Industrial Farmhouse Style in a Fun-Filled Basement
A family’s wish-list items are all here: TV lounge, snack bar, Lego-playing spot, home office, guest bedroom and soaking tub
One of the owners of this basement and interior designer Karen Spiritoso are bargain-hunting soul mates. Between the two of them they scoured Craigslist, a church-sponsored reuse center, Tuesday Morning, Ballard’s Backroom, HomeGoods and more to keep the budget for this large basement renovation balanced. Their efforts produced a casual and comfortable place where the kids can play and hang out with their friends, the parents can get work done in an office and soak in a luxurious bathtub, and overnight guests can enjoy a private suite.
“The homeowner really wanted to use a barn door, so I said, ‘Great, let’s make it a focal point,’” Spiritoso says. The homeowner found this one on Craigslist and drove to a farm in southern Kentucky to pick it up. There was an existing storage niche here, and it was a terrific spot to create a focal point you see as soon as you come down the stairs.
The door was missing its glass so the designer used a trick to make new panes look aged. She sprayed them with black spray paint on one side and a mirror spray paint on the other to make the glass look like antique mercury glass.
Door pull: Home Depot
The door was missing its glass so the designer used a trick to make new panes look aged. She sprayed them with black spray paint on one side and a mirror spray paint on the other to make the glass look like antique mercury glass.
Door pull: Home Depot
The homeowner installed the peel-away chevron wallpaper herself and doesn’t expect to be doing that again anytime soon. “It was a bear,” Spiritoso says. “There were always air bubbles, and when you’d try to smooth them down, they’d pop up somewhere else.” Still, the sweat equity and frustration resulted in a lively accent wall.
The clients already had the round wood table, perfect for playing games or serving food. The orange chairs add a strong dollop of color. The snack bar includes a microwave and beverage refrigerator. One of the most interesting pieces is overhead. “My client wanted something that would look weathered and authentic,” the designer says. The teak piece, found at a reuse center, had once served as some sort of outdoor planter and used to have legs, which Spiritoso cut off to create a rustic box shelf.
Sconces: Pottery Barn
The clients already had the round wood table, perfect for playing games or serving food. The orange chairs add a strong dollop of color. The snack bar includes a microwave and beverage refrigerator. One of the most interesting pieces is overhead. “My client wanted something that would look weathered and authentic,” the designer says. The teak piece, found at a reuse center, had once served as some sort of outdoor planter and used to have legs, which Spiritoso cut off to create a rustic box shelf.
Sconces: Pottery Barn
The designer put the TV lounge under a drywalled ceiling and ductwork soffit because the space is cozier and away from the glare of natural light, which is better for watching TV. The couple’s teenage daughter enjoys hanging out with her friends here.
Spiritoso had an Etsy artisan custom-make the table at a height where additional people could sit and watch TV. The reclaimed wood and steel add to the industrial farmhouse look. Note how she wrapped the structural poles in painted MDF boards and metal.
Accent wall paint: Georgian Bay SW6509, Sherwin-Williams
Spiritoso had an Etsy artisan custom-make the table at a height where additional people could sit and watch TV. The reclaimed wood and steel add to the industrial farmhouse look. Note how she wrapped the structural poles in painted MDF boards and metal.
Accent wall paint: Georgian Bay SW6509, Sherwin-Williams
The homeowner picked out the colorful throw pillow and ottoman fabric in bright colors that she loves. The ottoman is on wheels so that it can be moved wherever needed.
The designer used a collection of the homeowners’ sentimental items for the gallery wall. She laid them out on the floor and played around with them to get the composition right.
The solid door leads to the bathroom, and the translucent glass door leads to an office.
Wall color: Passive SW7064, Sherwin-Williams; slipcovered sofas and blue chair: Crate & Barrel
The designer used a collection of the homeowners’ sentimental items for the gallery wall. She laid them out on the floor and played around with them to get the composition right.
The solid door leads to the bathroom, and the translucent glass door leads to an office.
Wall color: Passive SW7064, Sherwin-Williams; slipcovered sofas and blue chair: Crate & Barrel
In the office, Spiritoso used base pieces her client had picked up at Ballard’s Backroom (the Ballard Designs outlet), then had butcher block from Ikea customized for the desktop. She created a cozy spot for reading and power naps by adding a platform underneath a twin mattress, a board-and-batten-like surround made from painted medium-density fiberboard and a series of built-in cubbies. The homeowner accessorized with HomeGoods finds.
