Sep 24, 2014

Basement renovation: Stunner down under

Before

The 1,000-square-foot basement desperately required a makeover, with its ancient wall-to-wall stained beige carpeting and a bathroom with a plastic shower and a laundry “hole” (as Christine puts it) concealed behind a curtain.

Family room

The family room’s low off-white wool sectional is durable and comfortable: perfect for watching TV together as a family or for Christine’s eldest daughter, Natasha, to host sleepovers when she’s home from university.

Oversized artwork

A dramatic oversized print of Adolf Ulrik Wertmuller’s 1785 painting Queen Marie Antoinette of France and Two of Her Children Walking in the Park of Trianon adds a grand, almost palatial, element to homeowner Christine Dovey’s basement family room; it also adds an antiquated foil to all the sleek modern furniture.

First-floor worthy

The key to making a lower-level space first-floor worthy is to decorate with pieces from your principal rooms. One such example here is the original Platner armchair–scored many years ago on eBay for a bargain – which was relocated from the upstairs living room.

Modern elements

The modern high-gloss floating console is actually kitchen cabinetry from IKEA . Christine had it mounted on the wall to keep the hallway feeling open and airy, and topped it with a quartz countertop. A floating shelf displays artwork and family photos.

Laundry room

In the laundry alcove, Christine made the most of a tiny space: Floating shelves allow for a pretty display, while the addition of a butcher-block countertop provides room for a small sink as well as a place to fold clothes.

Sliding doors

Unable to move the laundry nook, Christine got creative and hid the area behind sliding doors. Originally from Romania and painted blue and white, the set of four antique doors was made over with glossy black paint and frosted glass (with the words “laundry room” cheekily etched on) and attached to a track.

Subway wall tiles

Artwork and subway tiles make for a great statement on this laundry room wall.

Basement bedroom

In Natasha’s bedroom, wall-to-wall painted silk drapery helps disguise the diminutive basement window. The low profile bed frame, with its built-in shelves, suits the small space. The palette, inspired by the colourful rug, is tied together by the oversized artwork painted by Christine.

Walk-in shower

A custom walk-in shower (a style selected because of the small space bathroom) features a simple but modern design: one large sheet of glass with a grid of powder-coated steel rods that makes it look like a set of windows. Christine says it’s also a dream to clean.

Black and white palette

In her go-to black and white palette, Christine created a bathroom that feels at once modern and old-world. “I wanted it to really feel like a subway station in Paris,” she says. So she chose marble basket-weave tiles for the floor and white ceramic subway tiles with dark grout for the walls.

Glamorous expanded bathroom

The expanded bathroom – now twice as big as before – does double-duty as an ensuite for Natasha and a guest bathroom, since there’s no powder room on the main floor.

Weekly inspiration

Before

Family room

Oversized artwork

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Basement renovation: Stunner down under

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Subway wall tiles

Basement bedroom

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Basement renovation: Stunner down under