Basement Refresh

The latest room we've completed in our home is the finished portion of our basement - the theme was "man cave". If you are interested in how we DIY, read on - I will link any products when I can.

 The starting point of this room, after refreshing the white ceiling paint, was deciding to do a statement wall with these wood planks we got at Menards. Since they fit so close together, there was no need to paint the wall before putting them up. We used a chalk line to mark the studs and then Jon got these up in about a day. (Window reflecting in the TV, grrrrrr!)

 We may hang a few more things on the wood wall, but don't want to cover it up too much. Now, the saga to match the wall paint. Three fourths of the way around the room, there is a ledge so we knew we wanted to do a dark color on the bottom and light color on top with the light color carrying around the rest of the room. At first we picked out the rusty red and golden tan colors from the wood. As we got to painting, it just wasn't right. We debated and debated, and then pulled out leftover paint from other rooms that we knew we liked. So it ended up the light color is the same as our living room and the dark color is on the island in our kitchen. Once that was all painted, we refreshed all of the white trim.

 All of the décor down here is stuff we already had that had made it's way to the area as we knew this is what the look would be. Everything vintage in the way of tools, gaming or cars.

 The next project was this entertainment center. We have had this since we got married (16 years). Jon's uncle, who sadly committed suicide, made it in the 80's I believe. We used it in our apartment, our home in Battle Creek, and up until a few years ago at this house until we got a different one for the living room. The wood was a lighter color and had some imperfections on it as expected for it's age, so it got sanded and stained darker. Then, Jon made this barn door from old wood and attached the rolling hardware to hang it. He got the hardware kit from Menards. 

 The part the barn door hides is sectioned off into four quarters - so it hides some electronic stuff but also has décor.

 The handle is an old bottle opener!

 Here's a good picture to see the two-toned walls.

 Another project Jon made is this license plate collage.

 We re-tiled the fireplace. The tile that was on there before was such a light beige and blah. Plus, it had a shiny gold edge around the base that made it very dated. The large tile on the base was easy to chip out so that Jon could just slide the new pieces under the trim without having to take it off. The smaller border he was able to tile over the old stuff. Some grout and it was a fairly easy DIY!

 We had a couch and a love seat down here before (the love seat was on this same wall and the couch faced the fireplace). We sold both of those pieces and knew we wanted to get brown leather - preferable something that looked "old school library/lounge" if that makes sense. We started looking at used couches online but then also headed to a local furniture store - Vermuelen's. We found this beauty in the clearance section..... it was the floor model so it has a bit of that worn in look (which we were okay with). It's a power recliner and the brass tack detail is exactly what we were looking for!

 That kind of leather that just gets better with age!

 The trunk coffee table is another piece we have had for many, many years.

 These Model A hood vents are a flea market find from this Summer. There are 3 windows in the room and previously they did not have blinds on them. There were existing curtain rods (clunky ones at that) that I hung some curtains from our other house on when we moved in. Taking those curtain rods down and putting up simple blinds (which we had to purchase) really opened up the room. With the natural light coming in today, they just look really washed out in the pictures.

 We bought bean bags for the boys, and they LOVE them. I guess I never thought about it before, but it's hard to find bean bags and when you do they can be expensive! I mean, over $100 for a bean bag!?!?!?! I was pleased that I found these at Target and my boys are all about fuzzy things!

 We'll fuss a bit with the décor here and there, and then we may move a rug we already have in storage to break up allthebeigecarpet! I think that's all I have to say on this room. Redoing a room can seem daunting, but just think of things you already have that you can use or refurbish. Selling existing large pieces can help the budget for new pieces you might want. And of course, doing the labor yourself is very rewarding! I am very lucky that Jon is a jack of all trades, but honestly just pull up a video online and teach yourself!