Basement Office/Family Room Makeover

Host Joan Steffend and designer Nadia Ramirez go to the basement of a home to create a stylish family room/home office.

After

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See how this transformation is completed:

A warm shade of yellow paint on the walls brightens the long and narrow space.
An area rug is painted directly onto the cement floor using acrylic paint. Ramirez marks out a 4' x 8' rectangle in front of the fireplace with a 6-inch border and diamond shapes in the middle. She paints the border sage green and the diamonds black and gray. The finishing touches are a painted faux fringe along the edges and a ladybug rub-on transfer on one corner. The entire "rug" is sealed with several coats of polyurethane.
The windows are dressed with lacy panels hung from clip rings. The rings are held up with iron plant hooks.
The furniture is then repositioned in front of the fireplace for a conversation area. The homeowner's two end tables are placed together in front of the sofa for one large coffee table.
A sofa table is constructed out of a shutter for the top and table legs. Ramirez adds a scalloped wood apron for stability.
One display table is cut in half to make two tables for either side of the fireplace. The two half tables are attached to the wall with L-brackets. Tall topiaries add height to the design.
Two standard bed pillows are covered with custom pillow covers.
An oversized skirted sawhorse desk is placed against the back wall of the home office half of the room. It functions as both a work station and display area with hidden storage underneath. Three sawhorses serve as the table legs and an 8-foot piece of plywood is used for the tabletop. They attach molding to trim out the edges and paint the entire piece sage green. A fabric skirt is secured to the underside of the table with Velcro.
A message board is hidden behind a piece of artwork.
Accessories for the desk include a fabric box to hold office essentials, wicker baskets, a floral fabric and ribbon bulletin board and a wrought-iron plate rack used to display postcards and other memorabilia
The homeowner's stainless steel café table is brought back and paired with new fringed stools for a game station.
A large blank wall is filled with custom fabric plaques personalized with buttons, lace, beads and upholstery nails.

How-to: Sawhorse Table

Steps:

1. Assemble three sawhorses.

2. Attach an 8-foot board for the top. Trim with molding. Paint, as desired.

3. Use Velcro to secure a fabric skirt to the underside of the molding.

How-to: Message Board

Steps:

1. Construct a frame on a piece of plywood. Paint white.

2. Adhere a dry erase board to the plywood.

3. Attach a framed print to the box frame with hinges.

Before

Before the makeover this basement felt cold and awkward. The difference between the dark furniture and the white walls was too contrasting for the space and the furnishings were all pushed up against the walls creating an awkward layout. Now the space is bright and cheery with a unified design.

Itemized Design Elements

$40 - 2 gallons of paint (Behr - Golden Eyes 1A10-5)
$4 - acrylic paint for rug (Michaels: Plaid - Medium Gray #425, Wrought Iron #925; Aleene's - Burgundy)
$79 - window treatment (Home Depot: hooks - Amertac Vinal Coated Hooks Black S14BL; clip rings - Fashion Trends by Kirsch Black #055710.057)
$20 - table
$16 - shutter and legs (garage sale)
$1.69 - wood apron for sofa table (Home Depot)
$54 - pillows (Calico Corners - fabric)
$9 - floral throw (fabric outlet)
$89.46 - skirted desk (fabric - outlet; paint - Behr, Chinois 3A2-4)
$25 - hidden message board
$5 - fabric box (Marshalls)
$8 - bulletin board (Marshalls)
$40 - 2 stools and fringe (Menards)
$51.75 - fabric plaques (Home Depot - frames)
$15 - flowers

$457.90 - Total Cost