One Room Challenge Week 2 – Fall 2017

Kove Architects

Hello friends,

{If you are new here, welcome! I’m an Interior Decorator living in Milton, ON, a booming town just outside of Toronto.}

Welcome to week 2 of the One Room Challenge. There are only four weeks until reveal day and I know from experience that these four weeks will fly by. Last week I shared the Before photos of my basement and a few inspiration photos showing the design direction I’m going. You can read that here:

Week 1

Today, I’m sharing the floor plan and the overall design concept.  Every design starts with a floor plan to determine the best use of the space based on needs. From there, zones are created and placed in areas which make the most sense.The living area is placed where there are two (small) windows, the gym area behind and more discreet and the place beside the stairs for the kitchenette was ideal. Plus I have built in a ton of storage because we decorators always have “stuff”, am I right? (I remember going to a client’s house once and seeing the most organized basement with Rubbermaid containers stacked and labelled neatly and vowed one day that would be me.)

You can see in my floor plan below that the basement isn’t huge – about 600 sq’ of finished space (not including the furnace area.) I contemplated putting in a bathroom but the powder room is right up the stairs and I’m not doing this for resale – I’m doing this for me. I would much rather use the space to exercise and practice yoga in and my daughter can also practice dance (she’s a competitive dancer.) It’s pretty tight as it is but stay tuned for what I’m putting into the gym area.

And here is the design concept and some of the furnishings, fabrics and products going in.

1. I knew right away I wanted a large, comfortable (not to mention, well made) sectional in the living area. My go to is Whittington & Co., Fine Upholstered Furniture. I purchased this chair from them twelve years ago and it is still as comfortable as it was then, although I have had it reupholstered. I love their custom sofa and sectional program and always recommend this to clients as the flexibility allows for different sizes and looks. My sectional will be the biggest one I can fit in my space – 109″ x 109″, so plenty of seating for a crowd.
2. The sectional will be covered in a practical, Crypton grey linen look fabric from JF Fabrics, called Evan.  Stay tuned for a post on the benefits of Crypton fabric and why I chose it.
3. To separate the living area from the gym/yoga/dance “studio”, I am (and by I, I mean my contractor) assembling three Metrie Pretty Simple doors together.  I was trying to find antique doors at first but it was impossible to find three the same size.  Then I remembered these doors and I think painted in a glossy black, they will have the look and presence of an antique door. They will be hung on a beautiful brass track from 1925 Workbench.
4. The flooring is a hard wearing and practical new vinyl product from Karndean called Korlok in a beautiful warm colour (Warm Ash.) It is their first product with a click locking system, as opposed to their traditional looselay. And the best part is that it is completely waterproof, unlike laminate or wood – so the perfect choice for a basement.
5. And of course I wanted to include wallpaper somewhere in the basement. When I saw the blush colourway of Pyne Hollyhock in an email earlier this year, I immediately knew I had to have it somewhere in my house. It will be perfect on the wall behind the sectional. (And yes, I do have the grey version in two spaces in my house. What can I say? I’m a chintz lover from way back and I never tire of it.)
6. When I was watching a movie in a friend’s basement the other day, it was freezing even while covered with a blanket. I hadn’t really thought of a fireplace in the basement but she suggested that it is totally worth it. I actually saw a larger version of this Dimplex one in my friend Christine Dovey’s basement and I thought I had never seen a fireplace so streamlined and unobtrusive – almost, elegant.  Even though my space is tight, I am fitting one in, in a configuration very similar to the opening photo above. I detest the idea of a TV over a fireplace – it never looks right to me, not to mention the sore necks. So, I hope this will be the perfect solution. Fingers crossed that what I’m dreaming up will look good in reality.
7. The neutral yet interesting rug is from Annie Selke. I love the tone on tone pattern and think that wool will be very cosy underfoot.
8. The beautiful etching is from a lovely talent I connected with via Instagram – Darlene Cole. Isn’t it so pretty? Check out her beautiful, colourful florals – bestill my heart.
9. The white bricks are actually wallpaper from Milton & King. I found a beautiful tile that I was going to use but I couldn’t justify the cost of the tile plus labour in the end. This is the perfect solution.
10. You will notice that I haven’t included a coffee table or dining chairs amongst other things and I’m still deciding on those fronts. I have some furniture that I could possibly use. One of the pieces is a solid pine coffee table that I made in woodworking classes decades ago. I’m thinking that if I sand it down to the original wood, it may look ok -I’ll see.

I will be sharing more details about these fabulous brands and people in upcoming posts.

So let’s see what has been done to date:

1. Old insulation removed and subfloor in:

2. Framing including a new partition for the storage area:

3. Another new partition for the furnace/storage area:

4. Electrician installed the rough ins for potlights etc. This is the power for the TV which I am mounting on the wall. I have never been a fan of this but I love the inspiration photo above.

5.  And this is where we are today – not very far! This was taken last night with the new insulation up. Next up is insulating the ceiling which is a must in a basement so you don’t hear noises from above but also so I won’t hear noisy teenagers below. 🙂

Do you think I can get this done in four short weeks? It’s actually out of my control and I am relying on my contractor to come through. I hope it’s finished sooner than later as my house has been in quite a state the last 3 weeks with everything from the basement spilling into various rooms in the house. We haven’t had anyone over because of this and life feels like it has been put on hold. But I know it will all be worth it in the end.

Don’t forget to check out the 20 featured bloggers here and the rest of the guest participants here. And as always, thank you for your support!

Check out my former One Room Challenge Reveals here:

Prettying Up a Builder Kitchen (former home)  – Fall 2014

Teen Daughter’s Bathroom (former home) – Spring 2015

My Parisian Bedroom (former home) – Fall 2015

Teen Daughter’s Bedroom (former home) – Spring 2016

My Charming Kitchen – Fall 2016

My Functional and Pretty Office – Spring 2017

Feel free to connect here:

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Happy decorating,

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