There are many intriguing elements to this fantastic basement renovation, from the awesome home theatre to the perfect turtle home, but one of the most efficient has to be how it cleverly and seamlessly fits in several zones that are easily hidden away when not in use. Here’s what we did.
The gym
Sliding white doors with frosted glass stylishly close off the home gym from the family room, creating a clean and pleasing look to a space that’s all about relaxing, while keeping the gym handy and accessible.
When entertaining, the gym is elegantly hidden. But should the homeowners want to watch TV while exercising, they need only slide open the doors.
Under the stairs
In a clever use of an often forgotten spot, a sewing nook and A/V closet were built under the stairs to utilize all available space. Both are hidden behind custom doors.
The sewing nook provides the perfect dedicated work spot without the worry of having to share space in, say, a secondary bedroom.
The laundry
The bright laundry room is hidden behind doors at the bottom of the stairs instead of in the homeowners’ small, busy mudroom upstairs, giving them more elbow room for this task without taking up valuable space in the mudroom.
When not in use, the washer and dryer are easily hidden, keeping everything neat and tidy.
The turtle tank
The homeowners’ two turtles are a big part of their home, but before the renovation they just had the large tank sitting in the middle of the unfinished basement. Since the turtles are there to stay for many years, the tank was built into the wall with access in the back through the storage room.
This gives the turtles a pride of place, showing off their new home, while tucking away the tools needed to keep the tank functioning and the turtles happy.
The point of all this hide-and-seek is to create highly functional spaces that minimize visual clutter, keeping everything streamlined, creating multiple activity zones and providing a much more efficient use of space that solves many of the homeowners’ issues and offers a second level of living that’s just as enticing as the main floor.
This fun basement renovation was a finalist in the 2018 Housing Design Awards.