Bright & Fresh Basement Reno Before & After... (& Notes about New Unfinished Basements)



In the fall, we were contacted to finish a basement in a relatively new neighbourhood. Although a newer home may not have the potential issues of an older home, there are sometimes foundational fixes that need to be addressed before proceeding with a basement renovation. I may be wrong (not being a foundation expert by any means!), but I surmise that it could be because of shifting and movement caused by the constant digging at other properties nearby. I often find cracks in new builds. Most of the time, they are harmless and just need to be levelled off, but it's always wise to get it checked out by a foundation expert. Anyway... I digress!

For this renovation, the client (being an engineer), had his own floor plan in mind, so we went ahead and made his vision a reality! I should definitely mention the instant "brightness" impact of the grey -white laminate floor, which is by Quick Step.

 Before & After Rec Room: The basement, being unfinished had no place for storage. The wall on the right in the "after" shot contains a whole area of storage, in which we finished off a cold room for extra storage.

 

 Before & After Bedroom: There was a space at the end of the long floor plan that the clients wanted to make the bedroom since they don't regularly receive guests. Although it is a slightly awkward space, there is enough room to put a double bed, an armoire and a dresser or desk.

 Before & After TV Area: The client wanted to have an alternative location for installing the wall-mount TV, so we had Ethernet boxes installed here as well.

Lastly, I just wanted to show a picture of the glass shower. The client did not want a tiled shower receptacle (the shower floor), because they felt it would be harder to clean. Instead, we opted for this acrylic shower base from Tubs. The client had a design in mind and asked us to install 4" x 16" white glossy tiles vertically in a brick pattern, with a band of mixed glass blue mosaic as an accent from The Tile Store.

Basement Reno- Planning and Finishing Large Spaces

Planning and finishing large areas of space can be just as difficult as figuring out to do with small ones, so for this post about our latest project, i'm going to focus on how we planned the space. Like most unfinished basements, we start with the basics of what we know: where the furnace, ductwork, supporting beams, windows and plumbing are. Though we can move latter, most things on that list are untouchable.

We then start to design the basement based on the needs of the client, and get a vision for the finishes that they want to see in their dream space. For this particular project the list of requirements were standard: a bedroom, bathroom, a large furnace room and a rec room. The construction and finishes, however, were mostly upgraded: spray foam insulation throughout (which we subcontracted out to Insta-Insulation prior to the contractors starting), DRICore Subfloors, Roxul sound insulation in the ceilings and walls, solid three panel doors, 5" baseboards, and other upgrades you'll see throughout.

 

As much as I would have loved to show you the finished space in its entirety, the client moved everything downstairs so quickly that I didn't have a chance to come and take photos. I take that as a compliment- since that means that they were so eager to use it!

We'll start the tour at the bedroom (which is now being used as an office so i'll respect the client's privacy there). We had two frosted glass doors installed at the entrance. To maintain the flow of traffic, there is another main coridor that is not shown.

Bedroom Before

The rec area in the basement is a lot larger than this space, but I wanted to crop out most of their personal items. On top of the DRICore subfloors, we had the contractors install this gorgeous Classic Plus laminate from Quick Step, in Midnight Oak. It's micro-bevelled, so you get the look of wood flooring. The clients had a few people ask if it was engineered hardwood.

For lighting, the client wanted less focused lighting so we opted for three flushmount fixtures in combination with pot lights.

Another view of the rec area



Stairs Before

(Above) The stairs are now faced with oak treds and risers that are stained to match as best as possible with the multi-coloured laminate.






Bathroom/ Furnace Rooms
before

(Above) - The bathroom was a very large space, so I sggested the idea of adding a listello (band of accent tile) on the floor instead of just in the shower stall.

The glass shower featured the same accent tiles, with a Kohler shower system. We had the contractor create a niche for the shampoos and soaps, which also helped break up the large space visually.

Before & Afters: Basement Renovation

We recently were called in to do a basement renovation, which was originally supposed to be completed in later months, but due to new circumstances, the renovation needed to be done right away. The project was fast tracked to be completed in 2 weeks time, with a minimum budget to get it done. I definitely love a challenge, especially when we try to make the impossible possible for a great young family like my clients! It was a joy working with them and their super friendly kids. Here are the before and after pictures:

 



The Bedroom Before

 

After painting, and brand new laminate flooring (although the picture was taken as the basement was being cleaned ;)

The space underneath the staircase was utilized and a new storage space was formed.

