Basement Plans

I think I have at least six drawings for the basement. This latest one, dated October 26, 2014, seems to be the most popular. 

This sketch varies from previous versions on one major account: it is missing a bedroom. Our basement is divided by walls into five rooms, although the rec room is naturally divided by teleports, beams and furniture into four spaces. Click on the drawing if you want a closer look. Otherwise, feel free to read what I have envisioned, some of it via pinterest. Please know that I do understand that some of this may not be possible!

Another detail is that 2/3 of the basement is carpeted, which we intend to keep. It ends in line with the sewing, furnace and bathroom walls. There is lino in the sewing and laundry rooms. We will need to choose flooring for the bathroom, but will also have to make some decisions about the laundry room, since it is 1/4 carpet and 3/4 lino.

LAUNDRY ROOM - 15'x11'

Challenges: Enclosed by the stairwell, exterior wall and teleposts, this is a huge space which means a lot of wasted space in the middle.

Reduce the wasted space by adding a peninsula that faces the washer and dryer. The space could be used for basket storage, storing gift wrap and bags, etc., while the surface could be used for folding clothes, wrapping presents, etc. I see four cubbies for four baskets as wasted space, unless each cubbie holds a basket of laundry for each bedroom. In that scenario, each girl would eventually be responsible for their own laundry.

Another thought for the peninsula is pull-out drying racks. This was made from IKEA drying racks. Considering what we normally hang, I would probably want two.

If a second drawer drying rack is not possible, then perhaps it could be mounted on the wall above the peninsula.

My laundry pair gets pretty splashed up from the scrub board and sink, so I would like to have them enclosed by a countertop as shown. I also like the wide sink and storage above the laundry pair. I am debating putting my washer and dryer on pedestals, although I don't want the drawer pedestals. You can't open them when you have the laundry basket sitting in front of the drawer. I would prefer to have pedestal-style cubbies built that could accommodate a laundry basket underneath, as I am forever tossing in dirty towels and dish clothes from the kitchen. I need an easily accessible place for those items. Laundry detergents would be stored in the cupboards above the washing machine.   

This sink would be ideal - an attached drying rack where I could set things that need to be washed or dried.  

Adjacent to the dryer and sharing the wall with the sewing room are the grocery shelves. I like white open shelves. They brighten up the room and increase visibility of the groceries.

If we use a company such as Closets by Design (this is their stock photo), the shelves will be repositional, which enables us to  change the height to match what is being stored. At this point I don't care to have fancy can holders. However, not everything needs as much headspace as a cereal box, so I would like the ability to change height and add shelves.  

The side above the steps will be closed to the laundry room. However, I would like to open up the underside of the staircase, building in sturdy shelves, up to 2' deep, to hold our canning and excess sealers. Currently, our empty sealers are being stored in three large Rubbermaids. I want them to have a permanent home. I believe this will provide us with more and more accessible storage for canning than we had in Regina. Again, I would like these to be painted white.  

SEWING ROOM - 9'x12'

Challenges: Best location for a bedroom, as it has a legal window. However, it is a lot of space to tie up into a bedroom that gets used so infrequently. 

Double pocket doors would keep me from feeling isolated while sewing, while closing out the noise and mess if needed. They also enable the room to be used as a bedroom in the future. 

Similar to the table in this photo, create a cutting table in the corner by placing plywood over my 3'x3' Rubbermaid cubicles (two cubicles along the side and one at the end), then cover the plywood with my rotary cutting mats. 

Mount my ironing board onto a console table for storage of my thread and other notions.

FURNACE ROOM - 8.5'x9'

No real challenges with this space. The locations of the water heater and furnace take up a space that is 6'x6.5'. I've added about 3' of working space on two sides. My only question about this room is regarding door size. Should we use a wider door (I've drawn in a pocket door) to make it easier to install or remove a new furnace in the future?

BATHROOM - 8.5'X5'

Again, no real challenges. I want a four piece bathroom, since I'm assuming that at some point we may have a set of parents staying in the basement. Both of our moms are bathers, so the tub/shower instead of just a shower accommodates them. The length of the room has been dictated by the location of a telepost. Since it seems that most standard tubs are 60" long, I've created a space that is 60"/5' wide. 

