Basement Doubles As Studio Apartment

Our clients wanted to expand their living space down into their unfinished basement. While the space serves as a family rec room most of the time, the basement doubles as a studio apartment for their parents during extended visits. The project includes a TV lounge, a mini-kitchen, laundry, a cleverly concealed Murphy bed and a full bathroom.

Before: This basement was a typical unfinished space. If yours looks something like this, don’t fret. You’ll be amazed at the transformation.

A Family-Friendly Basement Rec Room

After: To match this up with the before photo, the exterior door is to the left of the entertainment built-ins. Our clients wanted plenty of room to store toys, books, media equipment, crafting supplies and more. A long row of cabinets topped with a white oak countertop and open shelves takes care of it all.

Shiplap adds texture to this lovely media wall. And lighting at the top of the open shelves illuminates the items on them. We love the combination of the blue Shaker-style cabinets, the wood and the white shiplap.

To the right of the cabinets is a versatile table that’s great for playing games and eating. The basement has a mini-split system for heating and air conditioning.

A Basement Doubles As a Studio Apartment

The dynamic wood pattern on these custom doors turned the Murphy bed into a design asset. Another detail in this photo are a common basement sight — the fuse boxes. Our clients opted to conceal them by covering them with wallpaper.

Here’s a glance at how the room transforms into a studio apartment for our clients’ overnight guests. The shelves along either side of the Murphy bed serve as nightstands.

A Basement Mini-Kitchen and Laundry

The space also contains a mini-kitchen that includes a fridge, large farmhouse sink and a microwave. This was another opportunity to mix wood, white and blue, creating cohesion with the media wall.

We were able to incorporate the washer and dryer the clients wanted placed down here within the kitchen cabinetry. The cabinet doors slide back into the sides for easy access.

Our clients opted for a large sink in this spot. This comes in very handy for hand-washing clothing and other utilitarian basement tasks.

Here’s a look at how it all fits together. Because the basement has limited windows, we were sure to add layers of light including extensive recessed lighting in the ceiling.

A Spa-Like Full Basement Bathroom

The basement also has a beautiful new full bathroom. We repeated the same wood motif we used on the Murphy bed on the custom vanity. Two open niches filled with shelves serve as the linen closets for the entire basement, and we sized one of the cubbies to accommodate a hamper.

The bathroom enjoys natural light from two windows, a lucky asset in a basement. The dark hexagonal floor adds contrast to all the white used in here. It also adds a modern touch.

Stacking rectangular wall tiles in a gridded pattern brought in another modern touch. A large new frosted glass window in the shower stall helps to fill the bathroom with natural light, giving it a bright, clean and spa-like look. The generously sized shower stall has dual shower heads and plenty of room for two.

Our clients now have a beautiful basement space that expanded the size of their living space significantly. It also gives their loved ones a beautiful private suite to enjoy when they come to visit, inspiring more frequent visits!