Basement Renovation Archives - Satori Design for Living

Storage Rooms + Why I Need to Put Thrifting On Hold

Sep

2012

Is it just me or did this week seem to fly by? Now that I’ve put my outdoor projects to rest for a while, I thought I’d turn my focus to organizing our basement storage rooms. I thought it seemed like the perfect opportunity before our media room gets filled with new furniture and I’m left with little room to pull everything out, get rid of the drywall dust from our basement renovation, and put it all back a little more organized than it was in the first place. If you’ve lived through a renovation, you know that dust and debris gets everywhere. Although I covered as much stuff as possible with plastic, the mess that was left when the dust finally settled (sorry, couldn’t resist), was a just a little overwhelming.

Although we still have a full day of work before our storage rooms are complete, I wanted to show you some of the progress we’ve made. Remember those double shaker style doors we installed for ease of moving items in and out of the side room (predominantly the treadmill)? It’s one of the best decisions we made.

It works really well to swing the doors wide open and easily retrieve storage tubs or whatever else we’re needing at the time. It also prevents the narrow room from feeling too tight.

Construction is Finally Done! {Our Basement Reveal}

Sep

2012

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After weeks of planning, and what turned out to be months of construction, our basement is finally ready to occupy. If you’ve been following along on this renovation journey, you know that back in early May we set out to create a family TV and entertaining area. With a few obstacles, combined with summer holiday trade schedules, our timeline seemed to expand. But, as of this week, we are finally able to make use of the space.

Remember what we started with? It was basically an open space to store everything from hockey equipment to Christmas decorations. It was also where my teenage son and his friends would hang out (reluctantly). Definitely not the most welcoming area in the house!

I don’t think we have anything to feel guilty about anymore. Somehow I think the basement may be preferred over our upstairs family room! Here’s a shot of the newly added closet that fit perfectly between those two support posts.

As you may remember, we wanted to fully utilize the area to the left of the stairwell and decided to create a storage room.

We added double doors to allow for easy access to our treadmill and large storage tubs.

It’s All in the Details {Basement Update}

Jul

2012

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We’re rounding third base on our basement renovation and I couldn’t be happier. To recap, we started with an unfinished basement and set out to create a family-friendly room for entertaining and relaxing, as well as additional space for when we have overnight guests. To date, with a lot of help, we’ve completed the framing, electrical, drywall, trim work, painting, and flooring. Here’s a sneak peek of our progress.

Like most renovations, we’ve had our share of bumps along the road, including doors that didn’t match, an obvious slope in one corner of the ceiling, and speaker wires installed backwards (to name a few). However, these have all been addressed and the room is shaping up to be just as we had envisioned.

The next step in our basement journey is re-hanging the shaker style doors, finishing off the snack bar area, and mounting the TV and speakers (in those little niches). I’m also waiting on two ceiling light fixtures to arrive so they can be installed in the stairwell and hallway. Then it’s on to furnishing and decorating the space.

While I was planning the snack bar area, I had trouble deciding on a number of factors. Should the cabinets be painted white or grey? Upper cabinets with glass doors or open shelving? Subway tile backsplash or marble? Overhead lighting or under cabinet? The number of decisions to make for this small area really added up.

Basement Fabric Considerations

Jul

2012

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Over the extended Canada Day weekend, I took a bit of a break to spend some time with family and friends. It has been quite a few years since I’ve camped in a tent, but I have to admit it was better than I remembered. It was really nice to get away and not think about trim work, paint, tile, lighting and flooring (can you tell I’m ready for our basement renovation to be over!). We’re nearing the end and I’m happy to report that the Sarah Richardson paint colors I selected are looking gorgeous and I’ll be posting photos soon.

All of the finishes have been selected and ordered (except for the snack bar tile), so I’m focusing my attention on the decorative materials, such as fabric and furniture. I have always been drawn to fabric and usually like it to be the jumping off point for decorating any room. Below are some of the patterns I’m considering. Not only do I like the look of these fabrics, but most are cotton and/or linen and the hand is beautiful. (Note: the colors are quite a bit different than what appears on your screen.)

{PELAGOS- Windsor Smith Home Collection}

Basement Paint Colors

Jun

2012

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Our basement renovation is moving right along and I’m feeling a bit of pressure to make some of the decorating decisions, including paint colors. Up until this point, I’ve had a general idea of how I want the final area to feel, but I’ve been slow at nailing down specific choices. Today, the trim work is being finished and the next step will be painting. You can check out Our Basement Renovation if you’ve missed any of the progress to this point.

