐Ÿ™

When it came time to renovate our basement, Tom gave me a crazy budget and a crazier deadline: finish it by next month! Not quite but something close. Oh, one more thing: Tom wanted it to be his man cave for watching sports (gross!). But I have my mini conservatory to grow topiaries, so that’s cool. You should know that our basement has low ceilings with tricky ductwork everywhere and, unfortunately, only one window. So no natural light, which is perfect for watching TV.

Here’s what I (with help from contractors, of course) did:

-Gutted the entire space.
-Had the ductwork, pipes and wiring consolidated.
-Designed one open sitting room with big TV and kitchenette.
-Created a guestroom with ample closets.
-Enlarged the half bath to full bath.
-Finished the furnace room, walk-in closet, and workshop with washer and dryer for doggie towels. (We have our own washer and dryer upstairs.)

And here is our sitting / TV room all finished. It needed to be casual and comfy. Due to the lack of sunlight, a palette of whites and grays would’ve been dreary. Instead I went with warm taupes, browns, beiges, tans and blues. I designed a custom built-in for the TV – it also conceals HVAC ductwork. I did splurge on the TV and built-in, but it’s money went spent. Walls, trim and built-in are all painted the same color for a seamless effect. Walls are Benjamin Moore 75% Edgecomb Gray (HC-173) flat finish. Trim and built-in are in Satin Impervo low lustre paint.

My awesome friend Meredith gave me this beautiful clubchair from Edward Ferrell. Many thanks, Meredith!!! Someday I’ll share her drop dead GORGEOUS home on the blog. Bird pillow is from Pottery Barn and teal one is from Crate and Barrel.

I took the stiffness out of the boxy sectional by having it slipcovered in a (brown) linen fabric. I wanted tailored lines but with wrinkles and crinkles. The linen paisley fabric on these pillows is Chamba from Peter Fasano.

Antique baluster lamp is from Tone on Tone. Guess where I found the side table and painting? Go ahead!

Side table came from World Market. Painting from HomeGoods ๐Ÿ™‚ Throw in a few antiques and custom pieces and those big box store finds look rather special.

Anchoring one wall is this Art Deco zinc garden panel from our shop. With our low ceilings and lack of windows, it adds height, texture and impact.
Behind the sectional is the kitchen. I found the vintage steel bakery pan for mini bundt cakes at an antiques shop, and thought how cool for our little kitchen! Plus I love how it speaks to the Art Deco panel – both are metal with graphic patterns.

Why have a kitchen in the basement? Well, for snacks during TV shows, and for our guests staying in the bedroom. Cabinet doors are overlay (as opposed to inset) because they are budget friendly.

I had so much fun designing this 72″ kitchen as well as hunting down the apartment sized appliances – mostly European due to compact size requirements. See sources at the end of this post. Many thanks to Appliance Builders Wholesalers (ABW) in Silver Spring, MD. Steve Scarborough at ABW was terrific – very friendly and knowledgeable.

Counter top is Absolute Black granite. I designed the backsplash to look like a raised gallery found on furniture. Notice the freestanding endpiece and the bracket detail.

Since this is an old house, storage space is limited. Therefore I carved out little niches in walls and even utilized the space under the staircase for the microwave, fridge, etc.

Currently my oversized ironstone pieces are stored here – soon going to our shop.

Now here are before photos. These two show the basement when we found the house. Lovely, right?

Above is during renovation. This is the corner where the clubchair sits. The HVAC duct is concealed inside the built-in.
I hope you have enjoyed our basement renovation. I’ll share the bedroom, bathroom and workshop in a future post.
If you have a question, please feel free to ask in the comments section.
Cheers,
Loi
S O U R C E S
Fridge: Summit
Sink: Franke
Faucet: Kohler
Convection oven: Fagor
Induction cook top: Fagor
Microwave: Whirlpool
All appliances above from: ABW
Kitchen cabinets: Fieldstone
Ceramic floor tiles: Home Depot