One Room Challenge Week 1: Basement Design Board

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have heard me profess my lack of inspiration for our finished basement a time or two. We refinished half of our basement almost 4 years ago, and at the time, I designed and styled the space on a very tight budget. Heads up - building materials and everything that goes into making actual walls from scratch can get pricey! I used a lot of pieces we already owned or settled for décor that was in budget and "good enough" for our family lounge area.

Over the years as my style and tastes have evolved I have found myself wanting to spend less and less time in the basement and more time in the spaces that felt cozy and styled. That's the thing about our homes, right? It doesn't matter if they look like they came right out of a magazine or Instagram post. What matters is that they make us FEEL like home - cozy, relaxed, and happy. Sorry, basement, you don't do it for me!

So that is my ultimate goal for this room makeover! First and foremost, I want our finished basement family area to FEEL like the rest of our home. I want it to be cozy, whimsical, and a little moody. It will also have a much more grown up feel than 3 years ago. When these 8 weeks are over I want to be able to forget that this room is even in the basement because our style flows seamlessly between the levels of our house.

Before tackling any room makeover, I always start with a mood or design board to help me make decisions and visualize the space. You can read all about the benefits of making a mood board here! The overall feeling I'm trying to achieve in this room is COZY! I want this room to feel like a big warm hug you never want to end. And I'm going to make it happen with dark moody color, soft rich textures, and warm vintage metal tones.

This space will be filled with SOME new furniture, a few DIYs, and a lot of personality. We'll also be solving some design problems you might be able to relate to:

Design Problems

1. How do you make a narrow room with a low ceiling feel larger?

2. How do you create separate areas in one long room?

3. How do you make store-bought cabinets look like high end built-ins?

4. How do you upgrade furniture when brand new isn't in your budget?*

*note: I am still waiting to hear from a few brands about partnering for this challenge. We'd love to include a new sectional in this space, but if we don't have a brand partnership, we won't be buying a new sectional on our own right now.

current room view - April 2022

If you're new to the idea of One Room Challenge, I will be sharing this room makeover over the next 8 weeks taking you step by step through the entire process! Make sure to subscribe at the bottom of the page to receive email updates when new posts are published so you don't miss out on any of the fun! And be sure to follow along on Instagram so you don't miss out on extra ideas, tips, and peeks at our basement makeover!

xoxo, L

#oneroomchallenge2022 #betterhomesandgardens #basementmakeover #budgethomedecor