I realized that I start and finish all of these decor projects with this HUGE intent to blog about them and then BAM… 6 months pass and I tell myself, “Sooooon. Very soon I will take pics and blog about it.”
But guess what?
I never do.
It’s almost like a sickness.
Because sometimes the whole motivator to get the project done… is because I want to blog it.
I don’t understand myself sometimes.
#irrelevant
Let’s talk about how much this space transformed…
When we initially moved into our home 4 years ago I knew the basement would be an “eventually” project.
As in… One day we will get to it.
But with the handiness of my dad, we ended up being able to get to it faster than I had envisioned.
It started out as as… Let’s just have my dad frame it out. Wellll, that turned into me being impatient and wanting to finish the whole entire thing.
My husband called that by the way.
His exact words: “I knew you wouldn’t be able to wait once you two started.”
#atleastheknowsmewell
Most everything in this space was built by my dad. He’s the king.
For real.
I’m gonna do less talking and more picture posting….
For the full details on the built-in entertainment center you can check out the post that I wrote on it. I actually posted about that in a timely manner. Shocker.
We decided to do more of the open space look with the basement because the boys like to run around and be crazy. #anothershocker
We didn’t want any walls holding them back. Ha!
I will tell you this.
The husband wasn’t super excited about the finished product.
He walked downstairs and said:
Husband: It looks more like a Pinterest cave than a man-cave.
And then he told me he wanted a workout area. The man never has an opinion until it’s too late.
I failed him on the man-cave ladies.
But we do have a studio sent up in the basement where we do all our podcasts and videos so I told him to go to town decorating it however he wants. You know what happened?
He did nothing.
Which is why if I would have left the basement decor up to him and his man-cave ideas… I would be posting this reveal in 2016.
This office nook is one of my favorite parts of this space. Full details here.
I tried to incorporate the kids art by stenciling a giant sized rose frame on the wall and then placing their drawings in smaller frames.
I used the same stencil that I used in my master bathroom makeover.
I really love how this part turned out.
We don’t necessarily use the basement as much as I thought we would, but it’s sooooo nice to have a space for our guests to stay. The couch pulls out to a bed and they have their own bathroom and shower down there (which I’ll post about one day…maybe).
I’m also hoping that once the boys get a little bit older they will LOVE that they have their own space to go watch tv and get away from mom and dad.
Be sure to check out the built-in entertainment center post, the office nook details and visit the rest of our home…
SOURCE LIST:
Main Walls – Paint Color: Sherwin Williams March Wind – SW 7668 (eggshell) Behind the TV and Pillars – Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Grizzle Gray – SW 7068 (eggshell) Entertainment Center & Office Nook – Basic Ultra White Semi-Gloss Rug – RugsUSA.com
I’m pretty much obsessed with this whole space. I feel like this is a stupid question, but what color did you paint the built ins? It looks like the PERFECT white. Also, there is a cute little blue end table-did you paint that? If so, what color? Sorry to ask so many questions, but picking paint colors is my worst nightmare and I have a proven track record at being TERRIBLE.
Oh my gosh your dad is like a superhero- holy cow! Looks gorgeous!
HAHA my husband is the same way. Except if he doesn’t have his own area I have to deal with his obnoxiously loud movies about war and fighting. The office area looks like the perfect getaway spot 🙂
LOVE THIS SPACE!!! But honestly my fave pic is the one of the kiddos watching your dad work. Precious memories right there!!!
What a gorgeous space!! I’m so jealous of your basement, out here in the Pacific NW we don’t see houses with basements very often.
I love the rug! Is it from Rug USA?
The color scheme works so well, it’s a great combination of feminine and masculine. I love the way you incorporated the kid’s drawings as well.
Looks great!
Wow the transformation is crazy. Your basement is MUCH nicer than mine!
I have basement jealously 🙂 It’s SO cute and I love the way you have it all decorated– way to go in trumping the man cave. And seriously, you already have so many boys in your house, the least you can have is a nicely decorated man cave, right?!?!
Looks BEAUTIFUL!! I’m SO SO SO SO jealous of the natural light in your basement! Mine feels like such a dungeon no matter how much I do to it.
I love that your husband called it a Pinterest Cave! What a beautiful space and you are so lucky to have a handy Dad. The office nook is just perfect.
I love it! I mean seriously. There isn’t one thing I don’t love.
What a beautiful space to have! I miss basements, living in AZ you don’t get houses with basements, but they are just so much space that’s nice to have. Yours is beautiful, loving the built in office nook!
Wow! I love the man-cave/pinterest comment!
