Finishing Our Basement on a Budget

We have moved into our new home and renovation has been going on for 2 weeks now. The first thing to be completed is the basement. The basement was considered unfinished and our goal was to make it a more comfortable and livable space for us to use but frugally. The plan is to use the basement as our homeschool room along with a baby/toddler play area.

Since we are on a tight budget we did very little to the basement. Here is what the basement looked like before.

The floor was dark, had a cold painted black concrete floor, the sump pump was totally exposed, the rafters were dirty, and all the ductwork was exposed. Honestly, it looked like a torture room and I was very skeptical if we were going to achieve my vision of what I wanted it to look like.

One way we kept the cost of making over the basement was we kept the ceiling exposed. It would have been a lot more money and time to have enclosed it all up and I really like the look of exposed ceiling anyways.

The ceilings were cleaned up and painted white to give a bright, clean look. The contractors also built a bulkhead in order to box off the stairs and ductwork to also give a cleaner look.

We also got all new light fixtures. I needed this room to be bright and the complete opposite of the dark and scary vibe it had. The lights we picked out are farmhouse style pendants and they were super cheap from Lowes.

It was exactly what I was hoping for. I love the look of the pendant lighting and it gives the perfect amount of lighting.

The sump pump was boxed off. It is pretty bulky but I have a ton of neat ideas for it.

The biggest change we did is put in new flooring. This is going to help it not feel as cold as the concrete floor and it really was the cherry on top for making the basement feel more warming and comfortable. We purchased the floor at Lumbers Liquidators and it was a fraction of the price compared to buying it at a Home Depot or Lowes.

Here is the basement fully after…

So this is how we “finished” our basement on a budget. This project was either going to be a total Pinterest nailed it or ultimate fail scenario but the basement came out just as I envisioned!! I am so happy with the end results. There are still a few things I would like to do down the road; paint the wall, fix the stairs, and makeover the fireplace but this is a great start. I’m no longer scared to go down in the basement, I love it down here, and finally, I can now set up my classroom!

Next, I’ll share with y’all the kitchen and dining room!

How are ways you have finished a basement, comment below! If you found this post helpful in any way, Pin!!