Lighting and Finishing Details for our Basement Renovation – Week 6 of the One Room Challenge

Welcome to week 6 of the One Room Challenge– that’s three-quarters of the way through! This week, my husband and I did the lighting and finishing details for our basement renovation. The lighting included the final installation of the ceiling pot lights and the installation of some beautiful sconces which made all the difference in the space. For finishing details, we added outlet and switch plate covers and vent covers. I also placed orders for the final materials needed to finish the project. If you missed any of my previous week’s posts, you can click on the links below. So far it’s been quite a journey transforming our unfinished basement into a yoga, meditation, and exercise room.

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Check out the progress to date:

Before Photo

As a reminder, this is what our basement looked like before the renovation. It was an unfinished space that was cold and unwelcoming with a few spiders too!

Inspiration and Mood Board

This is the look I’m trying to achieve for the One Room Challenge- calm and zen with soothing neutrals and a pop of colour.

Lighting and Finishing Details for our Basement Renovation

Pot Lights

My husband insisted from day 1 of the planning process that we install enough pot lights in the space to create a bright and functional room. And we both agreed that all the lights should be dimmable to create ambience. This is especially important for the yoga/meditation/exercise part of the basement, as meditation and parts of yoga practice are best done in a setting with low light.

We chose 4″ recessed, dimmable, tiltable LED pot lights in a white finish. We chose to use 2 pot lights, with 10 around the perimeter and 2 in the middle of the ceiling. The light specs are 9W, 3000K, 700 lumens and the lights give off a clean and bright but not cold light.

My husband installed the electrical boxes during the electrical phase of the project (pre-One Room Challenge). Therefore, all we needed to do during the challenge was cut the holes in the drywall using a drywall circle cutter and then pop the lights into the holes once the ceiling was painted.

Sconces

I chose a pair of gorgeous gold sconces with half-circle fabric shades for the pillars between the yoga room and the adjacent family media room. We installed the Francis Shaded Sconces (in brass) from Pottery Barn.

My husband installed the electrical boxes fairly high up on the wall since this area of the basement has a low ceiling and I didn’t want people bumping into the sconces. We put the sconces on a dimmer switch so they can be used to create a lovely, romantic glow in the space.

Finishing Details

These are not exciting or glamorous details but they really go a long way in making the space seem finished. We added the electrical covers and light switch covers as well as vent covers.

I also started on the window jamb extensions but discovered I didn’t have enough plywood to complete the job, so this will be part of next week’s projects. This weekend I ordered and picked up the wood and cut a few pieces for the windows (I’m also doing the windows in other parts of the basement).

Other Accomplishments This Week

At least half of my project time this week was spent sourcing materials and going to pick them up. This is what I purchased this week for the yoga room:

• Birch plywood for the window jambs
• 1 by 6 baseboards (16 foot lengths- These were a challenge to bring home in the van!)
• 1 by 4 door and window casing
• Brad nails, screws for window jambs, shims, paintable caulking, and “No More Nails”
• Artwork
• Wall-mounted ballet barre

Using 16′ baseboard lengths means fewer seams to join and therefore less fuss.

Yesterday I ordered a 5′ ballet barre. I figured 5′ would be a good length since I’m the only one in the house who will be using the barre and I want to save space for other exercise equipment and storage.

I also purchased and sourced other materials for the adjoining family media room, but that’s a separate room that’s not part of this challenge. I’ll definitely share the progress for that room in a separate post soon. This week, I decided I will likely not purchase a rug for the space. We plan to purchase a treadmill and/or exercise bike within a few months and then there won’t be space for a rug in the room. I have several yoga mats that we will use for floor exercises and yoga.

Work Plan for the Coming Week

• Install the window jamb extensions
• Wallpaper the accent wall
• Install the baseboard moulding and window casement moulding
• Paint all trim in a semi-gloss finish

Work Plan for the Final Week

• Install the ballet barre
• Upcycle old furniture to act as storage for exercise equipment
• Find a vintage bench and possibly upcycle it if needed
• Pick up a few decorative items including plants
• Set up the exercise equipment and storage solutions

Summary

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post, Lighting and Finishing Details for our Basement Renovation. This week was a mix of little jobs and purchasing supplies for the home stretch of the One Room Challenge. The next two weeks promise to be exciting as the wallpaper is going up tomorrow and I’ll hopefully get the trim work done this week too. The big reveal will be November 15, just 10 days from now!. In the meantime, please check out the posts by the other participants here. And here is the link to week 7 of the challenge.