Ideas for stretching basement playroom/rec room budget

Kim · **Ideas for stretching basement playroom/rec room budget**

I am going to be redoing our basement. We've decided on a $500 budget. This will have to include seating, paint, toy storage, wall decor, and any other miscellaneous. Since we have playdates there, I do want some type of seating. I've looked at Ikea and saw a cool sofa for $249. Because of how it's set up, I think I'd need another chair besides the sofa, otherwise the seating group would look strange. I also need to get some stuff for storing toys, paint, pictures for the walls, and also hopefully a coffee table and TV stand (I'm thinking IKEA here too). Anyway, I'm looking for any ideas that might be helpful here. Things that worked for you, things that looked cute. Our carpet is beige and the sofa I have my eye on is black.

bonna9182 · 09-25-2006, 09:41 AM

Look for mistinted paint at Home Depot or Lowes. You can pour 2 colors or shades of paint in a rolling tray at the same time & they will not mix. Take your roller & get some of both paints on your roller. Start moving your roller up & down 7 back and forth until you get the effect you like on the wall. It's an inexpensive faux finish, but keeps your eyes moving which is nice sometimes in a play area where kids tend to make their
mark(s)!

For seating you could also consider building a bench, maybe a small one for the kids with built in storage for toys. Either use a piano hinge for the top or make the bottom open & use baskets for storage.

In our family room we have 4 frames, 1 for each child. It's where their special artwork or school awards get displayed. They think it's cool to have something of theirs in a frame & on the wall.

HTH a little!

blessed_with_6 · 09-25-2006, 09:43 AM

I love how on Trading Spaces they do a curtained off area for toys. Then, you can use cheap bins or whatever to put toys in, but when you pull the curtain, everything is hidden!!! They make the curtains or have even used shower curtains!! It would be pretty cheap and easy to set up, I would think. One day we are going to have a basement and that is what I want to do for us, too!!

cru5h · 09-25-2006, 09:50 AM

The Girlfriend's Guide to Parties and Playdates has a really big section on how to set up a playroom without going overboard. That was the whole reason I checked the book out at the library - the organizational aspect.

Jilli's Mommy · **wipeboard/chalkboard**

An inexpensive way to have an area to draw would be to use chalkboard paint and section off a part of your wall. Then use door/window trim to create a frame. You can also buy a large sheet of shower board from your local Menards/Lowes and then frame it and use it like a dry erase board.

Cheesecake Lady · 09-26-2006, 03:37 PM

In our playroom I painted the lower half of the wall with chalkboard paint. I used flat platform Legos as a the "chair rail". I put a $25 playskool table and two chairs - but honestly they don't get used because the kids don't sit still long enough. I also bought four beanbags with a material that is easy to wipe off. They get used a ton! You could go on craigslist or freecycle to get some for cheap. I bought mine in primary colors.

For storage I bought the primary colored w drawer bins from Target on sale - they go on sale atleast once a month. I also have a section underneath a desk like structure that I used a showercurtain rod and made a curtain to hide bigger toy items and a toy box (big tupperware container for outside). I also bought big plastic bins (used for some to put ice and drinks in for a party) with two handles - I put costumes in there. I have another four teir storage thing where the bins are open and different sizes (also at target).

For picture frames you could buy different sizes and styles at a garage sale and then paint the frames to match your decor - I took old frames and painted them in primary colors. I hung them in the room with Marcus' artwork. I can change them out.

The most expensive part is the paint - I like the idea of getting the mismade for cheap, but I know HD and Lowes have changed their return policy on mixed paint to order, so you might not have as much of a selection.

Other than black and tan, are you going for a theme?

Cheesecake Lady · 09-26-2006, 03:43 PM

I have a small tv/vcr combo in there, but we never watch videos in there. The traintable gets used a lot too. I keep all the games and puzzles under there. I also made signs and laminated them to help identify where things go and to learn what things are (example - I have a picture of a chalkboard followed by the word, or a picture of a doorknob followed by the word, picture of hotwheel cars followed by the word) then they are velcroed to that item or bin where those things belong.

We have a play kitchen in the room - it was a corner kitchen to utilize the space better - it gets used a lot too.

Have fun and let the kids help put it together. Ask them what they would like to see in there.

You could buy crates and stack them on their sides and use as storage or to put books in.

Kim · 09-27-2006, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheesecake Lady

Other than black and tan, are you going for a theme?

No theme. Since half of the room is more "adult" - couch and TV - I'm trying to keep it a little more sophisticated. We have a playhouse made out of wooden plywood and I painted that dark red/brown for $3 with mis-tinted paint from a local paint store. That was frugal! I want to somehow implement the chalkboard paint idea too. Keep these ideas coming! I hope to get to Ikea this weekend and paint soon. I'll post the final look when I'm done.

Cheesecake Lady · **Chalkboard Painting**

I will make a suggestion if you are going to paint your wall with the chalkboard paint - if the wall has the standard track home sprayed on texture to hide blemishes, sand it first and then paint. It will be easier to write and read. The small cans of paint go FAR and most likely easier to do than the spray. I would also suggest three coats versus two like you would paint a regular wall/color.

Kim · ******update**********

For those of you who responded to my thread, thank you! Here's an update.

Last Friday we made an Ikea run to get a couch for our basement. We went to move it down there on Saturday morning, and after an hour and a half of struggling, removing the handrail, light fixtures, sofa legs, etc. we gave up and determined it wouldn't fit. Not that it was a particularly big couch, but because our stairway isn't straight. You go down three steps and make a 90-degree turn, which is where we ran into trouble. Not only had we wasted a night to go get the thing, we'd spent all morning trying to make it fit. Serious bummer.

Long story short, I did some re-mixing of hand-me-down furniture, painted the walls, bought some new throw pillows, and I now have a somewhat new looking basement anyway. The total cost was under $100. That's my little frugal victory for the week. We returned the couch last night.

I'm close to being "done" and then I'll post some photos.