If you feel like I've been talking about my basement for years, you're right. This was the never-ending renovation, people. I dug through the archives and found that I first shared basement layout plans way back in May 2010 (omg!). We ended up having problems with our first contractor and put the renovation on hold and tackled the living room renovation instead. But things got back on track and I shared a first look at the basement with you in August 2012.



In the 1.5 years since then, we finished off the space. It was a massive undertaking. Aside from the demolition, drywall, electrical, and cabinet installation, we did most everything else ourselves. We installed all the tilework and beadboard, toilet and fixtures in the bathroom. We assembled the laundry room cabinets, built the substrate and installed the stainless steel countertop. We installed more tile and painted that laundry room 4 times due to paint mishaps and bad decisions. We laid all the flooring, whitewashed and installed the wall panelling, and made room for storage and cleaning supplies. And of course, we left space for playing, and a place to hang our coats at the end of the day.



There were the DIY touches too. Art for the little kid and the big kids. 5 Minute pillows and stylish storage.  Pretty laundry doors and pretty pegboard. And a cute cloud mat and play kitchen to finish it all off.

You can watch this video to see what the basement looked like before. It has been a huge transformation that has also transformed how we live. I feel more organized when I work at my desk. I craft and create and play with my daughter more. We sit and watch movies as a family. And though this renovation took over a big part of our life, the time spent together enjoying this space are what I will remember most. Thank you for following along!

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A big huge thank you to these companies who provided support of parts of this basement renovation along the way: Home Depot Canada, Para Paints, NuHeat, Tonic Living. We appreciate their partnership which allows this blog to keep running.

To see all of our basement projects and more, please visit our Project Gallery