Brainstorming Basement Ideas

Sorry for the lack of posting this past week! While helping our best friends (now neighbors!) move in, catching a cold, the RAVENS WINNING THE SUPER BOWL and catching up on the bachelor we've been busy! Not to mention, most of last week Chris' uncle was staying with us while we were finishing the basement (thank you!) But I am back to share an update and throw out a few of my basement ideas! 

If you follow me on instagram, you've seen the progress we made to the basement already. I sneaked in a few shots with my camera to give you a better view.

Here is a peak at our main living space after we framed it out and added electrical outlets. You can see the office door frame to the right.

And here is our back room! We have a built in bench where the pipe is for our radon. Where our sump pump is, we built a closet for storage (adding shelves above). Behind the black shelving unit we are putting in a built in bookcase/cabinet. 

And here we are now! We have all the drywall up, recessed lights in, cable and electric hooked up and Chris' uncle is in town taping and mudding the walls!

Here are a few of my current must haves when we complete our basement.

Add a craftsman trim to all doors and windows once doors are installed.

Add a runner to our stairs. We still are up in the air about flooring, but I love the idea of adding a fun patterned runner to the stairs. You can easily update this throughout the years. 

Add a fun door to the laundry room. Growing up with horses, this would be fun to incorporate into the basement. We left our laundry room unfinished with storage, but having a fun sliding door would add personality. 

One of my favorite things about our basement is we plan on adding french doors to the office. We framed it out and I really love the oil rubbed bronze finishes on these! It'll also help to let light into the room since there are only 3 small windows in our entire basement. 

For the walls I am loving this neutral by Sherwin Williams - Intellectual Gray. I have grays throughout the house, and I like how it allows me to add in colors with accent pieces like lamps, pillows, rugs and throws. 

Adding a bar area to our basement is a definite. Chris and I love entertaining! I originally wanted to incorporate a bar area under the stairs, but a supporting pole and pipes didn't allow for that to happen so we turned the space into a closet for storage. Turning an Ikea expedit on it's side makes the perfect bar. Baskets can hold additional liquor bottles, cocktail napkins and more! How fun would glass lamps filled with wine corks look on top?

The basement will be a work in progress for awhile, but having Chris' uncle help finishing it to the point where we could take over was a life savor! We never would have been able to frame, drywall, tape, mud or hook up cable/outlets/lighting by ourselves. We really appreciate all of his hard work!