Basement walk through

 In the beginning...the basement was a blank slate.  There was plumbing for the washer and dryer, and the rough in's for a bathroom.  When my dad came home (I believe it was his 1st day home) from rehab, remember he spent 2 weeks in a rehab facility recovering from back surgery at the beginning of this remodel, he came to the apartment with my sister Laurel and we all went to the basement to plan out this AWESOME layout.  The plan was for 1 bedroom, a bathroom, the laundry room, furnace/storage room, storage under the stairs, and then the rest of the space to be open with a closet that can be used for storage.  For Laurel and I the big things were the laundry room layout, the layout of the open space and storage, of course we also managed to get a great bathroom out of it.  My dad is a great designer and he can sneak storage into anywhere.  I did not want to overwhelm people with pictures so for some there may be to many and for some there may be too few but I jut did the best that I could.

When you come down the stairs to the basement straight ahead of you is a door that leads to this laundry room.  That is just over 8 1/2' of counter top you are looking at.  We put it on narrow upper cabinets near the door to allow easier access for appliances and people and then full width for the last 4 1/2'.  There is a bar sink at the end by the washing machine.  Yes, I do have appliance envy for the washer and dryer, they are much better then what I own.   You can just see it on the left where there is another 36" cabinet and then there is a turn in the laundry room with short hallway that allows access to the furnace room and then a closet with you guessed it STORAGE! When you enter the furnace room you have an area about 5X7 in which to store things.  There are some built in wire shelves along one wall but certainly more room but put additional storage.


Just to the left of the laundry room is another door that leads to this beauty!

  We finally were able to use the boxes and boxes of granite tile that my dad has been storing for "just the right project".  I happened to find a really great vanity and sink set that happened to have a granite sink which was an exact match to those space cluttering tiles and since it was on clearance with an additional markdown I had to buy it.  Unfortunately the original vanity was destroyed in the flood before it could be used and I was then on a mission to find a vanity base that would fit my granite sink because I wanted it all to match, why should I settle for less just because of a flood.  It is a challenge to find an 18" x 30" vanity at a bargain price.  I never get excited about the things I have to pay full price for.  I finally came across a set that I liked and because it came with a different sink, we sold the sink to off set the price.  The cost of the entire set was less then buying an individual vanity base and when I sold the sink we came out ahead.  Especially when you factor in what the insurance company paid for replacements, It balances out the actual replacement costs elsewhere.  Notice the light fixture, it was a restore $10 purchase that started as brass and I spray painted it a beautiful brushed nickle.  I do not have the cost for the shower door or the base tray for the shower but everything else from the tile, new toilet, lights, towel bars, faucets, mirror, etc.  the total is approximately $500.


On to the left again is the great open space.

  It is "L" shaped and has a closet along one will for more storage!  In the largest part of the room we wired one wall with a plug high on the wall for a TV, that is the sort of thing my dad thinks of.  That door at the end leads to the bedroom.

The basement has a great layout and is a pretty use able space for most families.