

Who says a basement has to be dark, dreary and cold?
Take this reno we did for a lovely elderly couple moving from the coast into their son and daughter in law’s basement suite in Oyama. The couple wanted to make some changes to ensure the suite felt bright, warm and properly theirs.
Taupe grey floors and walls, awkward partial wall, dark cabinets that didn’t make good use of the space.
In an effort to maximize storage and help the space feel larger, we brought the cabinetry to the 9′ ceiling. A warm white shaker style was more to the clients taste and helped the space brighten up and take on a more timeless aesthetic. Calcutta Gold quartz countertops and subway tile with a subtle texture helped to complete the space.
After adding heated floors throughout, we laid a beautiful high end laminate that had a warmer and more consistent colouring than the existing floors which had varied sizes and colour. These days the high end laminates rival the durability of Luxury Vinyl Plank in terms of scratch and water resistance, but often look slightly more like the real thing than the often plasticy-finish of LVP.
We took the walls from the existing BM Balboa Mist to BM Ballet White, to warm things up.
It was a squeeze to fit in full sized appliances in this teeny kitchen footprint, but we managed it, and the island offers a nice amount of counter space and an unencumbered view of the lake. When you’re in the space now, it’s pretty easy to forget you’re in a basement.
When planning an island with your cabinetry shop, don’t forget to consider finishing details, so as to help it not to look like floating wall cabinets. Simply adding baseboard will help finish and ground it, or mimic the shakers of the cabinet doors like we did here.
In another kitchen renovation we did we opted to build posts on the back of the island.
We also updated the tile on the fireplace and added built ins. A mix of open and closed storage is perfect in a living space, to be able to shut the door on items you don’t want seen, as well as an opportunity to add decor on the open shelves. The TV is now installed where the large art sits in this photo.
What do you think of these updates? Are you envisioning some new potential with your own basement space? Book a call to discuss how to best utilize your basement, be it for your own family, or to use as a rental suite!
Hope you’re enjoying the calm between Christmas and New Years, and wishing you all the very best in 2023!
Meghan