How to Make a Basement for Everyone

I feel like I am constantly saying, “Before COVID happened, I was….”. Anybody else doing this? I keep thinking in terms of before and after in dealing with our lives during this pandemic. In keeping with that theme, I worked on a really fun project before COVID happened. I had clients who wanted to update their basement and make some additional changes to their home. They wanted a basement space their family could hang out in together. They had a great layout, but it needed updating with fresh paint, carpet and furniture. They had done what so many of us do -we put all of our collected, older pieces of furniture in the basement. Items we are not ready to part with, but they don’t really go together. Here are some before pics so you can see where we started:

They had lots of rooms that lead into each other which was great. I knew in order to update it the right way we would want all of the rooms to flow together with color and furnishings. They had a weight room that was carpeted and disorganized. They had paint colors that were a bit drab and old carpet that needed a facelift.

The first step was finding the right paint color. We knew we wanted it to be bright. They space had one room that had lots of windows and let in natural light. I wanted a warm white that wouldn’t turn yellow in the rooms that weren’t getting as much light.

We played around with several whites and landed with Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace. It’s a warm white that did not turn yellow in their space.

We picked a light carpet that worked well with the paint and was fresh and clean.

For the weight room, we did away with the carpet and installed a rubber floor. We added a wall of mirrors, new lighting and a fan. Now, it truly feels like a gym.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, lighting can make a world of difference. We changed all of it. We created not only a brighter space, but one with some added style. Here are my favorites we used:

Having a clean slate to work with is every designer’s dream project. The client wanted to get rid of all of their old furniture and use comfortable, updated pieces. I had a blast finding everything. From sofas to tables to chairs, we did it all. We gave them work spaces, gathering spots, and lounging areas. Here are the final spaces: