Almost Finished with the Basement

The great water debacle of summer 2023 set in motion the intention to *do something* with my basement sewing space. Back in the 60s or 70s, brown wood paneling and matching floors was probably all the rage. However for a basement space with limited outdoor light, it was just too dark and depressing. I wanted to replace the paneling with drywall, but getting a contractor to return calls has been challenging. So, my partner and I painted the walls and installed new peel-and-stick flooring.

 

Here's the before:

 

What a difference a couple of cans of paint can make:

 

Well...that and getting rid of a lot of clutter.  And by "get rid of" I mean rearrange into bigger bins in the storage room. 😬

 

I threw out the darker old furniture that I had from the early 90s. Even though it was still functional, it was time for a change. Sauder furniture from back in the day was built to last - and it certainly did.

I bought an IVAR storage unit from IKEA to serve as better organization for my pattern magazines and other sewing knickknacks. I built this exact same unit for my home office 20 years ago and it's still holding up. I like that it's all-in-one where I don't need to have a separate bookshelf and end tables like before. Plus it's a lighter color and just goes with the space. Eventually, I will update my cutting surface to the KALLAX series; I need to math out all the details first.

The flooring is regular old peel-and-stick 6" x 36" tiles. I wanted a floating floor, but since the floor isn't level, I didn't want to fuss with floor leveling compounds and removing tiles and all that mess. So, bae and I spent four to five days peeling, sticking, and rolling tiles. Neither one of us had ever done this before so we consulted Le Google for information. We laid a full 36" plank and then laid planks of 24" and 12" in length in the next rows (after completing a full column). I think this gives a nice pattern across the floor and helps with varying the tile pattern.

Although there are some flaws, I hope to get a few years out of this with all the work we put in.

I wanted to tear out the ceiling and paint the joists/duct work, but that would have added way more time to completing this project. Obviously doing the ceiling before the floors and walls would have better, but I just didn't have it in me. I can always carefully cover everything if I decide to tackle the ceiling. That's a future-me problem.

I had to figure out what to do with two built-in closets. The closets were created out of the same ugly wood paneling. I knew I didn't want to paint them, so I tore them out and hung curtain rods. I found some home dec fabric that matched perfectly, but it's far too heavy and doesn't drape they way I want. It's fine for now, though I'll likely replace it with something else later.

I went back and forth on painting the machine room. I liked the bright yellow color, but it just didn't mesh well with the new floor.

 

Painting this room made a world of difference and I'm glad I decided on a different color.

 

I say the basement is almost finished because I need to re-do the quarter round trim and paint the stairwell. The nails I used to reattach the trim were a bit too fine. I used 23 gauge nailer, but really needed something larger (e.g., 18 gauge) so that the nails had more bite. The trim is secure to the baseboard, but I can see where things can be better. After working on this for three months, I simply ran out of steam and really wanted to sew something.

 

So that's where we are with the basement! Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out; it's bright, fresh, organized, and I like being in the space. 

 

I want to send heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Debbie Cook (Stitches and Seams) for answering questions on power tools, trim, and the like. Thank you so much Debbie for offering your insight! You helped make this happen. 💛

Since almost-finishing the basement, I've sewn several items that I'll share in the next post.

Thanks for reading!

L