UPDATE! Check the end of this post for updates on this now finished whole house renovation!
Yes, the basement apartment progress is coming along nicely. I wish it were done so that we could move into it and have a kitchen again, but in a few weeks everything should be ready for that. Until then, we’ll just continue camping in a torn up main level. (If you are reading this and have no idea what I’m talking about, you can get filled in by first reading this post: Introducing Our New House, and then see the surprise we found in the basement apartment here: Renovating the Basement Apartment)
The apartment was totally covered with this dark wood paneling… (and had a nasty musty odor).
We ripped everything out and in came the sheetrockers. What a difference!
Even in the night with only my flash on my camera, the room shows so much lighter.
This was the bedroom before:
And now with sheetrock:
The ceiling of the entire apartment will be getting special sound proofing insulation, foam insulation on the outside walls and then a surface mounted suspended ceiling. I’ve never used that before, (a surface mounted suspended ceiling) but was excited to find it. I’ll let you know how the installation goes!
Here was the kitchen before:
After we ripped out the walls and old cupboards, we installed freshly painted cabinets from the main house kitchen:
It was a fun puzzle to reconfigure the kitchen cabinets from upstairs to a new floor plan for this basement apartment. For the end piece, instead of cutting down a cabinet, we decided a quick custom open shelf finished that space off beautifully.
(Yes, the dehumidifier is in the sink! During and after I painted, it was so humid in the apartment, plus the weather outside was crazy hot and humid, so we were using both dehumidifiers to combat the humidity. We had worked so hard to get the musty smell out, I wasn’t about to let more start right up again. Oh the reason that one is in the sink… something was goofy with it draining… wouldn’t drain in the bucket properly and kept leaking out the bottom… no time to spend fixing it right now, so plop in the sink, let it drain right down the drain!)
Anyway, here’s a closer view of the custom built open shelf end my carpenter whipped up quick.
I like a few open shelves in a kitchen, for display and for cookbooks etc. This will be a handy piece.
Quick before the carpenter put up the upper cabinets, I installed some beadboard wallpaper for the backsplash:
This is the same product (and treatment) I did in the cottage in Maine. It is the easiest way to get a beadboard look, and cheap too. For more details on how to install this treatment, check out this post I did last summer from the cottage in Maine.
This was the dark hallway when it was covered in the paneling:
Now the hallway is sheetrocked, and taped and painted and here’s even a sneak peak of the flooring we’re putting in:
I’m so excited about this product! I can’t wait to tell you more about it…
Next time!
One more thing I was going to share with you about this progress.
For the paint on the walls and trim (everything except the cabinets) I used Behr Premium Plus Ultra in an eggshell finish, the color is called ‘ultra-pure white’. (Did you know that Behr paint is now only available at Home Depot?)
I love that the color I chose is premixed, off the shelf, so that if I need more I can easily grab more or have someone grab some for me without getting the color mixed wrong. Plus, if I were to buy too much, I can take back unopened cans for a full refund since it’s not custom mixed too.
I was concerned with how the quality was going to be, and so far so good. (In fact, I’d say so far so great!) It went on beautifully. I did 2 coats because it was on fresh sheetrock.
I love the velvet finish. It doesn’t have too much sheen, which is nice (to me) I’m not a fan of too much sheen in paint. But it isn’t chalky feeling either, I’m not a fan of paint that feels chalky. Just like Goldilocks… it’s just right!
Here’s the link for this line of Behr paint. I think I am going to continue the same color on the walls and trim throughout the whole house, with a feature color here and there. It sure does relieve a lot of pressure when the walls and trim are the same color! I love that white on white is so popular! What a huge time saver! and I’m loving the look!
Here are all the post on our whole house renovaton:
Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and now Instagram! I appreciate you reading along.
This post is linked up at the following other sites: Between Naps on the Porch, A Stroll thru Life, Savvy Southern Style
Donnamae says
Oh…it looks so much brighter in there without the dark wood…smart decision. It’s coming along Liz. I too, am interested in the sound proof insulation. Enjoy your day! ?
Phyllis E says
Hi LIz. I have been wanting to sell our big house and buy a house with a basement rental unit, too, so I will be especially looking forward to your upcoming posts on this! I think this is becoming a big trend (homes with in-law suites and/or rental units) for various reasons. I am seeing more of them these days in the online listings and I found out that our county actually encourages this, as there is not much in the way of actual multi-family apartments in the county.
What is the special kind of sound proofing insulation you used. I am also interested in learning more about the “surface- mounted suspended ceiling”–it sounds like an oxymoron, LOL! I don’t like the looks of the conventional 2 x 4 acoustical tiles that people often put in basements, though they do make it convenient to access plumbing and ducts later. Thanks.
Thanks!
Liz says
I think the basement apartment can be very smart for a bit of a retirement plan too. 🙂 The insulation details and the suspended ceiling will be in future posts, so stay tuned. 🙂
Phyllis E says
Hi LIz. I have been wanting to sell our big house and buy a house with a basement rental unit, too, so I will espepcially be looking forward to your upcoming posts on this! I think this is becoming a big trend (homes with in-law suites and/or rental units) for various reasons. I found out that our county actually encourages this, as there is not much in the way of actual multi-family apartments in the county.
By the way–just wondering why you decided to install sheetrock instead of just painting the paneling. With the “ship lap” trend these days, I would think it would look kind of like “vertical ship lap” –or at least in the same “family” of painting paneling, etc.
Thanks!
Liz says
Hi Phyllis, so glad to hear you’ll be following along with our new adventure. The main reason we removed all the paneling, (yes, I’ve painted it instead in other homes before too) was because of the strong musty odor. We just really felt everything needed to come out and start from the very base, concrete walls in this case. We removed everything we possibly could that would have absorbed the musty odor. Then replaced with non porous choices. Like the paper backed fiberglass insulation… probably the only choice back in the day for insulating above the sill plate… but over 50 years of high humidity, it was mildewy and so musty smelling… so glad to get that out and replace with foam insulation, completely waterproof and impervious to mice!
Candy says
Looks great Liz ! Lightens it up a lot!!
Liz says
Thanks Candy! 🙂