Basement

Painting the exposed basement ceiling may have been the most physically taxing DIY I have ever done. Don’t get me wrong, it was totally worth it for the look and the money saved, but it was exhausting!

The basement renovation was a game-changer at our first flip house because we added living space to our small bungalow. Our house in the Highlands neighborhood was about 1,200 square feet and having that finished area in the basement made a huge difference.

The first project at our third flip house was to build a legal bedroom in the basement with an attached bathroom. I was pregnant with our second child and we made the decision to hire an au pair once our daughter arrived. Not only did the cultural aspect of this experience excite us, but it made more sense financially in terms of childcare in Denver. The basement was a blank canvas that was perfect for creating a guest suite for our au pair, Maria.

Creating a functional living space in an unfinished basement is an incredible way to add square footage to your home! Today I am excited to share affordable ideas to create a beautiful unfinished basement on a budget. These DIY projects made all of the difference in our basement and it’s now a space that we use every single day.

This year, I really wanted to give the basement a more finished look and began planning a budget-friendly basement makeover. We built a utility room to hide the mechanicals, updated the overhead lighting, sprayed the exposed ceiling black, and painted the concrete floors.

Using materials that we already owned, I was determined to give our basement staircase a fresh and modern look. My goal was to complete this DIY project spending zero dollars!

Adding a bathroom in our basement was the first project on the list when we moved into our third flip house. The basement level of our home was huge with half of the space finished and the other half unfinished as a storage room.