Basement Remodel Ideas Before & After

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Today I am sharing our basement remodel ideas before & after with cost saving ideas to add value to you home. A finished basement not only adds additional square feet to your home but it also adds value when it comes time to sell a home. Whether you are finishing off a space for a basement office, a basement family room, a basement gym or all of the above, a remodeled basement is well worth the investment. 

When the time came for use to remodel our basement, we had a clear budget in mind and wanted to maximize as much space as possible.

Before the basement remodel, our basement was a large open space and while it was great for storage, it had a lot of wasted space.

Basement Remodel Ideas

Basement remodeling projects can take on a life of their own if you don’t pre plan! Be sure to write down a list of your needs, wants and then tally up a total of projected costs. Then begin eliminating what you can live without if you are over budget.

The basement before was dark, dreary and all of the pipes, ductwork and insulation was exposed.

We installed Armstrong Ceilings WOODHAVEN Planks in a white textured woven finish. The white woven planks are not only gorgeous but so easy to install and helped create the open concept clean look we were going after. If you are trying to create an open concept basement that feels like the rest of your home and not like a basement, I highly recommend these white WOODHAVEN Planks.

Basement Layout Ideas

Be sure to check out the first post before Christmas where I share how Jim and I decided to create this fun space!

The ceiling planks come in a variety of colors and add amazing architectural detail to the space. Don’t miss our ceiling plank install post for more information and pictures.

Here is a before picture:

Many times people will ask, how can I make my basement look better? One way is to add an accent wall. Regardless of whether or not you are partially finishing your basement or completely finishing the entire space, an accent wall will do wonders for your basement.

When we were thinking about our basement layout, we wanted to create a TV and Xbox space in the finished basement.  To define the TV space, we added  the  Armstrong Ceilings WOODHAVEN Planks and clips to create an accent wall.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much character this easy DIY project adds to the finished basement. We used the  WOODHAVEN Painted White 5″ x 84″ planks for our accent wall.  These particular planks are paintable so if white isn’t your thing, then painting them is an option.

Basement remodel on a budget 

One of the biggest things you can do to save money on a basement remodel (besides doing all the work yourself) is to not finish the entire basement. Create unfinished storage areas and purchase doors to access the storage spaces. This is exactly what we did! 

You guys, these barn sliding doors from Horner Millwork are insanely amazing! We have installed a lot of barn doors over the years and these are by far, my favorite. They are not your traditional rustic X-style barn doors.

We picked the Masonite Livingston Smooth Collection which are elegant and the black sliding door barn hardware that comes with the doors coordinated perfectly lending to a modern look with a hint of rustic style.

For those of you who have emailed asking where you can find the door online – f you are purchasing online, the livingston can be found here.

This is the basement wall before :

In order to create closed storage, we partitioned off the unfinished part of the basement we call my “blog studio.” My dad calls it the junk side of the basement but I would hardly call my Homegoods, Wayfair and various other home decor finds ….Junk!

Here is another shot of the Masonite Livingston Interior door with black hardware. You will notice that we went with the same interior doors throughout the basement. Some on sliding hardware and the others mounted with hinges.

I will share another post showing the new storage areas behind all the Livingston Interior doors. Creating hidden storage spaces that are unfinished in your basement will allow you to save money and help keep things organized at the same time.

Funny story about this pantry below. When Covid-19 hit, Jim had an idea to turn this small area at the bottom of the basement stairs into a closet. Well we ended up creating a pantry  and added two double swing Livingston pantry doors.  My dad took over the pantry and filled with canned spam, beans and what he called “war-pantry food” for a stay at home bunker. My grandfather loved spam and would have been proud that our bunker was filled with spam.  Gross!

Aren’t the doors amazing?

This picture below is one of my favorite pictures of the basement. It shows the Masonite Livingston Doors, the Armstrong Ceiling Planks and the gorgeous Harvest Oak Vinyl Rigid Core Flooring by Select Surfaces.

Basement Remodel Cost 

How much did the basement remodel cost us? This does not include any labor but it will give you an idea of soft material cost. The vinyl plank flooring was under $2800 (so affordable and don’t forget we had a large space to cover), the Armstrong ceiling planks were under $4500 (this includes all the clips and track system for ceiling installation), Armstrong plank accent wall $850, the Masonite doors with sliding tracks and pantry doors were roughly $4800 (that is for 8 doors!), lally column covers $400, hardware $450, trims $1500, stair balusters/treads ect. $620 and paint $300. We had about $16,000 in soft materials give or take. This does not include your lumber/sheetrock/labor ect. Vinyl plank flooring is one of the best ways to save on flooring costs. It’s cheaper than engineered hardwood floor or regular hardwood and much better in my opinion than carpet. It’s easy to keep clean, waterproof, installs easily on top of the basement concrete and looks amazing. 

Here is the basement before:

Don’t miss our DIY flooring installation post of this gorgeous vinyl plank flooring. We installed this flooring over the existing cement floor and it was the craziest easiest install ever. Jim has used this flooring in other jobs that he has done since and loves how easy it is to install.

Another part of the basement layout that we considered was creating a small gym space on the other end of the basement and my cute white desk and pink chair from my office served as a desk space for homework.

Basement Remodel Staircase Idea

Jim framed out an opening on the basement staircase wall (see our how to install balusters post and why here) which created a custom look and also helped make the basement feel more open. The black iron balusters pair nicely with the black door hardware. 

Be sure to read our blog post, how to make iron balusters look expensive for under $2. 

If you are looking to save money on your basement remodel, I highly suggest using the inexpensive balusters, staircase knuckles and shoes like we did. (see open basement staircase post for more details)

Here is the basement before the remodel:

What color did you paint your basement?

Did you know that there are a million blue/gray paint colors? -ha. Yes I am sure you know that. When I find one that I love, I tend to stick with it. Why reinvent the wheel. Lullaby by Sherwin Williams is a classic neutral blue/gray color and it looks absolutely gorgeous in our basement. We wanted a modern coastal vibe with a hint of rustic and all of these products couldn’t have worked any better with each other.

Jim created half walls with custom columns to create the illusion a separate TV space and Gym space. Half walls are perfect when you do not want to close off a space. We wanted an open concept basement but still have defined spaces. The columns had sophistication and add character to an otherwise boring half wall.

If you are in the central Massachusetts area and need any remodeling / custom build home work done, Jim is your guy!

I cannot thank my wonderful sponsors enough for participating in this amazing basement remodel makeover transformation. Thank you to Armstrong Ceilings (ceiling and accent wall) , Select Surfaces (flooring), Horner Millwork and Masonite (doors) and Sherwin Williams (paint). This post was sponsored and all opinions are 100% my own.