DIY Finished Basement Progress with Beadboard
Today I’m sharing our DIY finished basement progress with beadboard! The basement still has a ways to go, but we are so content with how far we’ve come since last June when we started this project.
I’ve mentioned before in previous blog posts that we have slowly been trying to finish our basement. Many of you have reached out and asked to see updates so that you can see the progress, so today I am sharing our DIY finished basement progress with beadboard!
This is by no means a reveal post, the basement is no where near finished. My husband has had to do everything himself, including replacing all of the original 1930’s plumbing, installing new windows, running electrical, framing out the space, building new stairs, and installing tile flooring to name a few things.
He often jokes that this project “isn’t a one man job, but it’s a one man show.” Haha in other words it’s been very slow going, but that’s totally fine because in the end we are saving so much money by doing it all ourselves.
I have of course been helping where I can, whether it’s painting or caulking or just keeping the boys occupied while he works. Mike has made so much progress since we started on this last June, though, and when I showed him these before and after photos it was so sweet to see the smile on his face!
I know we have a long ways to go, but I’m so proud of all he’s accomplished and now that the basic shell is finished, I am starting to visualize how I want this space to come together.
So the room I’m about to show you is right off of our back entry or “mudroom” as I called it in a previous post. Yes, I know it’s more of landing zone for coats and shoes as you come in the back, but we’ll stick with mudroom since that’s how it’s being used. I can’t wait to show you how that space came together! We are waiting on tile to arrive and then it will be finished!
For this basement area that I’m about to show you, many of you asked over on Instagram what my plan for the space will be. Essentially it’s an extension of the mudroom, but it will also double as a laundry room and maybe even a kitchenette.
I would love for our basement to be a place where guests can stay if they come to visit, so a kitchenette area with a coffee pot and mini fridge would be wonderful. Here’s a before shot of that corner –
And look at the progress!
We have’t gotten to the second room of the basement yet that’s just off of this space, I’ll tell you about my plans for that area another time.
For now, here are more before and after photos of the laundry/mudroom area, just to show you how far we’ve come. You can see that this space was a basic, dungeon-like basement with cinderblock walls…pretty scary. The washer/dryer area was probably the trickiest to figure out.
Before –
My husband had to get creative and frame around all the existing plumbing, and he even built everything up on a platform so that he could still access the sump pump.
Progress –
The area you see next to the washer and dryer will be a utility sink. I bought an antique wash tub for that space and my hope is to surround it with butcher block.
Before –
Progress –
You can see that we had basic basement stairs before, so my husband added new risers and treads that I stained, along with a pretty wood railing.
Before –
Progress –
Before –
Progress –
He also closed off the area behind the chimney and turned it into a storage space with shelving for kids clothes and holiday decor.
Before –
I can’t wait to get the bi-fold doors hung! We are waiting on more tile to finish off the floor.
Progress –
Again, I know this post wasn’t glamorous or super inspiring in anyway, but I’m proud of the progress my sweet husband has made and I can’t wait to share it all with you when it’s finished.
Do you have a finished basement, or a scary one like ours?! Do you have plans to finish it? I’d love to hear in the comments below, and I really hope you enjoyed our DIY finished basement progress with beadboard!
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Beautiful Job and it looks great! You will surely use that space well while it will look so stylish.
Love your cute family and enjoy your blog so much!
Thank you so so much, and yes all that extra space will be amazing for us!
WOW!!! He is incredibly talented!! You are BEYOND lucky! It’s not every guy who willingly spends his “free” time working like this . . . . You entire home reflects the love both of you have for it. Such good stewardship of all the Lord has provided.
Yes, God is so good, and I am so blessed for the husband he gave me! Thank you!
What your husband is doing is amazing. The basement is going to be beautiful when it’s finished. I enjoy following you.
Thank you so much, I am so excited to see it!
Looks great, we’re looking to use beadboard in our basement as well. Did your husband attach the beadboard directly to the floor joists above or did he run strapping?
He could have attached it to the floor joists, but there were some water lines in the way, so he added some 2×4’s to the joists and attached the beadboard to those!
Wow, looks great so far! What tile did you use? I love it. Looking for something similar for our house.
Thank you! The tile is from Home Depot, unfortunately they stopped producing the larger tile pictured and we have had to be creative in what to match it with in other areas, but so far I am happy with the progress!
Hold on just a minute there girl! If you think this post “was not super inspiring in any way”, I’m sorry to say you are wrong!!
This looks JUST LIKE MY BASEMENT! I’ve been wanting to make my basement laundry room pretty for so long! And now I AM so inspired! I have been thinking about doing tile exactly like this, so that’s a nice coincidence.
My house is super small. I have no “mudroom” either. No room for main floor laundry. You show me that working with what we have can be something great!!
Thank you!!!
You are very welcome Tracey! Sometimes we have this image in our head of what is “beautiful” but we need to work with what we have at times, and there are always ways to make it look prettier!
Andrea, you and your husband are quite the design and build team! I really like what you have going with your basement. We have a finished basement of a 1950s house that we need to remedy a ceiling situation. It has newer (non-asbestos) acoustic tiles that are dated and ugly in my opinion. Would the sheets of beadboard that you used be a suitable solution to cover over them? Like you, we wanted to avoid sheetrocking. The tiles are glued so to remove them would be messy and leave bits of tile behind. What do you think about beadboarding over? Thanks!
Yes, this should work! You will need to find the studs and make sure to have long enough nails to nail through the tiles! You can also apply adhesive to the back of the beadboard as well to help it stay in place.