REC AREA - 8.5'X15'

Challenges: I have a mini fridge pencilled in along the stairs. At one point I had this drawn in as an angled wall due to the location of teleposts. To keep the angled wall or not? I really don't see the need for a mini fridge. We do most of our football game watching upstairs where we can set out munchies, appies, and drinks. If we wanted  to have a large theatre area, I would suggest mounting the TV on the angled wall, and building in spaces for all the components as well as a wall-mount fireplace. However, I also don't see us needing this as a huge theatre space given what I've already said about watching the games upstairs.

This is a cabinet bed, which folds back into the cabinet. We think it is the best choice for this area. The beam that runs from the bathroom and along the back wall greatly reduces the ceiling height, so a vertical tilt murphy bed is not possible. The distance between the teleposts is too narrow for a horizontal tilt murphy bed and adequate walking space into the bathroom. 

Maybe we make it "pretty" by adding shelving/storage around? Maybe not. However, it would be a good way to hide the beam that is above the head of the bed.

The rest of the area will be open and one day could house a treadmill, fooseball table, shuffleboard table or pool table. 

TV AREA - 12'X17'

Challenges: Corner TV or put it along the back wall underneath the beam?

Ideally, I would like to mount the TV and an electric fireplace along the back wall of the house. There is the beam to hide, so again, we would have built in shelves to occupy the space below. This also sets up a location for us to store the TV components - DVD player, PVR, or whatever else.

This wall mount fireplace, from Costco, is an example of what I would like on the wall below the TV.  

A telepost marks the end of this area, 17' from the back wall and halfway between the stairs an the wall. To hide the telepost with a shelf or not? We wouldn't be able to center this type of shelf, since the telepost is exactly in the middle of the open space. 

Another idea for enclosing the teleposts. The photo also shows how ductwork is hidden by this column. We also have ductwork in this location.

Another option for additional seating would be to add a table behind the sofa. Once again, the telepost gets in the way.

We have always said we would do a dropped ceiling with pot lights. If you look closely, you can see that the ceiling in this photo appears to be bead board. I like that it looks different for typical dropped ceiling panels. 

WORKOUT AREA - 13'X8'
Challenges: Once upon a time this seemed to be a logical place for a storage room, since the teleposts create a relatively narrow 8' space. However, 8' still seems to be too wide for a storage room, an it really breaks up the open feel to our basement. Currently, it holds the kids' kip bar and our weights.

This area directly faces the stairs. In a perfect world I would like to open up the space above the stairs, even though it will only be a small view. Additionally, the cubbies and maybe drawers under the stairs could be a great location for photo albums, yearbooks, teaching materials, university books, etc. 

Interestingly, this is a photo from a basement of a house that was for sale in St. Albert. It looks quite similar to our space. I wanted to highlight that the wall coming down the stairs was opened, but not completely at the bottom. Perhaps they are hiding a telepost? We also have a telepost 1' in from the bottom step, which prevents us from completely opening up the sight lines into the basement. 

KIDS AREA - 20.5'X11'
No real challenges. Currently, there is a craft table at the base of the stairs. To the right of the table, in the corner, is my sewing area. This corner is very far away from the TV at the opposite end of the basement, making operating the TV or PVR very difficult. Moving the sewing room to the corner on the left side of the staircase was an easy decision.

The long wall seems to be the most convenient location for storage. It is easily accessible at the bottom of the stairs, and offers 20 linear feet of storage.

I discovered images of a sliding wall a long time ago, and became fixated on the idea of sliding doors to hide our storage. I like the idea of floor-to-ceiling sliding doors to hide storage because they require less space than hinged doors. A door on a hinge means that the space in front of the door must be clear for the door to open. I think the sliding doors could fade into the background, as these contemporary sliding walls do.

This is a picture of the IKEA Pax system. They sell units that could fit across our wall, and they have a variety of door styles. The bonus of this type of storage over a plain sliding wall is that the Pax system is a wardrobe with positionable shelves. If I need a tall space for our Christmas tree, I just leave a space that is the height I need. Another bonus is that these units are 26" deep, and our totes are all within 24" deep. We can easily slide all of our storage totes into place and not have to buy something new.