The first post of our basement renovation series.
[post contains affiliate links, which means we make a small commission, at NO additional cost to you, if a purchase is made. thanks for supporting north country nest!]
The last time we shared a home renovation update was wayyyyy back in 2020, when we checked in on the status of our projects.
As I’m writing this, our two kiddos (five and three, now!) are chasing each other around the living room coffee table and our new pup, Boone, is scrambling out of the way (we said goodbye to Gunner in 2021 and Moxie in 2025).
In the last six years, I’ve started and stopped a blog post update countless times. And while we of course have done projects here and there, we haven’t done anything major… until now.
While sharing whole-house tour is on the list, what’s top-of-mind and easiest to jump into is to bring you along for our basement renovation. And ironically, I don’t think we’ve ever shared our basement before. Prior to getting started with this project, it was the catch-all for anything that we didn’t want to see (out of sight, out of mind, ya know?) as well as all the outgrown clothes and toys. Who knew littles accumulated so much stuff?
The bad news? We don’t have a true before photo of the basement.
However, I do have a few photos from mid-June.
The walls that are up to the right? They weren’t there originally – it was one, big, open space. Over the last few years, we also replaced the window that you see in the left of the photo. And we closed off a steel door and added a slider, which you can see in the photo below.
Our Plan for the Basement Renovation – Part One
The area that we’re renovating is about half of the overall basement. It’s the area directly under the kitchen and living room, and we’re hoping to complete this section by the end of 2026. We’re currently in the middle of the boring, behind-the-scenes stuff. You know, putting in place the things that will make the fun stuff (i.e., tile and flooring and light fixtures) functional, like electrical outlets and stove piping.
What we’ve done so far
We officially kicked off the project in May, and what that means is Brett and I sat down and planned out what we wanted to do, and estimated how much everything was going to cost.
Spoiler alert: We underestimated basically everything. Shocking, right?!
In June, we got started by ripping off all the old drywall and insulation. It was messy, and we found a few mouse holes that we were able to patch up, so hopefully we eliminated one more possible entrance for those critters this winter.
From there, we had the endless conversations about bathroom placement. This was a lot of back-and-forth, and talking through where we could place the toilet, sink, and shower, based on what was already installed from the previous bathroom. Once we decided on placement, we cut the concrete and installed the plumbing for the bathroom shower, sink, and toilet. Again, some of that stuff was already there. In terms of details of what that actually meant, I stayed upstairs and watched the kids while Brett and my Dad worked on it. So I’m going to be no help on that one 😉
Once that was done, we framed the hallway and bathroom, and added a mini header to stabilize the kitchen floor. Brett thought it was too ‘bouncy’ when you walked (apparently my walk is more like a stomp, and he was sick of dishes rattling in the cabinets – no comment from me on that one).
With all the drywall and insulation gone, Brett then moved onto electrical and HVAC, which took us to the end of June. We had scheduled a contractor to come and spray foam before we planned on leaving for vacation, so we had a deadline to meet.
I can tell you Brett spent most of the month down in the basement. I still don’t know how he was able to get everything done – but also, he’s not great at stopping when he puts his mind to something. So, that was June!
July was a much quieter month. We were recouping from vacations, the craziness that was our month of June, and doing a little more travel here and there.
The beginning of August was all about the wood stove. Brett stopped at a few stores, and we finally decided on the type and brand, and ordered that mid-month. Once we figured out what kind of stove we were getting, he could then install the piping. We were able to find space in our upstairs linen closet, and should be able to close it off and gain back that storage space.
Once the piping was in, we tiled the hearth for the stove, which is where we’ll end with the updates!
What we Have Left To Do
I am so proud of what we’ve (okay… Brett) has done in a short three months. It feels like we should be done by now. But alas, there is still a laundry list of things to do before this space is ready for living.
Flooring: We think we’re going to do laminate wood, but Brett casually mentioned sanding down the concrete and maybe just doing that. So who really knows?
Walls: As of right now, Brett wants to do tongue-and-groove walls in something not-pine. He’s not a fan of the yellow, but wants that rustic look. And I say Brett because the basement is his domain – he’s getting first choice of design style 🙂
Bathroom: Everything needs to be done here – door, floors, walls, shower, vanity, fixtures.
Bar: We are still debating what exactly this will entail, but so far it’s a bar top with seating and a drink fridge.
Closet: Add a door and storage to the framed in closet.
So there you have it – our first official renovation update, six years later! The good news is that this post is already out-of-date and we’ll be sharing the next round of updates soon!
All our best,
Leave a Reply