Wonder where I have been the past forever??
Long story short this happened:
Taddaaa!!
Long story short this happened:
After we moved in in August 2014, our basement became a glorified storage area. Then we had some friends stay with us for a few months, but it was still half storage, and in February of this year, we started to clear it out and renovate, and now it is a Air BnB!
Long story version:
We were the true definition of weekend warriors, and we created a detailed schedule involving a task every weekend. There was even a Gantt chart involved.
We also created a mood board:
We stuck with the above plan pretty closely, but then the last task: installing doors and finishing some of the decor accidentally took us one month. The cool thing was we stayed completely below budget! Most of these items we either already had, got for super cheap on Kijiji, were traded with friends, or purchased on sale. So the cost performance was very good, schedule, not so good! Oh well!
We did most of the work ourselves (had some help from friends and family), and in the whole process we both have to agree that demo and painting was the easiest, followed by flooring, then baseboards and the hardest was definitely with out a doubt, installing 2 doors. We wanted to create a separate lockable space for our guests, and then also add a door going into our kitchen. Neither door frame was a normal size, and required some creative work by Mike (and my dad!) In the end..we got er done!
Here are some photos/videos of the process! Enjoy!
Before:
Weekend 1: Demolition
Weekend 2: Repair
Weekend 3: Priming/Painting
Weekend 4: Flooring
Weekend 5: Furniture Painting/Decor/Baseboards
Weekend 6-12 Doors and Finishing!
My mom and dad came to visit for Easter, and at that point we were 90% done, just had some last bits of decor and doors. Mike and Dad started the doors, and then Mike and I took a few weekends off. But the past few weekends we spent the time finishing the trim, painting, and then getting the room Air BnB ready! We had to wait until it was sunny to take the pictures below! We also spent some time dealing with the logicstics of actually running an Air BnB (insurance, finances etc.).
It is done!! We are now listed on Air BnB and have already received some bookings!
Biggest lesson learned of the whole thing: Don't give up at 90% completion. We should have just taken Weekend 6/7 and finished the darn thing!! Other lesson learned: Painting wooden furniture is a pain in the butt, but still pretty fun. In general though: Mike and I have very little home improvement skills, and it was cool to learn how to do all this ourselves! YAY!
We did most of the work ourselves (had some help from friends and family), and in the whole process we both have to agree that demo and painting was the easiest, followed by flooring, then baseboards and the hardest was definitely with out a doubt, installing 2 doors. We wanted to create a separate lockable space for our guests, and then also add a door going into our kitchen. Neither door frame was a normal size, and required some creative work by Mike (and my dad!) In the end..we got er done!
Here are some photos/videos of the process! Enjoy!
Before:
Weekend 1: Demolition
 |
| Video of the Before and Demo |
 |
| There used to be an old kitchen down there, which a previous owner had made into a bedroom(?). We got rid of the tile. |
 |
| After patching, and recoating the drywall...lots of sanding and dust |
 |
| We trialed some Behr colours, but in the end we used Benjamin Moore paint Daiquiri Ice |
 |
| Primer was key to neutralize that bright blue wall |
For painting, I did the cutting, and Mike did the rolling as per Young House Love instructions
Because the space was under 500 sqft, we got a great deal on flooring. This took a while to get started, and was pretty tedious, but looked so good when we were done!
Weekend 5: Furniture Painting/Decor/Baseboards
 |
| We actually set up the whole room temporarily for some friends, who also helped us with baseboards. |
We then had to completely move around everything to install the baseboards.
Free chairs from our neighbours, needed some TLC (they were also brown wood at first, this was after I painted them white).
A little paint and fabric medium to get the job done!
My mom and dad came to visit for Easter, and at that point we were 90% done, just had some last bits of decor and doors. Mike and Dad started the doors, and then Mike and I took a few weekends off. But the past few weekends we spent the time finishing the trim, painting, and then getting the room Air BnB ready! We had to wait until it was sunny to take the pictures below! We also spent some time dealing with the logicstics of actually running an Air BnB (insurance, finances etc.).
 |
| Big focus on the doors here, wanted to show off the ridiculousness of that install |
Biggest lesson learned of the whole thing: Don't give up at 90% completion. We should have just taken Weekend 6/7 and finished the darn thing!! Other lesson learned: Painting wooden furniture is a pain in the butt, but still pretty fun. In general though: Mike and I have very little home improvement skills, and it was cool to learn how to do all this ourselves! YAY!
