House Crasher: Basement Makeover In Progress

My sister and brother-in-law have been fixing up their basement.

When they bought the house, it was finished and carpeted, but all the heating duct work was visible in the ceiling, and the concrete walls just had some white paint smacked on them.

They really wanted to remove the post from the middle of the room, but because it's load bearing, it would have cost a crap ton of money in structural changes.

So they worked around it.

My brother-in-law moved all the duct work, repaired the ceiling where the holes were, put in new recessed lighting, changed up all the TV hookups so it could be moved to a different wall, DIYed some board and batten exactly like we did in our bedroom, and painted the walls a really pretty dark grey.

They re-purposed furniture from their last house, found the ottoman on Craigslist, and filled in with accessories from Ross and Ikea.

It isn't completely finished, they're still planning to DIY a bar area, hang art on the walls, etc., but it looks like a whole new space.

I wish I had a before pic, but just imagine a giant white concrete hole.

And here's where it's at now:

Sorry, the color is a little off.
There's very little natural light.

The couch was from their old house.
The new pillow covers are from Ikea and Ross.

Like I said, they found the storage ottoman on Craigslist.
It's like brand new.

The rocking chair was a hand-me-down from our aunt.

The leaning shelf was one they had.

The TV console was also something they had at their old house.

It originally came from Cost Plus.

This little cubby is where they're planning to put the bar area.

My brother-in-law put in the new light.

I think this picture shows the truest color of the walls.

The picture is really blurry, but look how fun the light is.

And last, one of my favorite parts of the room, this picture.

Ain't she purdy?

A restaurant we frequent features local artists on one of their walls.

We were in there with my sister when this woman had her stuff up.

My sister ooohed and ahhhhed over them and took pictures.

My brother-in-law ordered one for her for Valentine's Day.

The woman sells out of her Etsy Shop here:  

Brenda Dunn

I love it.

So that concludes the tour.

I'll take some more pictures once they have the bar done and everything finished.

But even now, it's like a completely different space.

It never ceases to amaze me what some faux board and batten and a can of paint can do.

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