Normally, I go to my Benjamin Moore deck for colors, but I decided to give Sarah Richardson’s Para Collection a try for something different. I like how the large paint swatches make it easy to compare colors and really get a sense of how they will look on the walls.

For the main walls, I was looking for a neutral color with a grey undertone. Cashmere (SR-13) seemed to be the color that read a bit grey, but maintained a bit of warmth.

Cashmere SR-13

For the TV wall, I decided to go with a deep grey color. My hope is that it will blend better with the TV and speakers so they aren’t a main focal point of the room. I also prefer watching TV screens in front of a dark background color much better. Thunderstorm (SR-72) is a grey that changes depending on the light, from grey to green to blue. I think it’s the perfect complement to the quartz countertop we’re planning on installing in the snack bar area, as well as some of the accents and artwork we plan on adding to the room. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decorating, Our Home Projects Tagged With: Basement Renovation, Our Basement Renovation, Paint Colors, Sarah Richardson

Basement Progress {Framing and Electrical}

May

2012

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Although we’ve only completed the framing and rough-in electrical work of our basement renovation, I can get a pretty good sense of how the rooms are going to look. We’ve made some adjustments along the way, but careful planning beforehand has definitely paid off. Our original plan looked something like this sketch below. (I will post a new sketch with the revisions at another time, but this at least gives you a sense of our basement layout.)

The entire room that you see at the bottom of the stairs will be our media room. The wall to the left is where we will mount our TV and speakers. We’ve added extra support for the mounting bracket and created boxes to recess the speakers. In addition, all the wiring has been integrated to keep it hidden once drywall goes up.

Basement Renovation Finally Underway!

May

2012

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As I hear clanging and banging coming from the basement, it’s a good sign for me. We’ve been planning our basement renovation for several months now and it’s finally underway. Yesterday everything was mapped out on the floor and the rest of the week will be framing, with the electrical work starting on Monday.

Although we’ve put a lot of thought in to the design, there are always obstacles that come up in any renovation. I’ve already had to make some quick decisions about door placement and exactly how high we want the flat screen TV mounted on the wall. With my husband being away on business this week, I’m feeling a little pressure and I’m crossing my fingers that it will be in the right spot.

One feature we want in the media room is a snack bar (similar to a wet bar, but without the sink). We decided the best place for it is within the niche below the stairs and it will serve as a place to store a few snacks, some glasses, bowls and beverages. We’ve decided to install a stainless steel beverage fridge (which I’ve already changed from my previous basement post as I didn’t like the quality when I took it out of the box), as well as a base cabinet with a drawer and door. What we’re still determining is whether or not we want open shelving up top or a cabinet with double glass doors. This will influence the placement of the lighting as well, to either overhead or under cabinet.

Here are some photos I’ve pulled inspiration from:

I love the cabinet paint color, as well as the backsplash of this wet bar configuration shown above via Decor Pad.

If we decide to go with glass door uppers, I may paint the cabinet interiors a pop of color like these via Better Homes and Gardens.

Our Basement Renovation {an update}

Apr

2012

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How was your weekend? Mine flew by and I cannot believe it’s Monday already! On Saturday my husband and I went and checked out some of the new showhomes that opened up in town in an area called Mountainview. Sounds beautiful, but the lots that are currently available don’t have what you’d call a mountain view. Those lots won’t be available until a later phase. We also drove through the mud to check out a series of new acreage lots just outside town that have recently opened up. Many of these have beautiful views and certainly peaked our interest. We definitely have a lot to think about!

Back to the current task at hand…

While we were going through homes, I was also looking for ideas for our basement renovation. Construction is going to start in one week and we still have a few decisions to make. I’m still determining whether we want a completely smooth ceiling or a knock-down texture. I have been advised that smooth ceilings show every mark (from fingers, balls, etc.) and, although I like the look, I’m worried about the maintenance. I think I’m willing to chance it and I figure if it works for Sarah Richardson, it will for me. (I just need to have faith that my teenage son and his friends will take it easy!)

{via Sarah Richardson Design}

I’m also not sure what type of carpet I’d like to install. Unfortunately our basement doesn’t have heated floors or I’d probably go with a solid surface floor instead. I’m leaning towards a patterned low-pile mix of loop and cut. I want to select something that is family friendly and resilient, but also doesn’t show footprints like so many carpets do. Any suggestions?

{via Shaw Floors}