The homeowners had a very specific vision for their large daylight basement. To begin, Neil Kelly's team, led by Portland Design Consultant Fabian Genovesi, took down numerous walls to completely open up the space, including the ceilings, and removed carpet to expose the concrete flooring. The concrete flooring was repaired, resurfaced and sealed with cracks in tact for authenticity. Beams and ductwork were left exposed, yet refined, with additional piping to conceal electrical and gas lines. Century-old reclaimed brick was hand-picked by the homeowner for the east interior wall, encasing stained glass windows which were are also reclaimed and more than 100 years old. Aluminum bar-top seating areas in two spaces. A media center with custom cabinetry and pistons repurposed as cabinet pulls. And the star of the show, a full 4-seat wet bar with custom glass shelving, more custom cabinetry, and an integrated television-- one of 3 TVs in the space. The new one-of-a-kind basement has room for a professional 10-person poker table, pool table, 14' shuffleboard table, and plush seating.

Basement reno,
Photo of a mid-sized country fully buried basement in Minneapolis with a home bar, white walls, carpet, grey floor, wood and panelled walls.

Inspiration for a large transitional look-out basement in St Louis with a home bar, medium hardwood floors, brown floor, exposed beam and brick walls.

Photo of a large traditional look-out basement in Detroit with a home bar, vinyl floors, brown floor and recessed.

Basement finished to include game room, family room, shiplap wall treatment, sliding barn door and matching beam, numerous built-ins, new staircase, home gym, locker room and bathroom in addition to wine bar area.

We started with a blank slate on this basement project where our only obstacles were exposed steel support columns, existing plumbing risers from the concrete slab, and dropped soffits concealing ductwork on the ceiling. It had the advantage of tall ceilings, an existing egress window, and a sliding door leading to a newly constructed patio. This family of five loves the beach and frequents summer beach resorts in the Northeast. Bringing that aesthetic home to enjoy all year long was the inspiration for the décor, as well as creating a family-friendly space for entertaining. Wish list items included room for a billiard table, wet bar, game table, family room, guest bedroom, full bathroom, space for a treadmill and closed storage. The existing structural elements helped to define how best to organize the basement. For instance, we knew we wanted to connect the bar area and billiards table with the patio in order to create an indoor/outdoor entertaining space. It made sense to use the egress window for the guest bedroom for both safety and natural light. The bedroom also would be adjacent to the plumbing risers for easy access to the new bathroom. Since the primary focus of the family room would be for TV viewing, natural light did not need to filter into that space. We made sure to hide the columns inside of newly constructed walls and dropped additional soffits where needed to make the ceiling mechanicals feel less random. In addition to the beach vibe, the homeowner has valuable sports memorabilia that was to be prominently displayed including two seats from the original Yankee stadium. For a coastal feel, shiplap is used on two walls of the family room area. In the bathroom shiplap is used again in a more creative way using wood grain white porcelain tile as the horizontal shiplap “wood”. We connected the tile horizontally with vertical white grout joints and mimicked the horizontal shadow line with dark grey grout. At first glance it looks like we wrapped the shower with real wood shiplap. Materials including a blue and white patterned floor, blue penny tiles and a natural wood vanity checked the list for that seaside feel. A large reclaimed wood door on an exposed sliding barn track separates the family room from the game room where reclaimed beams are punctuated with cable lighting. Cabinetry and a beverage refrigerator are tucked behind the rolling bar cabinet (that doubles as a Blackjack table!). A TV and upright video arcade machine round-out the entertainment in the room. Bar stools, two rotating club chairs, and large square poufs along with the Yankee Stadium seats provide fun places to sit while having a drink, watching billiards or a game on the TV. Signed baseballs can be found behind the bar, adjacent to the billiard table, and on specially designed display shelves next to the poker table in the family room. Thoughtful touches like the surfboards, signage, photographs and accessories make a visitor feel like they are on vacation at a well-appointed beach resort without being cliché.

Photo of a basement in Other with a home bar and recessed.

This is an example of a contemporary walk-out basement in Other with white walls, laminate floors, a standard fireplace, a concrete fireplace surround, grey floor and recessed.

Photo of a large transitional walk-out basement in Atlanta with a home bar, grey walls, slate floors, black floor and wood.

Inspiration for a large transitional fully buried basement in Chicago with a game room, grey walls, vinyl floors, brown floor and exposed beam.

Inspiration for a fully buried basement in Minneapolis with white walls, carpet, grey floor and exposed beam.

Flooring : Mirage Hardwood Floors | White Oak Hula Hoop Character Brushed | 7-3/4" wide planks | Sweet Memories Collection.
Inspiration for a beach style walk-out basement in Vancouver with a home bar, white walls, light hardwood floors, beige floor and wood.

Home theater with custom maple cabinetry including soft-close drawers for candy storage
Small transitional walk-out basement in DC Metro with blue walls, carpet, multi-coloured floor and coffered.

This is an example of a large fully buried basement in Philadelphia with vinyl floors, no fireplace, brown floor and exposed beam.

Would you like to make the basement floor livable? We can do this for you. We can turn your basement, which you use as a storage room, into an office or kitchen, maybe an entertainment area or a hometeather. You can contact us for all these. You can also check our other social media accounts for our other living space designs. Good day.

Lower Level Living/Media Area features white oak walls, custom, reclaimed limestone fireplace surround, and media wall - Scandinavian Modern Interior - Indianapolis, IN - Trader's Point - Architect: HAUS | Architecture For Modern Lifestyles - Construction Manager: WERK | Building Modern - Christopher Short + Paul Reynolds - Photo: HAUS | Architecture - Photo: Premier Luxury Electronic Lifestyles

This is an example of a mid-sized industrial fully buried basement in Philadelphia with white walls, laminate floors, a standard fireplace, a wood fireplace surround, brown floor and exposed beam.

Inspired by sandy shorelines on the California coast, this beachy blonde floor brings just the right amount of variation to each room. With the Modin Collection, we have raised the bar on luxury vinyl plank. The result is a new standard in resilient flooring. Modin offers true embossed in register texture, a low sheen level, a rigid SPC core, an industry-leading wear layer, and so much more.

Mid-sized eclectic fully buried basement in Chicago with grey walls, laminate floors, no fireplace, brown floor, wallpaper and wallpaper.