Transformation for the New Year
Dennis and I decided to kick off the New Year with a transformation of the basement into a den/game room. We have been thinking of doing this for some time, and somehow just ended up plunging into the project during his last few days off from work. It has been quite the project, and was actually lots of fun, as it required me to organize and purge a lot of junk that has been collecting in our unfinished side of the basement.
The plan was this: half of our basement is unfinished and is used for storage. However, there is just too much open space and we wanted to be able to use some of the space for storage, and the rest of the space as living space. We decided to create a 12x12 room for storage, and make the rest of the space a play area for the kids, and a family game area as well. My dad and brother helped out with the 12 foot long drywall sheets, but other than that, Dennis did the construction and electrical work all by himself!
Dennis contemplating the area to be framed. Can you begin to see the stuff that covers the floor of the basement?
Here it is framed and the beginning of electricity being run. Eventually we will put some type of floor down over the concrete, but for now, it's just concrete with carpet remnants here and there.
I like this shot, looking out through the framing to the collection of stuff in the rest of the basement. All that....has to come in here!
View of the finished storage room. The doorway will have bi-fold doors on it soon. When you walk in the storage area, the left side is completely shelves, and the right side is stored furniture (beds, dressers, etc.). It is an amazing transformation! On the far wall behind the ping-pong table we put up a dartboard area, and I have hung some pictures on the walls since taking this picture.
We hung a roller shade in front of the heating/water heater stuff just to hide the ugliness for now. It also helps keep stray ping-pong balls from going too far. The kids are having a great time now that they can actually play ping-pong!
The den/toy area. Far from finished, but so much cozier than once was before. We are borrowing my brother's tv/dvd. The kids legos, dart guns, and most of the boys' toys are moving downstairs. We have an old set of french doors we will be installing in the doorway where i am standing taking this picture which will help open the area up to the adjoining room (which is my sewing area off of our bedroom).Now the fun is done and back to school/life/work as normal! I hope that your New Year is wonderful!
2 comments:
love your new area!
fyi-target has some great shelving (metro shelves)that several of my friends have used in their playrooms. It's heavy duty metal shelving that is attractive. It sturdy so it won't fall and it is good size. They also have these collapsable fabric colored bins that are often on sale 2 for $5 that would be great for storing miscellaneous items. I personally go for the clear bins with tops, but the colored ones do look nice and are light to lift when they are full of balls or action figures.
i know it's probably cold with the cement floor but i wouldn't put anything too nice down there b/c it's nice not to have to worry about clean up... maybe indoor/outdoor carpet??
I love your new basement, Heather. We, too, have recently made changes from a toyroom basement to a gameroom basement. still lots to do.
When you get a chance, show us how you hung your dartboard. We have 3 dartboards that I am trying to figure out how to hang on the cinderblock wall.
Thanks for showing us a lot of pictures. Very inspiring! Now all you need is a woodstove to make it toasty warm:-)
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