This is our Home 2 Family Room Renovation Before and After on a Budget.

My husband’s home that he had when we met was a total fixer upper.

We redid the basement and turned it into a bedroom with closet, we added a bathroom, laundry room, utility room, improved the storage room, and turned the space in the photos below into a family room and office area.

First, we closed off the door way into the adjoining room with 2×4’s and sheetrock.

We were turning the adjoining area into a large walk in closet and did not want a door taking up space.

Then we added some additional framing, insulation, all new electrical work, and sheetrock to the basement.

We paid a team of handy men to re-enforce the stairs and do all of the tape, drywall, sanding, and texture.

We painted it and got a nice carpet and carpet pad from R.C. Willey on clearance.

They had mis-ordered this beautiful carpet and had way too much in stock so they had it on clearance. I think we got it for about $1.25 a sq foot and $1.00 an sq foot for good pad. We bought it during a promotion that offered free installation with each order over 1,000 sq foot. 

I really liked the built in shelves so we added trim and caulk all the way around to make them look much more attractive.

After the carpet was installed, we did some finish work and I began staging it.

Using mainly items I had and my husband had, we were able to stage this family room for just a few hundred dollars.

I had the idea of putting toys in a little nook under the stairs, so visiting children could play.

So, I put the wooden train set that my kids had in it.

It was actually a great idea because we finished the basement before the upstairs and my kids would come down and play while we worked. 

The hallway in the basement is really wide so we added a bathroom and laundry room to it. 

Even after those additions, there was still a lot of spare space. I thought a corner desk would make a great office area. So I ordered this one on Amazon and assembled it with this chair.

I added a stand up lamp which added needed light and hung the canvas print—which actually covers the crawl space entrance.

I don’t know what the current owners decided to do with it, but for staging this area made a great office space.

I put a little side table next to the bathroom wall just to fill the space a little. But this would be a great wall to place shelving or any type of office organization system since there is quite a bit of space and it’s off to the side of the traffic flow into the family room. 

Here’s a little map/layout so you can see where everything is. The bedroom is pretty large and so is the walk in closet. If you want to see it, scroll down to bedroom #4 in this post.

Cost for the family room and hallway basement remodel

Hanging sheetrock, sanding, painting, reinforcing the stairs, trim, etc. cost about $3,500.00.

Total for the basement carpet in these areas was $600.00.

My husband did the electrical and added the can lights, parts and wire for $300.00.

To stage this family room and hallway/office area, I spent $470.00 on the decor and furniture.

I did sell the TV console table for $150 after we were done staging because we didn’t have a place for it in our current home. ($150)

When I staged the basement, I tried to use a color scheme that would go with things that my husband and I already had. He had a nice sectional couch that my mother-in-law cleaned for us and I tried to match everything else to it so we didn’t need to buy a couch which helped expenses for staging quite a bit.

Instead of selling the other items, we are using everything in this area for our current home (home 3).

For example, my office in home 3 makes use of this desk.

Here are the details on what we had and/or paid for.

Total for the living room and office area and hallway cost us: $4,720.00 which, all things considered, isn’t too expensive when you consider the before and afters.

Note that the same room would likely cost us more now since the price of constructions supplies and labor has gone up. We did this remodel in 2019.

I loved this family room. I loved the furniture layout, the lighting and how cozy it felt. I hope the new owners do too.

It is possible to finish a basement without spending an outrageous amount of money to do so. 

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Related posts:

How to Save Money on Renovating and Decorating a Living Room How to Paint, Decorate, Furnish, and Light a Dining Room for Under $200.00 How to Choose a Color Scheme for a Room You Want to Decorate