It’s reveal day for the One Room Challenge!!  I am so excited to share how our basement came together after much work organizing, painting and decorating!

We really tried to do the entire project on a budget of “let’s use what we have and try to make it work”.  Since this is a huge play area for the kids, I wanted to keep the space fun and welcoming with a minimal amount of items the kids could break.

We started with picking a white paint color, in hopes that the basement would feel bigger, since there are low ceilings and it feels rather cave-like.  And, we wanted to paint the fire place and mantel to make it feel not so dated.  We were also planning on updating the shelving to create a play nook for the kids.  I shared our entire plan in week one of the challenge.

But, before we could even start painting, we needed to declutter the entire space, which I shared in week two of the challenge.  Then, once all the clutter was gone and the space was clean, tidy, and organized, we were able to paint the walls and create a play nook for the kids, which I shared in week three of the challenge.

Then, I shared the progress on the fireplace.  That was a tough project to complete because there were so many nooks and crannies that needed to be filled with paint.  I shared all my struggles on getting that done in week four of the challenge.

And last week for the challenge, I shared how we rearranged the furniture, I sewed some pillows, and added some curtains to the play nook.

These past six weeks have been crazy busy trying to get the basement complete, but I am so happy with how it turned out!

When you walk into our basement, the taupe color paint has been long gone.  We painted the panels and the railing Vintage Pewter by Benjamin Moore.  We picked this color because we have used it to paint some furniture and it is one of my favorite dark gray colors.  As I said, our budget was “use what we have”, and we had this color paint left over!!

We did purchase the white for the walls because we didn’t have any white paint left to use, and the basement is really large.

As you scan the basement, you are able to see the newly-painted stone fireplace with a new painted mantel.  We stuck with Vintage Pewter by Benjamin Moore for the mantel, because I really wanted to keep similar colors in the basement so if felt more cohesive.

The couch is now facing out toward the room, instead of blocking off space.  This makes the entire room feel much larger!  To add some color, I painted some water colors and hung them over the couch.  I went with navy blue, yellow, and gray, since the pillows I sewed were similar colors.

I put our ottoman from our living room in the basement for a few reasons.  I really wanted something padded that could serve as a table near the couch.  Since the kids run around downstairs so much, I thought that using a cushioned ottoman would make the most sense.  I am really loving the patterns of the pillows and the ottoman together!

I updated some of the fixtures on the night stand that is for our Murphy bed by adding a new light and knobs.  We are also using the night stand as storage for games, which is really nice that it can serve as dual purpose.

Then, there’s the play nook!  This area is probably my second favorite space in the basement…after the fireplace since that took me forever to paint and I am proud of it!!  I love how the blue just pops against the white.

The kids love the curtains, which can open and close for performances!  We used a closet rod to hang the curtains, and I sewed the curtains so they would be the right size to slide over the closet rod.  It is super sturdy so the kids can’t pull it off, even if they try (and they have tried)!

The dress-up clothes are hanging on decorative hooks, so they can pull off the clothing and get dressed easily.  The only down-side to that is they both take off all the clothing from the hooks to wear, but I am ok with that!

The whale chalkboard was something I had growing up.  My mom was on the Children’s Hospital fundraising board, and for a donation event, she purchased this chalkboard whale.  The kids love it, and it can act as a sign to whatever show they are performing.

I added some extra detail to the space by cutting out vinyl clouds using my Silhouette Cameo.  I wanted the inside of the nook to feel cozy, and I think the white clouds add a nice touch.

Above the stage area is a shelf that we hung to store some more of the kids’ toys.  These are puzzles, games, and a bowling set.  I still need to add labels to the bins so I will share those pictures on my Instagram and Facebook pages if you want to check them out!

The basement feels so much bigger and much more like livable space, rather than just a dumping ground of unwanted things.  I am so pleased with how everything turned out and only have a few more final touches to go until the space can officially be called complete!

Don’t forget to check out all the other amazing transformations for the One Room Challenge from all the other bloggers and designers over at Calling It Home!

I want to thank Linda, from Calling It Home, for creating this incredible challenge, as it got me to finally finish out basement!

And I would like to give a special thank you to my incredible husband, who helped paint and deal with my amazing decision-making skills and motivation to get this project complete!