Happy Thursday! Since it’s Throwback Thursday, I thought I would share pictures of our basement remodel project at Happy Hill. It was very dated and small when we purchased the lake house. Our vision was to update it and make it more spacious and livable. It took a long time since it wasn’t our first priority, but we got it done!
As you can see from the original floor plan, the entire basement living space was only 18.4 by 30.3 feet! So, we had about 500 square feet to work with. There was a fireplace, a full bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchenette and a den area. Outside this space was a covered patio area and the separate storage area. All very small and tight quarters.
The first order of business was to enlarge the entire space. We ripped out the little kitchenette and all of the carpet. (There was even carpet in the bathroom.) I’m sort of sad the previous owner took the cute little green refrigerator…
Carpet and paneling. So 1970’s!
We also decided to enclose the covered porch area and double the living space. We had an enormous header beam installed and removed the outer wall that lead to the covered patio. The picture below shows the original basement door leading out to the covered patio.
We added a large set of sliding doors and windows across the back for lots of light and lake views. This enabled us to add an office area and enclose the unfinished storage area. This picture shows the outside and back of the house before we enclosed the covered porch area.
On the bottom left side of the house you can see where we added the windows and sliders. (behind the huge azaleas) We relocated the stairs too.
We moved the stacked washer and dryer from an upstairs hallway closet into the unfinished storage area which was now accessible inside the house. It’s always nice to have the laundry room located inside the house! We put the hot water heater in there along with the old refrigerator. Truly a working space now. (This room is called The Banana Room.) At some point we hope to put a full size washer and dryer and add some cabinetry, but for now it works. Priorities!
What was advertised as a bedroom/office was only large enough for one twin size bed. It had a closet behind the door which housed the hot water heater and the furnace, which no longer worked. Clearly not a useable bedroom! So we pulled out the closet, relocated the hot water heater to the banana room and tossed the broken furnace. Now we have room for 2 twin beds! Yoo-Hoo! We dubbed this room “The Bunk House”.
The twin iron beds belonged to my Great Grandfather! I love them.
We were stumped as to how to finish the floor since it was concrete and very un-level. Plus, we knew people would come off of the lake with wet feet and wet bathing suits, so we wanted something that could withstand water and dirt. We ended up with a speckled concrete treatment similar to what folks put in their garage. It’s a speckled mix of black, brown, tan and white. (You can see a bit of the floor in the picture below of the desk area.) Honestly, this floor NEVER shows dirt. Trust me, this is a HUGE plus when you have a big furry dog that loves to swim! My sweet Lacey-girl.
We added a desk for my husband in the back corner of the newly enclosed basement. Now he has a beautiful lake view while he works!
And a cozy sitting area: I love the mid-century modern chairs. I bought them for $3 each and refinished and recovered them.
We painted the brick fireplace white and added a mantle and tv. (which we never watch but it was argued a man cave must have a tv) The wood burning fireplace was replaced with much easier gas logs. They really help warm up the basement in the winter. Our conversation area is fun and functional. Four large leather chairs and a sofa provide lots of comfortable sitting space. (forgive the bad picture, I’ll take a better one next time.)
Here is the little coffee table I bought for $40 and refinished:
We added a wet bar where the old kitchenette was before. There is a small beverage fridge, sink, dishwasher, and cabinets for storage. The basement remodel project is mostly complete! There are always some finishing touches, but we love the space now. It’s much larger and suits our family’s needs much better.
We also remodeled the bathroom, but I’ll share that another time. Thank you for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful day!
