How to Remodel a Basement on a Budget

This post has been a long time coming...about 2 1/2 years to be exact! This basement renovation was one of the main reasons I started this blog. I wanted to chronicle all the work we did on our basement with befores and afters, DIY tips, and lessons we learned along the way in hopes to help some other weekend warriors like us. Before I start, I have to give a shout out to my husband who worked tirelessly along my side and did not give up, even when we both wanted to. I have to say, if your marriage can survive a home remodel, it can survive about anything!

Creating a Cozy Living Area in a Basement

We recently completed a major remodel in our basement, which included updating the living room area. Prior to the renovation, we spent zero time down there because it was dark, cold, and uninviting. My main goal when creating this space was to make a cozy area where we could hang out as a family or entertain friends.

Transform Your Stairs Using Paint

Do you have stairs that are covered in dirty, ugly carpet? Well, we did...and as part of our basement renovation, we were going to change that! We ripped up the old, nasty carpet then painted the steps and risers. We ended up having to also use carpet tiles on them because our dog slipped when going down the stairs and got freaked out.

Surprisingly, the process of ripping up the carpet was not as hard as I thought it would be. You just need a few tools and a lot of elbow grease.

Creating an Organized Craft Space in a Small Area

I am partnering with Oriental Trading to bring you tips on organizing your craft supplies. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am back with the third post in my Home Organization Series, with tips on Creating an Organized Craft Space in a Small Area. I do not have an extra room in my house to devote to crafting, so I am stealing a corner in the basement to turn into a crafting nook. Previously, I had my craft supplies in totes and would craft on the dining room table, which was not optimal.

How to Organize Paint and Supplies

Welcome back to the second in my series of Home Organization posts! Previously, I shared how to declutter and store your holiday decor and wrapping supplies. Today I am going to tackle the dreaded paint closet. If you are a DIYer like me, you probably have a ton of paint cans, jars, and sprays in several sizes. Not to mention, you also have all the related supplies such as brushes, rollers, roller holders, poles, pans, and cups! We are lucky enough to have a closet area under our basement stairs to store these in, but how do I keep it organized?

How To Add Valentine's Decor To an Entryway

I am partnering with Oriental Trading to bring you ideas for affordable Valentine's decor. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Now that Christmas is over and I have taken down all the decorations, the house looks so bare. I decided to add a little bit of cheer back into my entry way with some Valentine's decor. We have been enjoying our recently completed mudroom space, so I thought it would be the perfect place to add some pops of red and gold.

How To Add Valentine's Decor To an Entryway

Basement Mudroom Reveal (One Room Challenge) - Week 7

Yay! We made it to the reveal! I cannot tell you how good it makes me feel to have this space done, since it was the last area in our basement to finish. And, I have to say, it turned out pretty fantastic! If you are just joining me, I am a guest participant in the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda at Calling It Home and this week all of the participants are showing off their finished spaces.

This was my first One Room Challenge and I decided to start small and tackle our empty basement entry and turn it into a mudroom area. Here is where we started; we basically had to build from scratch.

DIY Boot Tray (One Room Challenge) - Week 6

We are in week 6 of a 7 week Mudroom renovation. If you are just joining me, I am a guest participant in the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda at Calling It Home. Since next week is the reveal and we are pretty much done with the mudroom, except for accessorizing, I have a DIY project for you this week. We used a large plastic tray and scrap wood to make a drying tray for our shoes and boots.

Catch up on the other posts here:

DIY Basement Mudroom (One Room Challenge) - Week 5

I am back with our progress on the basement mudroom. We are in week 5 of what is now a 7 week challenge.  If you are just joining me, I am a guest participant in the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda at Calling It Home. This week things are finally coming together!

DIY Mudroom Bench (One Room Challenge) - Week 4

I am back with my progress on my mudroom. If you are just joining me, I am a guest participant in the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda at Calling It Home. We are in week 4 of a 6 week renovation and have been making steady progress on the Mudroom bench and built in cabinet.

