I am so in love with how this turned out!!! I actually did not want to do it! I keep a rolling punch list of projects broken down into want to and have to. I have now lived in this home for 3 years, and to be honest, I can’t believe all that has gotten done! If you are new here, you can search HERE for all lake home renovations. In the basement, replacing the doors was on “have” too. They were so dated and old… while doing this, I was also doing a bathroom and the back deck, and Brandon talked me into it, and I am so glad he did!
To back up a little bit. When I first moved here, we all lived in the basement for about a month while I did the floors and painted upstairs. Once we moved up, I did a little upgrade to the basement, too. You can see that HERE. This was more of an upgrade of the space, and really, there was just some space that was not functional at all. The basement had/has 3 big closets, and one was so odd and big. Looking back at the prior homeowners, they used it as their attic, but it did not make sense because this home has three attics upstairs. Function-wise, I wanted to be able to add a couch down, and I wanted an ice machine. Living on the lake during the summer months, I felt like I was always running to get ice at the store, and for the couch, I wanted a fold-out one so it could serve as a bed for guests.
Okay, okay, here it is!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!
Here is where we started three years ago, friends!
Here are the two major structure things. Notice the wall. So it was removed, and a cedar column was added on both ends and new walls were added. And these are all 1980s doors. BYE!
AHHHHHHH, I love it so much now!
Due to budget, noticed these are the original cabinets, the blue ones. I painted those two years ago. I wanted a larger fridge, so I decided to mix the two cabinets by going with wood here and also on the mini bar I will show next.
Ice machine and beer fridge/high noon fridge! I love it! Down here, there are two different countertops. This is a butcher block.
This is probably one of my favorite things about the basement! You All know my love for stone. We did stone outside on the new deck and brought it inside here on this accent wall. It is literally everything! The cedar columns used to be the structural support needed. On one wall, we had a wood cabinet built to tie in the other wood cabinets. A spot for the wine fridge. This is now a little mini bar/serving area. Again, design and function!!! I can’t wait to host more events. To me, that is what it is about!!!
I just had to repolish the floors where the old wall was. Went with a darker stone top here!
Updating the doors to sliders made such a difference. It brought the space up to date and just cleaned it up! I will share the full back deck reno soon, too! Stay tuned!!! Because I am so grateful, and to be honest, I am still in aww, this is my home!
Can I interject this… I once prayed for a home my kids would love to have their friends over. A space they would want to be. A space their friends would want to be. You guys might be here for the design inspo…but this right here is what makes this mom’s heart so happy!
Okay, back to the details… This space I wanted it to be fun and a mix of modern, different elements of metal and wood. The couch is a sleeper sofa from Pottery Barn. The leather is the perfect look for down here! Know though, I did score it out at the outlet mall, saving so much money! These picture frames are various mix and match from West Elm.
I will have to do another post on this closet too, behind this barn door slider. I did not want to lose the functional closet space, and I had a gun safe, a sauna, board games, and various things for hosting that I wanted to store, so we carefully designed that space! MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!!
For years and years, I have been doing projects and home renovations. You all know I run my home like a business, and I don’t start a project without knowing the scope of the project and budget. I decided to bundle up my worksheets and share my Excel template for budgeting. For anyone who wants a template to get started. Home Renovations Budget you can grab it here!
