Basement

This award winning, luxurious home reinvents the ranch-style house to suit the lifestyle and taste of today’s modern family. Featuring vaulted ceilings, large windows and a screened porch, this home embraces the open floor plan concept and is handicap friendly. Expansive glass doors extend the interior space out, and the garden pavilion is a great place for the family to enjoy the outdoors in comfort. This home is the Gold Winner of the 2019 Obie Awards. Photography by Nelson Salivia

Magnificent Basement Remodel in Chantilly VA that includes a movie theater, wine cellar, full bar, exercise room, full bedroom and bath, a powder room, and a big gaming and entertainment space. Now family has a big bar space with mahogany cabinetry, large-scale porcelain tile with a ledgestone wrapping , lots of space for bar seating, lots of glass cabinets for liquor and china display and magnificent lighting. The Guest bedroom suite with a bathroom has linear tiles and vertical glass tile accents that spruced up this bathroom. Gaming and conversation area with built-ins and wainscoting, give an upscale look to this magnificent basement. Also built just outside of exercise room, is a new powder room area. We used new custom beveled glass doors and interior doors. A 6’x8’ wine cellar was built with a custom glass door just few steps away from this stunning bar space. Behind the staircase we have implement a full equipped movie theater room furnished with state of art AV system, surround sound, big screen and a lot more. Our biggest goal for this space was to carefully ( yet softly) coordinate all color schemes to achieve a very airy, open and welcoming entertainment space. By creating two tray ceilings and recess lighting we have uplifted the unused corner of this basement. This has become the jewel of the neighborhood”, she said.

A theme of blonde wood, light walls, blues and greys pulls the basement together.

Built-In storage featuring floor to ceiling doors. White flat panel with detail.

The terrace was an unfinished space with load-bearing columns in traffic areas. We add eight “faux” columns and beams to compliment and balance necessary existing ones. The new columns and beams hide structural necessities, and as shown with this bar, they help define different areas. This is needed so they help deliver the needed symmetry. The columns are wrapped in mitered, reclaimed wood and accented with steel collars around their crowns, thus becoming architectural elements.

We started with a blank slate on this basement project where our only obstacles were exposed steel support columns, existing plumbing risers from the concrete slab, and dropped soffits concealing ductwork on the ceiling. It had the advantage of tall ceilings, an existing egress window, and a sliding door leading to a newly constructed patio. This family of five loves the beach and frequents summer beach resorts in the Northeast. Bringing that aesthetic home to enjoy all year long was the inspiration for the décor, as well as creating a family-friendly space for entertaining. Wish list items included room for a billiard table, wet bar, game table, family room, guest bedroom, full bathroom, space for a treadmill and closed storage. The existing structural elements helped to define how best to organize the basement. For instance, we knew we wanted to connect the bar area and billiards table with the patio in order to create an indoor/outdoor entertaining space. It made sense to use the egress window for the guest bedroom for both safety and natural light. The bedroom also would be adjacent to the plumbing risers for easy access to the new bathroom. Since the primary focus of the family room would be for TV viewing, natural light did not need to filter into that space. We made sure to hide the columns inside of newly constructed walls and dropped additional soffits where needed to make the ceiling mechanicals feel less random. In addition to the beach vibe, the homeowner has valuable sports memorabilia that was to be prominently displayed including two seats from the original Yankee stadium. For a coastal feel, shiplap is used on two walls of the family room area. In the bathroom shiplap is used again in a more creative way using wood grain white porcelain tile as the horizontal shiplap “wood”. We connected the tile horizontally with vertical white grout joints and mimicked the horizontal shadow line with dark grey grout. At first glance it looks like we wrapped the shower with real wood shiplap. Materials including a blue and white patterned floor, blue penny tiles and a natural wood vanity checked the list for that seaside feel. A large reclaimed wood door on an exposed sliding barn track separates the family room from the game room where reclaimed beams are punctuated with cable lighting. Cabinetry and a beverage refrigerator are tucked behind the rolling bar cabinet (that doubles as a Blackjack table!). A TV and upright video arcade machine round-out the entertainment in the room. Bar stools, two rotating club chairs, and large square poufs along with the Yankee Stadium seats provide fun places to sit while having a drink, watching billiards or a game on the TV. Signed baseballs can be found behind the bar, adjacent to the billiard table, and on specially designed display shelves next to the poker table in the family room. Thoughtful touches like the surfboards, signage, photographs and accessories make a visitor feel like they are on vacation at a well-appointed beach resort without being cliché.

Game On is a lower level entertainment space designed for a large family. We focused on casual comfort with an injection of spunk for a lounge-like environment filled with fun and function. Architectural interest was added with our custom feature wall of herringbone wood paneling, wrapped beams and navy grasscloth lined bookshelves flanking an Ann Sacks marble mosaic fireplace surround. Blues and greens were contrasted with stark black and white. A touch of modern conversation, dining, game playing, and media lounge zones allow for a crowd to mingle with ease. With a walk out covered terrace, full kitchen, and blackout drapery for movie night, why leave home?

Bar back wall with new dishwasher, wine refrigerator, all new cabinet doors and drawers. reclaimed wood backsplash and granite countertop.

Otto Ruano

Eric Fisher

It's pure basement envy when you see this grown up remodel that transformed an entire basement from playroom to a serene space comfortable for entertaining, lounging and family activities. The remodeled basement includes zones for watching TV, playing pool, mixing drinks, gaming and table activities as well as a three-quarter bath, guest room and ample storage. Enjoy this Red House Remodel!

Karen Palmer Photography

Lauren Rubinstein

A nautical themed basement recreation room with shiplap paneling features v-groove board complements at the ceiling soffit and the barn doors that reveal a double bunk-bed niche with shelf space and trundle. James Merrell Photography