The Staircase Before & After: Matching laminate was installed on the stairs to save on the project cost (as opposed to solid oak treads)

The bathroom previously had a moulded shower and vinyl floor tiles.





The owners wanted just to refresh the bathroom so we retiled with 12" x 24" grey tile, replaced the toilet, pedestal sink and shelving. Due to the short time frame, we also had to find a ready made shower stall that fit the area, so this off the rack shower with a moulded shower pan was installed. We dressed up the subway tiled shower stall with some glass mosaic tile.

The furnace room before

The laundry was previously located right next to the electrical panel, and we felt like this back room space was being under utilized, so we moved the laundry to the back of the basement, tiled the floor and created a hanging area for drying clothes.

Totally Renovated Townhome Part I - The basement

I am SO excited to finally post photos up of a project that i've been working on for the past few months. While the construction only took a little longer than 6 weeks (the renovation of the whole entire home!), the actual design process takes many more weeks of proper planning, sourcing, design and coordination, which is a huge burden that Creative Design Therapy will take off your shoulders. I thought this would be a great opportunity to share more about the renovation process and what it takes to put something like this together. If you're thinking of renovating any part of your home, i'm hoping this will give some insight into the process. If you want to know more, please contact us with any questions you have at all, and we'll be happy to answer them.

 

Here's a look at the renovation we just finished:

BEFORE (the basement rec area). Photo by Century21

For this project, the client actually retained my services prior to purchasing his home, so that I could give rough estimates and my professional opinion on his investment before putting in an offer. In the long run, this could save you thousands of dollars, as certain issues can be forseen (some, of course, cannot without a home inspection, or actually opening up walls). Remember that your home is likely your largest investment and if you're in the process of purchasing a home, consider contacting us! After he purchased the house, we discussed the list of things that needed to be renovated, the client's wishes, and secured a contractor after receiving quotes. I also priced out materials and started managing and implementing a budget.


PROGRESS: the dropped ceilings have been removed and replaced with drywall. The carpeting was also removed.

AFTER: My client loved the flooring I had installed in another basement so we installed the same flooring here. It is a beautiful quality laminate by Torly's. I just love putting light coloured flooring in the basement because it makes it feel so much lighter and brighter.

We also painted the dark beige walls, added potlighting, and changed the doorknobs (a HUGE difference for those making to make an impact on a small budget by the way!)

A view of one of the many closets we have in this basement!

BEFORE:  The basement bedroom housing the electrical panel (behind the bulletin board)

 AFTER:  Because it's the basement, we didnt want to spend too much on another built in, so instead I chose an Ikea PAX wardrobe to fit the space. The electrical panel is now housed in a cute little cupboard.

 BEFORE: The basement washroom...

 AFTER: We used an "off the rack" shower kit from Home Depot, but I dressed it up by having this random strip charcoal tile. This shower will likely be used by guests, so we purchased a column body spray fixture (which is a much less expensive alternative to a wall mounted fixture).

 

 AFTER: The vanity is a floating vanity with a resin top installed. Everything you see here in this washroom except for the tiles were purchased from a big box store.

Staging Project in Cathedraltown

Here's a project I staged a few months ago in Cathedraltown, a unique development in northwest Markham built around a huge cathedral of course!  It is a development that features monochromatic homes and townhomes, so it was extra important to make the inside spectacular and unforgettable. The owners happen to be good friends of mine and the husband is a great photographer so we had fun collaborating!

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After - the space looks a lot more expansive with a formal dining set.

The Loft Before Staging

The loft After. This space was very tricky since it was absolutely huge, so I divided it into three sections. An entertaining section by the balcony, an office and a family living space.

I loved this Loft! A casual and beachy family and entertaining space

In the kitchen we added a backsplash to make it fresher

 The basement was a well planned but unfinished space that we had finished for the sale of the home.

Basement Before

Basement After Finishing

Bathroom basement before we came in...

Basement bathroom After: the client had sourced the floor tile and vanity, and we took care of the rest!