Mudroom Built-ins (One Room Challenge) - Week 3

Today I am back with my progress on the One Room Challenge. To refresh your memory, this is a twice a year blogger event hosted by Linda at Calling It Home that consists of a 6-week challenge where 20 featured designers and hundreds of design bloggers get to showcase a room makeover that they’ve completed in just 6 weeks. In my last post, I shared my space and makeover plan.

DIY Basement Mudroom (One Room Challenge) - Week 1

I am so excited to be joining in the One Room Challenge as a Guest Participant for the first time! If you have not heard of this, it is a twice a year blogger event hosted by Linda at Calling It Home that consists of a 6-week challenge where 20 featured designers and hundreds of design bloggers get to showcase a room makeover that they’ve completed in just 6 weeks.

I have been following along for a couple of years now, but have not been able to dedicate 6 weeks to any room due to being consumed with the basement renovation. This time I plan on showing you how I transform an empty basement entry into a functional mudroom space.

Small Laundry Room Reveal and DIY Ideas

I am so excited to be showing you my completed laundry room! I have been using it for a while, but wanted to find a cabinet for the wall before I shared the final reveal. You may remember the washer and dryer was in the middle of the garage workshop area, which was not convenient at all! I was so excited to get to plan my own laundry space!

Lets take a trip down memory lane and see what I started with....this is a shot of when we first started framing the laundry room.

How To Clean and Paint Ceramic Tile

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small financial compensation if you make a purchase using this link

If you have been following along with my basement renovation saga, you will know that our original plan was to tear up all the tile and install vinyl flooring throughout the entire space. A few months ago, after tearing out the tile in the mudroom, we realized it was a pain in the butt to chip up the tile and mastic....and it created a huge mess. On top of that, we had to spend a few hundred dollars on concrete leveler to prep the area for the flooring. So, we started trying to come up with a Plan B and ultimately decided on Painting the Tile.

Our Basement Renovation - How to Remove Ceramic Tile

We are actually nearing the end of our basement renovation and I have recently revealed the finished bathroom, but I am taking a step back for a moment. I was looking through my pictures on my phone and ran across the ones I took during our tile removal in the mud room and realized I had not shared this project yet. That is what happens when you have way too many projects going on and are trying to document and share them all.

Basement Guest Bathroom Reveal and Budget Friendly Decor

I am partnering with Oriental Trading to show you some budget friendly ways to decorate your bathroom. 

I honestly was beginning to think this day would never come! It was a little over 2 years ago when we marked out our bathroom layout with painter's tape and broke ground for the underground plumbing. Now, we have a gorgeous full bath and changing area for us and our guests that come to enjoy our pool!

DIY Sliding Barn Style Door From a Slab

We recently added a  laundry room in our basement and knew we wanted to use a sliding barn style door to maximize space. If you have shopped around, you will know that Barn Doors and the hardware to hang them with is super expensive, so we decided to DIY our own using a slab and pocket door hardware.

How To Paint Walls the Quick and Easy Way

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small financial compensation if you make a purchase using this link

We have had to do a ton of painting in our basement over the last several weeks. We used about 13 gallons of paint, including primer, wall and ceiling paint, and trim. We had 3 rooms, a hallway, and a mudroom to paint, including the ceilings! So, I needed all the help I could get with making the process quicker and easier. Today I am sharing my secret tool that helped me paint my walls the quick and easy way!

Tips for installing Luxury Plank Vinyl Flooring

As part of our basement renovation, we decided to use Luxury Vinyl plank flooring throughout our new space. The reason we picked this is we could install it ourselves, it's relatively budget friendly, we can lay it over concrete floors that are not 100% level, and it can withstand moisture. Our goal is to use the basement bathroom for guests during the summer when the pool is open, which means wet feet coming in and out. We also have a dog, so we need something to withstand his nails and muddy paws.

My Experience With Concrete Leveler

As part of our basement renovation, we are updating the floors throughout, which means removing old tile and prepping the area to lay vinyl plank flooring. To be honest, this whole process was harder than I expected it to be, so I wanted to share my experience with you, along with tips on how to use self leveling cement. Disclaimer: We are not professionals, this is just some of the things we learned from the process.