A Mix of Modern and Vintage for a beautiful Basement Design
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We have been undertaking a ton of projects throughout the pandemic as most have. But over the summer it was all outside projects. We landscaped, built multiple retaining walls, steps, and a fire pit. And by we, I mean my husband built them all, I just dream them up. But now in the cooler months we are finally getting started on our basement. He has almost finished framing, electric and plumbing while I have been busy picking all of the finishes, and finalizing layouts, etc. So I wanted to share the overall design so far and will be blogging as we go throughout this fun project for ourselves.
Today I'll be going over the bar area. We are going to be using this area in multiple ways and dont really see ourselves needing a full bar with seating. We've had one of those in the past and never really sat at it. So we decided to scale down the bar to only what we needed for the space. It will have a sink, refrigeration, a dishwasher, and of course some storage.
This Inspiration
I took inspiration from one of my favorites, Studio McGee and her personal mud room. I loved the un-lacquered brass hardware the warm limestone and the contrast of the bright walls and dark dramatic cabinetry. While I took a lot of inspiration from this space, I knew I wanted to go for a bit more of a modern look throughout the basement while incorporating some vintage feel, so I needed to put my own spin on it.
The Design
Instead of doing the shiplap I chose to go with a white fluted terrazzo tile from Ann Sacks for the backsplash and take it halfway up the wall to a floating white ledge shelf which will work for storage and display. I just cant wait for this tile to go on the wall! Its so unique and will offer a beautiful and timeless texture to the wall without being too in your face. It also gives a similar effect as the vertical shiplap but with putting a more modern twist on it.
Above the shelf I plan to put a picture light and also some vintage art prints.
I am really splurging on some things in the basement renovations, but I've used the picture lights before and they are a really good inexpensive light when you are ballin on a budget. This particular vintage art print is from our digital art collection. I'll probably use the Craig frames that I love so much. If you are looking for other great art resources take a look at our other Blog post https://www.whitecliffstudio.com/post/how-to-have-cheap-art-that-looks-expensive
We have laid out the cabinetry along a wall in the corner. We installed a LARGER than life window to be centered above the cabinetry and I just cant wait for all of that light. We dont have sink at a window in
our kitchen and I have always wanted one in our home, so this was the perfect spot to do it. Here is the general layout without the exact finishes to give you an idea.
I opted to go with a skinny shaker style door in lieu of a standard shaker to give it a bit more of a contemporary flair! These are the doors we chose and we are having them finished in black.
I mentioned earlier in this post that we are incorporating three important things into our bar. A Sink, a beverage fridge, and a dishwasher. I chose to go with a white fireclay apron front sink. I liked this for bringing in a bit of vintage feel so its not too overly modern.
We chose a dual zone beverage fridge so that we have room for both canned and bottled beverages. We have really high end appliances in our kitchen, but for this I wanted to try and find something a bit more affordable. I found this unit that has great reviews. I'll give an update once I've been using it for a few weeks.
And last but not least I knew I didn't want to have to carry dishes up and down the stairs, especially because we spend A LOT of time in our basement. However I didn't want to put a full size dishwasher since our bar will be small and I would like to take advantage of whatever space I can for storage. So I went with this Fischer and Paykel Single Dishwasher drawer. Its Panel ready so it will integrate into the bar and look like its not even there.
Lets talk Countertops! I wanted to stay with a dark countertop so that it blends in with the dark black cabinetry. I knew I wanted a soapstone like like but without the maintenance of soapstone, so I chose Cambria's Charleston (Soapstone) in a Matte finish.