This full basement renovation included adding a mudroom area, media room, a bedroom, a full bathroom, a game room, a kitchen, a gym and a beautiful custom wine cellar. Our clients are a family that is growing, and with a new baby, they wanted a comfortable place for family to stay when they visited, as well as space to spend time themselves. They also wanted an area that was easy to access from the pool for entertaining, grabbing snacks and using a new full pool bath.We never treat a basement as a second-class area of the house. Wood beams, customized details, moldings, built-ins, beadboard and wainscoting give the lower level main-floor style. There’s just as much custom millwork as you’d see in the formal spaces upstairs. We’re especially proud of the wine cellar, the media built-ins, the customized details on the island, the custom cubbies in the mudroom and the relaxing flow throughout the entire space.

Inspiration for a large transitional fully buried basement in Chicago with a home bar, white walls, carpet, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace surround, beige floor, exposed beam and decorative wall panelling.

This is an example of a large modern fully buried basement in Philadelphia with a home bar, white walls, dark hardwood floors, no fireplace, brown floor, coffered and decorative wall panelling.

This basement was completely renovated to add dimension and light in. This customer used our Hand Hewn Faux Wood Beams in the finish Cinnamon to complete this design. He said this about the project, "We turned an unused basement into a family game room. The faux beams provided a sense of maturity and tradition, matched with the youthfulness of gaming tables." Submitted to us by DuVal Designs LLC.

Inspiration for a large fully buried basement in Detroit with a home bar, white walls, light hardwood floors, a standard fireplace, a brick fireplace surround, grey floor, exposed beam and brick walls.

The layering of textures and materials in this spot makes my heart sing.
Inspiration for a large country walk-out basement in Other with grey walls, vinyl floors, a standard fireplace, a brick fireplace surround, brown floor, exposed beam and wood walls.

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.

Photo of a large modern look-out basement in Other with black walls, vinyl floors, a standard fireplace, a metal fireplace surround, recessed and panelled walls.

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.

Modern geometric black and white tile wall adds dimension and contemporary energy to the snack and beverage bar. Photos: Jody Kmetz
This is an example of a large modern fully buried basement in Chicago with a home bar, white walls, carpet, grey floor, exposed beam and panelled walls.

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

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 LVP driftwood-inspired design balances overcast grey hues with subtle taupes. A smooth, calming style with a neutral undertone that works with all types of decor. The Modin Rigid luxury vinyl plank flooring collection is the new standard in resilient flooring. Modin Rigid offers true embossed-in-register texture, creating a surface that is convincing to the eye and to the touch; a low sheen level to ensure a natural look that wears well over time; four-sided enhanced bevels to more accurately emulate the look of real wood floors; wider and longer waterproof planks; an industry-leading wear layer; and a pre-attached underlayment. The Modin Rigid luxury vinyl plank flooring collection is the new standard in resilient flooring. Modin Rigid offers true embossed-in-register texture, creating a surface that is convincing to the eye and to the touch; a low sheen level to ensure a natural look that wears well over time; four-sided enhanced bevels to more accurately emulate the look of real wood floors; wider and longer waterproof planks; an industry-leading wear layer; and a pre-attached underlayment.

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.

Hallway Space in Basement
Design ideas for a mid-sized scandinavian fully buried basement in Denver with beige walls, light hardwood floors, beige floor, recessed and planked wall panelling.

Griffey Remodeling, Columbus, Ohio, 2021 Regional CotY Award Winner, Basement $100,000 to $250,000
Inspiration for a large country look-out basement in Columbus with a home bar, vinyl floors, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace surround, timber and brick walls.

Once unfinished, now the perfect spot to watch a game/movie and relax by the fire.
Photo of a large country walk-out basement in Other with grey walls, vinyl floors, a standard fireplace, a brick fireplace surround, brown floor, exposed beam and wood walls.

This full basement renovation included adding a mudroom area, media room, a bedroom, a full bathroom, a game room, a kitchen, a gym and a beautiful custom wine cellar. Our clients are a family that is growing, and with a new baby, they wanted a comfortable place for family to stay when they visited, as well as space to spend time themselves. They also wanted an area that was easy to access from the pool for entertaining, grabbing snacks and using a new full pool bath.We never treat a basement as a second-class area of the house. Wood beams, customized details, moldings, built-ins, beadboard and wainscoting give the lower level main-floor style. There’s just as much custom millwork as you’d see in the formal spaces upstairs. We’re especially proud of the wine cellar, the media built-ins, the customized details on the island, the custom cubbies in the mudroom and the relaxing flow throughout the entire space.

This older couple residing in a golf course community wanted to expand their living space and finish up their unfinished basement for entertainment purposes and more. Their wish list included: exercise room, full scale movie theater, fireplace area, guest bedroom, full size master bath suite style, full bar area, entertainment and pool table area, and tray ceiling. After major concrete breaking and running ground plumbing, we used a dead corner of basement near staircase to tuck in bar area. A dual entrance bathroom from guest bedroom and main entertainment area was placed on far wall to create a large uninterrupted main floor area. A custom barn door for closet gives extra floor space to guest bedroom. New movie theater room with multi-level seating, sound panel walls, two rows of recliner seating, 120-inch screen, state of art A/V system, custom pattern carpeting, surround sound & in-speakers, custom molding and trim with fluted columns, custom mahogany theater doors. The bar area includes copper panel ceiling and rope lighting inside tray area, wrapped around cherry cabinets and dark granite top, plenty of stools and decorated with glass backsplash and listed glass cabinets. The main seating area includes a linear fireplace, covered with floor to ceiling ledger stone and an embedded television above it. The new exercise room with two French doors, full mirror walls, a couple storage closets, and rubber floors provide a fully equipped home gym. The unused space under staircase now includes a hidden bookcase for storage and A/V equipment. New bathroom includes fully equipped body sprays, large corner shower, double vanities, and lots of other amenities. Carefully selected trim work, crown molding, tray ceiling, wainscoting, wide plank engineered flooring, matching stairs, and railing, makes this basement remodel the jewel of this community.