Basement Remodel Update - Finishing Touches

Our last basement update was titled "Entering the Home Stretch". 

We're even closer to the finish line now. 

At this point, the floor is finished. Doors are installed, with hardware.

 

The window casings, door casings, and baseboards are installed. The columns are done. 

The bathroom is the primary remaining "to-do", which means tile work starts today. 

The final step - painting - will be right after that.

And then.... I think we're done! 

Sort of. 

We'll need to select cabinets and countertops for the dry bar and the drink ledge. And buy a sectional sofa. 

But that sort of thing falls less into the "remodeling a basement" category, and more into "furnishing a basement" category.

The vanity will, obviously, be moved to the bathroom.

It's been a long process - but as of today, we have a usable, finished space. 

Finishing the bathroom will make that space substantially more usable. 

Everything else - that's just making it prettier. 

Speaking of pretty - our NuCore Driftwood Oak floor is drawing raves. I'm really happy with how it came out, and I recommend it without reservation for these sorts of installations. 

I don't know that I'd finish my whole house with it - I'd prefer actual wood in my primary living area. 

But for a mud room? A basement? Absolutely. 

It's a really cool product, and it can be installed by your average lawyer/blogger over the course of a few nights. 

All in all, our basement seems brighter, and larger than I'd expected. 

I'm surprised at how big the primary living area seems - given that we carved out a bathroom, a bedroom, a utility room and a storage room, I'd feared it would be claustrophobic. 

But the flooring really brightens everything up - our dark grey floor is now a light brown. (Obviously, the many, many floodlights help, too.)

And, the areas we walled off weren't particularly useful to begin with. Kids can't play anywhere near the furnace - now it's safely behind a wall, which probably *increases* the usable space. 

Finally, the fact that the floor is one cohesive, flowing piece - no transitions at all - creates the illusion that the common area is bigger than it actually is. 

A major hat-tip to Sebring Services for taking us most of the way, and to Sam Flores for his awesome carpentry and finish work.  Five stars for both!