Thursday, December 10, 2009

Basement Makeover


This is what took up most my time in November and thanks to Mike (hubby) it went smoothly, plus he added some great ideas for his man cave.





You can see the great man cave here and he really had the place to himself, the girls and I didn't like going down into the dark paneled room.

So I give you the befores - the south end, the TV viewing area:






Heading down the stairs, just off the kitchen







Looking up the stairs, the carpet looks very bad, it has been down way too long







A full view of the TV - sectional area:






The landing of the stairs - the door leads to the laundry - sewing room







See where we had to patch the carpet?







The desk - bar area













The bar with just an old light fixture












Now the after - a few gallons of primer and paint and the place looks so much better





The desk area









The sectional area, I have purchased 5 poster size frames from Joann's and plan on taking pictures from our farm to put in the frames. I have one leaning on the sofa to think about this. I am thinking black and white prints, what do you think?













The stairs going up. Mike purchased oak treads from Home Depot and stained them, they look so wonderful






Looking down, we replaced the landing carpet with a floating tile floor from Home Depot. I would really like to do the entire basement. Mike wanted to put a bit of the floor down and see how it holds up. Another good idea.




The walls look white heading down the stairs but it is a tannish-cream, if that makes sense. All the paint came from our local True Value, except the primer, we used Gripper from Home Depot.







Here is a better shot of the landing and one of the treads. I stained the unfinished side of the basement floor, you can see that at the top of the picture.








The bar after - we changed out the light. The wiring was not center above the bar, so the fixture is a more to the left but I can live with that, it is so much better than the old one.


Now only one problem, the man cave doesn't look so cave-ish any more and we tend to watch TV down there more.




So if the girls and I are going to be down there, we need a tree. I found this one at Hobby Lobby, we added some floral picks and balls.

Here is a picture with the flash so you can see the ornaments








No Flash:






Close-up









A few gallons of paint, a bit of flooring and the oak treds made an incredible difference in this room. Now my question, "Why didn't we do this sooner?"



I am linking this post to:



and

24 comments:

  1. Outstanding. My basement looks like your "old" basement. Did you have have to patch many dings in the wall? If so,what other preparation did you do to the walls? I think the lighter look brings a more contemporary edge to the cave look as I call my basement. It looks lovely.This is my next summer project. EeeeK!

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  2. Wow! What a transformation! Hubby will have to finds a "man cave" out in the barn! ;-)

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  3. Wow - there is hope for wood panelling! I love how simply a can of paint can change a look for cheap!
    Great job.
    Black and white prints would really add to the walls! A gallery of prints would really fill in the space!

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  4. Oh Wow! Great transformation. No wonder you having been sewing. How's the back and hands after all that hard work?

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  5. Great job! Very very nice!

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  6. This looks great! Amazing what a little paint can do. I like the oak treads on the stairs too!

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  7. Amazing what some paint can do. It looks like a completely different space. I think your B&W farm prints will look great on the walls. Fantastic job!

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  8. What a change! The "new" basement looks fantastic!

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  9. It looks really nice! Good job.

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  10. It looks great! I love True Value paint. I would love to have a basement. They are hard to come by in the South.

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  11. What an amazing transformation - the room looks so spacious and modern now. Well worth all your hard work!

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  12. Wonderful transformation, Lori. It looks fabulous and so much lighter with the paint on the walls.

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  13. You didn't do it before because it's a lot of work. Can't get everything done all at once. It looks awesome!

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  14. Way to go mom. You transformed the "dark dreary man cave" into a nice family room. It is amazing what a few tons of paint will do.
    I love the new treads on the stairs too. Never understood carpet on stairs- very easy to fall down and slip on.

    Great job.
    tammy

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  15. Amazing transformation with just paint alone! And those stairs are now to die for! I can already see your smile as you climb down the stairs. :)

    Thanks for linking up to SNS!

    FJ Donna

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  16. Fabulous makeover! It is amazing the difference a can of paint can make. Great job!

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  17. What a great transformation! Everything looks so much brighter! The stairs came out amazing! Well done!

    Cheers!
    Tina

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  18. Amazing ! I have painted a lot of paneling ( was a prof painter for many years) and I know how much work this was ! Looks fabulous !!!
    Eunice

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  19. Wow! The power of paint and some elbow grease on display...Looks like a totally new space. And I dig your little tree too...it seems happy to be there :)

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  20. What a great transformation! Lovely job. I enjoy looking at others projects and being inspired! Enjoy the new space.

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  21. I'm here via The Lettered Cottage. You all did a ton of work and it looks amazing. I think painting the panels really revitalized the space.

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  22. Oh my! That paint made a world of difference!! You did an outstanding job of transforming that basement!

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  23. Anonymous1:18 PM

    What a difference! It looks so clean, fresh, and cheery in your family room.

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  24. How about trying sepia prints for your walls?

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