Budget Friendly Basement Refresh: Cozy And Simple Everyday Functionality

Today I am sharing our budget friendly basement refresh! My focus was to keep the space as cozy and simple as possible for everyday functionality.

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A few years ago, my husband and I finally tackled a project that we had been dreaming of completing for years: our basement! I’m going to be honest, our unfinished basement was a little scary haha It was dark, damp and there was duct work and pipes hanging everywhere. We took our basement renovation one project at a time, starting off with replacing all of the plumbing in our home.

We then focused on finishing the laundry side of our basement, creating the cottage style laundry room of my dreams. We put up beadboard on the walls, installed a new farmhouse style sink and put in some cabinets for extra storage. We finished the stairs, and tiled under the washer and dryer. We also decided to use the same tile for the floors that we used in our mudroom, and added some rugs for a softer feel. Laundry may not be my favorite chore, but it is so much more enjoyable now that I have this space to do it in! Haha 🙂

However, we really wanted to finish off the rest of the basement for our four growing boys to have a space of their own in our home. About two years ago, we completed the basement remodel project and surprised our boys on Christmas Day! You can watch our finished basement reveal here.

Mike was truly amazing during this process, as he became an electrician/plumber/contractor all in one haha He did all of the framing and added insulation and drywall to the basement ceiling and walls. He also installed all of the vinyl flooring over the concrete floor. Next, we added a sofa for relaxing and a playroom nook for all of their toys. The kids absolutely love this space, and it is great for entertaining guests as well.

Our basement is a cozy, bonus living space that is great for lounging, having a little home theater on movie night, and letting the boys play with abandon. However, I knew it held so much more potential, so Mike and I got to work on some more fun, DIY projects to really maximize the square footage. I am ready to show you guys what we have been up to down here and how we are utilizing this space, and I am so excited to take you along and share this entire basement makeover with you!

Basement Play Area

Our play area before was pretty much just a big area rug with various bins of toys, blocks and a slide. I had a vision for this area to have its own set of shelving and storage, so we decided to build some bookshelves and buy some cabinets.

We purchased some upper cabinets from Home Depot, the same ones we used in our laundry space. They came unfinished, and we used upper cabinets because they have a smaller depth of 12 inches. We then built the shelves with 12 inch pine boards and of course a beadboard backdrop to add some character to the built in shelves.

Next I did something I never advise homeowners to do – I picked out a color without sampling it in the space first! We live about an hour away from any home improvement store, and I impatiently picked out paint to use because I didn’t want to make the drive back for a different color.

I went with a bold, blue color from Behr called Norwegian Blue, and I am so in love with how it turned out! I’ll admit I was scared while I was painting the cabinets and shelves because I am not accustomed to using such bold color in my home, but it really adds a beautiful pop of blue and a lot of depth to the space.

Once the paint was dry, I added the boys books and some fun decor like their bug display case to the shelves. I adore the built in shelving and how it looks like a little library now! We also utilized the shelves for some storage solutions, like adding a lego play station and some baskets and bins.

Window Treatments

We had to get creative with our window treatments, as the basement windows are ceiling height. I asked my husband if he thought he could make a special curtain rod, and he came up with the idea to use a few copper pipes we already had to create a custom window treatment. We did have to anchor them, but they look so beautiful with the $2 plaid curtains I scored at a thrift store.

Wall Decor

Next we got to work on giving a large bulletin board a makeover. My church was giving away this massive bulletin board for free, and I knew it would be a great place to hang up all of my boys art projects, crafts and homeschool resources. I painted the border a pretty sage green color with chalk paint and added a protective wax finish.

We hung up a world map on the bulletin board, and then we hung a little shelf next to the bulletin board. The shelf is a great place for smaller magazines and coloring books, and if you remember, we used to have this shelf in the boys bedroom! Even though we are not using the basement as a homeschooling space, I still thought it would be great to put up some homeschool resources to create an atmosphere of learning, reading and adventure.

My husband put up this fun, plaid wallpaper that makes such a bold statement in our basement. The wall behind the couch just looked a little cold, and I wanted a wallpaper accent wall to cozy up the space. I just adore how this wall turned out and the much needed warmth it brought to this area.

Under the television, we have a really cool piece from an old hardware store that I got from Facebook marketplace, but I knew the blank area around the tv could use some art. I ordered some fabric prints with bugs and marine life because I knew my boys would love them.

Finishing Touches

To the sectional couch, I added some new throw pillows and blankets that I purchased from Target. I stuck to bold patterns in blues and greens to match the new shelves and bulletin board, and it really tied everything together. My boys are obsessed with making pillow and blanket forts, so for them, the more pillows and blankets, the better haha

I wanted to have some fun with the duct work because it hangs pretty low. We decided not to cover it up because it would make the ceiling very low. Some had suggested we paint the duct work, but I kind of like the industrial look it gives. To add some fun, I hung up some cute alphabet flashcards that I absolutely love.

To finish up the play area, I brought in some of the boys stuffed animals to put on display and then I organized all of their toys into separate green bins that I purchased from Meijer. I hung a chalkboard that I refinished a few years ago, and put some solar system flashcards on display there. I also brought in a new area rug that I purchased from Target. This rug is very soft and very affordable, and the neutral color really helps to balance out the bold blue color on the cabinets and shelves.

Well friends that is a tour of our basement refresh! I really wanted this to be a fun space for my boys, and I believe I was able to do just that with the changes we made. Adding some pops of color with the cabinets and shelves, as well as the wallpaper accent wall really helped to liven up the space. My boys are so happy with the finished result! What do you think about my basement refresh? Let me know in the comments below!

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