Hello Folks!

Basement Renovation?!?!?! One Room challenge???

Remember when I said, “No way can we do the Fall One Room Challenge this year? No?? Well, this past Spring, during the pandemic, no less, we renovated an entire floor of a distressed property we had bought with only DIYs and online shopping. Talk about WORK! The Airbnb was a HUGE project for us (see the reveal here), and honestly, I felt we would need a break. I was planning a life of leisure this Fall. My daughters were pregnant with their first babies, and my oldest daughter’s due date was mid-October. So I was all set to sit this one out and cheer on my ORC friends from afar and had no plans to participate until this week!!

As they say, time makes you forget the hard work, and my newest Grandson – (the second in 5 weeks!!!) came early (he and Mama are both doing GREAT), so I’ve made a last-minute decision to renovate our basement and participate in Fall One Room Challenge!

We’ve spent the entire quarantine at the lakehouse and, in August, decided to make the move permanent. Spending so much time at home has had me thinking of ways to create additional space for hanging out. My husband and I have plenty of space for ourselves, but once all the kids and grandkids show up, we need a bit more space. We probably won’t need room for large gatherings for a while yet, but I want to be prepared when we can! So, I have decided to turn our dark basement into a usable all-purpose living/game space.

It will be great for resale value if we sell down the road. Would you like to know more about the value a basement renovation can add? Check out this article from Porch.com.

 

Currently, the basement is FILLED with furniture. But if you look closer, you will see that the walls are finished with….well, all the leftover materials from when the house was built. Paneling, some headboard from our covered porch’s ceiling, and my favorite, the siding from the outside! This basement is begging to be renovated!

The floors are pink concrete. The main space is just over 600 sq feet. I know we want to keep the pool table and add a conversation area and a table for games. Maybe a spot for a bar?? I save the final layout once we move some of this stuff out of the room.

The Plan:

New Flooring– something durable and easy if we are going to lay it ourselves.

Drywall– luckily, my husband can do this.

Ceiling– Paint. I think we are going to paint it to keep the height.

Accent Wall– I am thinking of a slat wall?

Lighting

Doors?

DIY projects– dartboard, cue holder, bar cart?

What is the One Room Challenge? Did you get this far, and I didn’t explain it? I’m sorry!!! The One Room Challenge, or ORC, is a 6-week long challenge (created by Linda Weinstein) that encourages designers and design bloggers to transform one room.

20 featured designers reveal their weekly progress on Wednesdays, and over 200 guest participants share their updates every Thursday. The event was designed to encourage and support each other along the way.

Better Homes & Gardens is back as the media partner!

I hope you’ll follow along on this journey. And be sure to check out all the other ORC Designers here and my fellow guest participants here. The ORC is FILLED with inspiration.

Until next time,

Libbie

PS….here is baby Anders, who is one week old today.