Ok, are you ready to see the final result of our basement makeover?!
I sure hope so because I am so excited to show you today. You won’t believe how much brighter the space is now!
Yesterday, I shared what it looked like before and
the process we took to get us to where we are today.
Dark, dirty, mustard and ketchup colored, and well, depressing!
And here is the basement today!
Bright, cheery, clean, and ready to enjoy instead of go down quickly, throw the clothes into the washer and dryer and exit.
Let me take you on a quick tour of the place now.
Stepping into the doorway you now have a totally different view. Before you would see the girl’s large trampoline in the corner and a shelving unit to the right.
Now, the trampoline is outside and the shelf is back where it was when we moved in, which made way for this side to turn into another play area for the girls. The playroom upstairs is great but small so their large toys were often hidden or just too much in the way so now they can keep them out and play with them any time without them being totally in the way.
Tucked behind the door now is
the tent we created for the girls for Christmas a few years ago. Before we couldn’t have it set up since there wasn’t a good place for it but now it can stay up and they can play in it any time.
One of the best parts about the tent is that it is large enough that we were able to place both of the girl’s old crib mattresses inside it so it is comfortable to sit and play in there so they won’t just be on the hard wood floor. We threw some pillows in there and of course some blankets and stuffed animals found their way in as well. It’s fun spot to be in.
Travis built the large cube shelving unit to place on the floor under the winder where we tucked totes where they can store their toys and then the large castles and other large items can live on top so they can play with them on top of the shelf or easily grab them to play with on the floor. It is even sturdy enough that we could use it as a seat if we’d like as well.
Above the cube shelf, we hung a small shelf that was already in the basement between the two windows. I painted it the same blue color as the other accents in the room and just decorated it with some canvases. Still have to figure out what else to place there but for now, it will do.
On the far wall, I hung up the picture frames I painted and used for
Miss P’s 5th birthday party. The girls can easily change out the artwork whenever they’d like since I used clothes pins to clip the artwork or just taped them to the wall.
Then we brought down their bean bags from upstairs to sit on, an old storage bench we weren’t using anymore got a coat of purple paint to cover up the messed up base, and throw in some more larger toys into this area, and we are all set.
We took Miss S’s old crib and gave it a paint job and turned it into an art desk. Her crib got really messed up during our move here so it was no longer able to be used as her full size bed so this was the next best option. Normally they have their two white chairs that sit at this space but those moved back upstairs for a short time.
We placed the desk in the center of the room between the three columns. It fit perfectly in the area and help define each side of the room. Next to the desk, sits an old nightstand that will eventually go in Miss S’s room but for now serves as extra storage.
And then the white rug on the floor are actually two rugs and used to be in each of the girl’s rooms. We bought them new rugs for their rooms and instead of getting rid of these, we thought they would work well together down here in the space.
Another view of the tent behind the door, the large cedar chest by the door was left by the previous owners and we use it to store our luggage so our kitties don’t use them as scratching posts, and then I hung an old print on the wall above the chest.
I still have a view more things I would like to add, decor wise, to this side of the room but the girls love it and enjoy going down to play. It will definitely come in handy during the long winter months.
Before swinging to the other side of the room, here is a shot of the striped floor. I love how it turned out and I love that you can barely tell there is plywood under the washer and dryer anymore. 🙂
Here is the view of the not so exciting side, the laundry/storage side of the basement, from the door.
The back corner is where we moved the large shelf that was in the room. We gave it a good cleaning with our pressure washer and I gave it a coat of paint and then everything was stacked on top and on the floor next to it. In the center of the room is
the drop cloth rug I created and sits a large metal clothing rack that the previous owners left as well. It comes in very handy on laundry day to dry my clothes!
The dryer sits on the window wall and then the island that was in our kitchen in CO sits under one of the windows. I use it to fold towels and sheets and some times the girl’s clothing but mostly it is a large step for the kitties to jump on to get into their favorite window to watch the little critters in the garden outside.
The indoor outhouse now blends into the room after we gave it a coat of white paint as well instead of it being painted the dark brown color.
A little bit better shot of the racks in the center of the room and the washer wall.
I will say, I am much happier doing laundry in this space than I was before. I actually don’t mind it anymore.
And one last thing that we did that I forgot to share yesterday was that we replaced the lighting in the space as well. We bought these small round track lights from Home Depot so we could aim them in different areas of the room to give light directly where needed. Each side of the room has the new light so it is definitely bright down there when all the lights are turned on.
And there you have it!!
Talk about a transformation!
We both kept saying why didn’t we tackle this space sooner once we finally had it complete.
You can check out our other home renovation/makeover projects in my
“house” label. Lots to look through!