Wall paint: Shagreen SW6422, Sherwin-Williams
Wall paint: Shagreen SW6422, Sherwin-Williams
The other end of the room has an open area for the couple’s young son to play on a soft blue rug.
The built-ins on other side of the guest bedroom door have baskets full of his toys, and he plays with his Legos here. “You’d be amazed: If you plan ahead, having built-ins like these put in during construction can cost less than buying bookshelves,” Spiritoso says. The doors provide symmetry on either side of the guest bedroom door. Two sconces from Home Depot finish off the entryway.
The designer scooped up the reclaimed wood art on a fruitful trip through closeout retailer Tuesday Morning.
The designer scooped up the reclaimed wood art on a fruitful trip through closeout retailer Tuesday Morning.
In the bedroom, the homeowner reused some bedding and furniture she already had to create an inviting space. There’s a large window in this room for egress, as required by code for a basement bedroom.
Wall paint: Sea Salt SW6204, Sherwin-Williams
Wall paint: Sea Salt SW6204, Sherwin-Williams
The homeowners were dying to have a nice soaking tub in the house and decided that the remodel was a great opportunity to get one. The tub is under the staircase, as is the recessed storage niche.
Spiritoso guided her clients toward a wall-mounted faucet (that’s not a soap dish; it’s a waterfall faucet) because there was less jackhammering and cost involved than there would have been had they tried to add the plumbing underneath the concrete floor.
Bathtub: Signature Hardware
Spiritoso guided her clients toward a wall-mounted faucet (that’s not a soap dish; it’s a waterfall faucet) because there was less jackhammering and cost involved than there would have been had they tried to add the plumbing underneath the concrete floor.
Bathtub: Signature Hardware
Because the room doesn’t benefit from any natural light, they used glass tile in the shower and on the backsplash for its reflective qualities. The vanity adds contrast to the sleek modern elements. Spiritoso had the same Etsy artisan who completed the sofa table craft this based upon the measurements of the trough sink they wanted to use.
The Moroccan glass tile was the most expensive tile in the room, so the designer wisely used it as a strong accent above the vanity to keep costs down.
Shower and backsplash tiles: Floor & Decor; mirror and trough sink: Signature Hardware; light fixture: Restoration Hardware
The Moroccan glass tile was the most expensive tile in the room, so the designer wisely used it as a strong accent above the vanity to keep costs down.
Shower and backsplash tiles: Floor & Decor; mirror and trough sink: Signature Hardware; light fixture: Restoration Hardware
The modern trough sink and rustic countertop bring the industrial farmhouse look the homeowners love into the bathroom.
In the shower, Carrara marble in a herringbone pattern adds an elegant texture to the floor. The bench seat is also made of marble. “One slab like this is much easier to keep clean,” Spiritoso says.
The designer learned the hard way that it’s difficult to install frameless glass door hinges in glass tile, as she cracked a few along the way. She learned a trick that finally worked: notching out the hole where the hinge will go into the tile first, filling it with grout and attaching the hinge there. That way the weight of the doors won’t crack the tile.
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The designer learned the hard way that it’s difficult to install frameless glass door hinges in glass tile, as she cracked a few along the way. She learned a trick that finally worked: notching out the hole where the hinge will go into the tile first, filling it with grout and attaching the hinge there. That way the weight of the doors won’t crack the tile.
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Basement at a Glance
What happens here: A family of four enjoys snacking, hosting, Lego playing, tub soaking, movie watching, working
Location: Cincinnati
Size: 1,700 square feet (158 square meters); one bedroom, one bathroom
Designer: Karen Spiritoso of Home Designs by Karen
Budget: About $62,000
“My clients wanted the basement to be playful and not too serious,” Spiritoso says. They wanted a big industrial farmhouse-inspired look, so keeping the ceilings open to the joists not only fit the style but also made the room feel taller. The drywall ceilings are about 9 feet high; the uncovered ceilings are about 9½ feet high.
The flooring was one of the biggest bargain scores of the project. “Originally the homeowner wanted polished concrete floors, but the darn machine wouldn’t fit through the doors so we couldn’t do it,” Spiritoso says. That turned out to be kismet, as she came across these large-format tiles at The Dry Ridge Reuse Center, a local church-run shop that sells donated materials as a fundraiser. She scored the slate-looking ceramic tiles for $1 a square foot, compared with the $6 per square foot a polished concrete floor would have cost.