The Basement
When we built our home we drywalled the basement and had the layout we wanted. We did not add the final touches like flooring and furniture. We recently decided since we will know have a junior in high school we would tackle this space to enjoy with our whole family before college changes things.
7/13/20264 min read
I made this image through ChatGPT and is what I am hoping to create for the kitchen area. We will do it all ourselves. My husband hand made our office built ins, which saves a lot and it was pretty easy for him, so he might do that again.
We are finishing our basement and here is how we are doing it as cheap as possible. Now I say cheep but I want a high end feel. I want you to look at the space and say, "Wow! This is so nice!" I am only saying we are seeing how cheep we can do it cost wise while still pertaining a high end feel.
First up was the exercise space which we recently completed. You can read about it here. Secondly, we recently added carpet to the living space. My husband laid the carpet himself after watching YouTube videos on how to it and it turned out SO good. That saved a lot of money doing it ourselves. He rented the carpet tools he needed at Menards. We also really researched carpet and quality. Having two dogs, we went with a higher quality pad underneath that is waterproof so in case there is a pet accident or spilled pop it isn't getting through the pad. The price of pads aren't much different so I would recommend the a higher quality one. For the carpet we found a great quality carpet for such a great price! Now this living space is HUGE. We currently have divided into a game are on one side and a movie hang out space on the other side. I will share the pictures I took. They aren't the best and no where near finished but you can get the layout idea that way.
In between these two pictures is a fireplace wall right in the middle of the room to separate the two spaces. There is also a cut out area on on side that will have a small kitchen. The other side has a door that currently leads to storage/tornado shelter but will be a wine room. This was very controversial on Instagram, but I shared we decided not to add a fireplace to the fireplace wall. We are doing something more affordable. We decided to nix the fireplace because we don't need the heat. My husband installed inflow radiant heating before the concrete was poured in the basement. It is very affordable to run as heat in the winter, so we don't need the fireplace. We already one on the first and second floor as well. I will show you draw ups I did of what we will be doing instead.
This will be what you see when you walk down the stairs. It will fave the game area. I chose the onyx wall paper from WallBlush.com. The wall paper will be here this week, as well, as this art, bench, and light. I went with the onyx wall paper to get the look and texture of stone but for a lot less. I love this wall paper company. I have done both traditional with paste from this company and peel and stick. Both are great but I do prefer the peel and stick. I can put it up very quick and it sticks well. This brand is very high quality in my opinion.
This will be the back side of the wall. It will be the movie room area. We will have a big screen tv here with a console table. (I have this console table and it is from Temu. Less than $200 and I love it). I like how the sofa faced the stairs when coming down is why the tv will go here. It will also be hidden so as to not away from the space.
Lastly, is the bathroom. It will be a shower or a tub shower. This is the direction I am leaning, however I am having a hard time finding affordable green tile.
That's it. That's my ideas and what we hope to create. I will say the best way to save money is to do it yourself. YouTube has amazing tutorials and has helped my husband so much on finishing things himself.
Now I want to know in the comments your thoughts on the fireplace wall no long being a fireplace wall?
This is my idea for finishing our tornado room: I will convert it into a wine room with some storage. This is a general idea of the space size and what I have in mind.