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 This makeover was sponsored by BEHR^®. Of course, all opinions are our own. See our full disclosure here.

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The before of our basement was a bit ho-hum, boring. Actually it was more than boring; it was rather ugly.

But with the magic of paint and a few accessories, it’s now an entirely different space!

Rustic Industrial Basement Makeover

When we bought this house last year, one of the many things that drew us to it was the already finished basement – less work for us to do, right? Unfortunately, it was not painted the loveliest of colours.

Thankfully though all the TV and games space at one end of the room really needed was a gallon of paint and some elbow grease to make it into a fun hangout area. Aside from paint – BEHR MARQUEE^® Interior Paint & Primer in One in Peppery MQ2-62 – and the faux brick we didn’t purchase a single thing for the room.

When looking at inspiration photos for this space, we were drawn to darker spaces with an industrial vibe. This room is really a space for our teenagers to hang out, relax and enjoy time with their friends. So making it sort of ‘chill and moody’ was definitely done on purpose by choosing one of the darkest shades of grey that Behr has in their Marquee line.

One of the other reasons BEHR MARQUEE Interior Paint was a God-send for this project is that there are several bulkheads and a ridiculous number of corners in this room. It was so nice to do all that cutting in and edging only once! Plus, somehow the one-coat formula caused zero dripping, which was also a huge blessing given that the room has wall-to-wall carpeting!

I’m admittedly a neutrals person when it comes to room and decor color. But since this is a basement space with little natural light, little pops of color were definitely in order. We accomplished this with red, yellow and aqua art prints and colorful throw pillows.

Tips for decorating a room with dark painted walls: If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, existing throw pillows can be recovered with small squares of leftover or thrifted fabric.  Inexpensive, brightly colored posters can be framed for a dash of colour and the illusion of natural light.

All of the art was from our previous home, including the game controllers print from our son’s old room and the You Are My Sunshine art that I created years ago.

The wicker/rattan chairs used to live in our dining room. The large game board is simply a reversible crokinole board propped upon an old stool. The coffee table is the old ‘nest’ chest that used to hold the files in our wee little house.

The marquee lights (1996 is the year Dean and I got married) and cushions were all on hand from previous spaces and projects.

Even Oliver, our stag head, is ‘old’ and the faux mantel – a piece of stained pine screwed directly to the wall – was a leftover piece from our old barn doors!

Now – instead of boring and ho-hum – our rustic industrial basement is all set for family movie nights and teen hangouts!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE DRAMATIC PEPPERY WALL COLOUR?  IT WOULD BE PERFECT AS A GARAGE OR FRONT DOOR COLOUR TOO, DON’T YOU THINK?

xo,
Shannon