The basement can be one of the largest spaces in the house, but it's also often the place where long-neglected toys and boxes of cluttered office supplies end up getting dumped.
It doesn't have to be this way: The following renovations from four local interior designers prove that basements can be more than just an afterthought.
There's no reason not to utilize the space, says Sally Lord, founder of Grey Hunt Interiors in Chantilly: “It would be crazy not to take advantage of this valuable real estate. It could be used for anything: a nightclub, a theater, a cocktail space, a gym.”
Whether you want to expand your entertainment possibilities or simply have a special place to hide and get away from it all, a basement offers a lot of possibilities.
Billiards and Bourbon
When Regan Billingsley's Bethesda clients renovated their basement, “they really wanted a place for the family to gather,” she says—and they wanted a place for the whole family to gather, not just the kids. That's because the finished basement is far from typical: For one, it has its own speakeasy, which isn't something you see every day in a residential neighborhood.
Designers at Regan Billingsley Interiors of Georgetown worked with Pinehurst Design Build of North Bethesda, led by Tom Gilday.
Although space was limited in the basement, a pool table was one of the clients' priorities: Her husband, a bourbon collector, also wanted a speakeasy-like space where he could display his favorite bottles and host friends. “This was a space that really had to serve multiple functions,” Billingsley says.
Before the renovation, the basement was partially finished and included a TV room and office (later combined into a larger TV room), storage space (one now a speakeasy), and three spaces that remained on the floor plan: a gym, a bedroom, and a bathroom. But it all felt “very stiff, very cold, very dark,” Billingsley says. She solved the lack of adequate lighting by adding built-in light fixtures and softened the space with textured touches and natural materials, like 100% felted New Zealand wool rugs.
“Even though there are no windows to the outside, you still feel some connection to the outdoors,” Billingsley says. “It doesn't feel like you're underground.”
The speakeasy is entered through a secret door, with billiard cues and a pile of books on one side. Billingsley wanted visitors to feel like they'd wandered into an early 20th century hideaway, so he looked for décor that evoked the era, including reclaimed barn wood, a 1920s telephone, 1930s Parisian factory lighting, and old whiskey barrels that double as bar tables. Guests can sip cocktails while sitting on bar stools covered in red mohair.
From day to night
Designer Sally Lord of Gray Hunt Interiors was asked to transform an underused, carpeted Ashburn basement into a space where her client's teenage children could spend time with friends, but also an appealing hangout spot for adults, too.
“I took the opportunity to really redefine the room to provide different experiences within the space that cater to the needs of kids and the needs of adults,” Lord says.
In a slightly unconventional move, she transformed a closet in her basement into a nook. “I love creating closets that are like little jewelry boxes,” the designer says, adding that she enjoys “creating moments out of the unexpected.”
One closet is filled with the family's collection of board games, which Lord keeps neatly tucked away in a small wooden cabinet with rattan-covered doors. The inside of the closet is covered in Abnormals Anonymous “Secret Garden” wallpaper in blue velvet. “This wallpaper was my inspiration for the colors and what I wanted to do,” Lord says. “It was so much fun to play with.”
The other closet houses a wine bar for those 21 and older, with a large countertop for preparing drinks, a wine fridge and plenty of bottle storage in the form of wall-mounted racks. Elsewhere in the room is another fridge stocked with sodas and bottled water. “There's a kids' refreshment area, and then there's an adult area,” Lord says.
She opted to paint the wall behind the TV dark—”it would blend in with the wall,” she says—but Lord was careful to keep the rest of the space light. “I didn't want to cave my kids. I wanted the basement to be fun, day or night, like the perfect black dress, but I wanted it to feel really fun and modern.”
A book lover's paradise
The clients are avid readers and were looking for a place to retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and dig into a novel, so Erica Carpenter of KBF by Audi Contractors in Ashburn created a library-style retreat in the basement.
“He wanted a little secret space,” Carpenter says of his Ashburn client. While searching for design inspiration online, he came across a secret door concept he liked, and Carpenter went for it: She created a bookshelf-like entryway that can only be opened by pulling a book from the shelves.
Carpenter wanted the hideaway to have a masculine feel, so he painted the shelves and wall paneling in Sherwin-Williams' Gale Force, and painted a separate bar area in the basement a similar blue. Dimming the lights makes the space feel even more inviting. “It's his place to escape to,” Carpenter says of the room, which his client credits as his favorite spot in the house. “You won't even know he's here.”
Once the renovation was complete, our client's wife bought him a comfortable leather chair so he could relax and feel like a total bookworm.
Historical renovation in English style
Located on Georgetown's historic Smith Row, this home's basement underwent an extensive renovation, with remodeling by Tracy Morris of Tracy Morris Design.
“The only thing that actually existed was the kitchen, so we flipped that onto the other side,” says McLean's designer, who worked with Obermeyer Architects and Goldsboro Design Build to renovate and reconstruct the entire space.
To best serve the client's needs, the team decided to build a barroom (where the original kitchen was), a TV viewing area, a wine room, a guitar room, and a powder room in the basement. The owners wanted the kitchen in the basement, so they moved it next to the new barroom.
According to Morris, the bar area was inspired by his clients' love of English and Irish pubs. The home's original exposed wooden beams were renovated during the renovation. Morris chose a blue-and-gold wallpaper by Philip Jeffries for the space. “The clients loved it,” Morris says. “We kept it and then found a blue-and-cream antique rug.” The tabletops and bar countertop are made of the same azure quartzite from Marble Systems that's used in the basement fireplace surround. “This space is well-used and has a lot of customers,” Morris says.
The wine cellar, which includes a temperature-controlled wine refrigerator, “is a completely new space, but it's made to look old,” Morris says. The home's original limestone Joan of Arc sculpture is a striking feature from floor to ceiling. “The room is almost built around her.”
The flagstones in the fireplace frame were original to the home and were removed from the foundation, cleaned and reused as the surround.
This article will appear in the May 2024 issue of The Washingtonian.