We would like to finish our basement but it would only be half. The other half would remain the man space.
Holy gorgeous! That space is truly beautiful and very Pinterest worthy!! I love those built ins and if your dad would like to visit CT and whip those up again anytime soon let me know!! We have a finished basement but right now its just piles of kids crap everywhere…no true organization yet. But we will get a tax refund soon and I am going to have it direct deposited to Ikea to expedite the process :-} Enjoy!!!
You and your dad did a great job finishing the basement! I think the office nook he made looks better than what you tried to copy from Pinterest just because yours has great lighting above the desk and shelves. It showcases the decors you put there and makes it more inviting. The built-in is great too! I’m curious if your dad also installed your carpet and built the little end tables. Did you paint the letters on the bookshelves to match the end tables or did you paint them all to match? Did you glue on the Mr & Mrs on the frames above the nook bench? Last question, I promise, would you mind sharing how much it cost you to do your basement makeover? We chose not to add a basement to our home when he had it built because I know I wouldn’t go down by myself just to get away, I’d rather go up….that’s why we have a 2 story. My husband feels the same way. Extra space for guests is nice though, and we’re thinking of extending a wall out in the future….probably way out in the future. Maybe then I can have a little office nook or a kitchen command center. Yours would be the perfect model.
Oh my gosh this space is incredible!! Your dad is amazing! I love looking at before and after photos! I am an HGTV addict and this is one of the best I have seen! And you are the master of photo walls! Can you please come over and do my hallway? Susan
Mandy- this looks AMAZING!!!!! I am anxiously awaiting for the day we move and I finally have a basement to do something like this with because I love the entire concept! It’s so organized which I love too because not having an official playroom in our house makes it look like toys r us exploded in here lol. So happy for you guys with how it came out! Xoxo
Mandy I LOVE your whole home! You are awesome at decorating and you have to do some things girly with all those boys around! Am I right!? We will be finishing our basement soon, and you have definitely inspired some areas!
GORGEOUS!!! Great job!! 🙂 May I ask, where did you find your rug? We’re looking for one with a similar texture/color pallette/design, and aren’t having much luck finding one that looks as nice as yours…
Mandy, I love everything about this space! It is gorgeous! I especially love the color scheme. Great job!
You & your dad did an amazing job. Job well done its beautiful 🙂
OH MY GOODNESS. This is beyond adorable. Our new house doesn’t have a basement, but I may steal some color schemes for our loft.
http://youngwifelife.com
WOW! It looks incredible! My favorite part is totally your little office nook. Love all of it so much! WELL DONE!
Mandy your basement looks amazing. I love everything about it 🙂 Enjoy and a great place for the boys to run and jump and play !!
Love the space! Hey, if taking a picture to blog about it is the motivation, so be it! Amazing! Hope your adoption process is going well. Looking forward to hearing about it again! We are “hurrying up to wait” over here. 🙂
What a huge transformation!
I am in love with that rug!
Absolutely gorgeous! It looks amazing! I love all of the colors and how much brighter the room looks now!
The only word I keep repeating is WOW. I kept saying it for every photo. I love the little office nook, the built in’s ,the colors the….well I love it all! Well done all around and your Dad is a rock star! Hugs P.S. I invite you to share this wonderful transformation with my readers. Please link up to my Thursday hop ( you can link up through Sat)
Any chance your dad will adopt me~just for a year… or two? lol! We could keep him so busy. You’re super lucky to have him! Love your decorating!
Ha! “Pinterest cave!” Love that. This is fantastic. You are right, you are so lucky that your dad is so handy. Thanks for providing info on the paint color. I was going to ask, but I didn’t have to.
Wow – you did an amazing job in your basement! Congrats!
Thanks for the cool ideas. I think about arrange a bar in the my basement
New reader here. I’m simply starting MY OWN basement renovation so I’m loving your current post today. your current basement looks great!
It is just beautiful! I’m so happy for you to have it finished.
Hi,
I love your basement! We want to do the same, but are worried about the height of our ceiling. Do you know how high your ceiling is?
9 foot
You made great use of the space you had! I love what it looks like. Thanks for posting.
Beautiful! We are picking out carpet for our new basement. What kind did you get? We’ve got kiddos and a dog so we need something that doesn’t stain easily.
Thanks!
I love the room! Just fabulous! I would love to know what carpet you chose because I really like it and I’m in search of carpet for my entire upstairs!
Thank you!
You’re basement looks amazing. Can you please tell me what you spent on materials to finish? I know your dad did most of the work. We plan on finishing our basement and my husband will do most of the work. I just need an estimate of how much it may cost us.
Thanks