One month and $100 and our basement staircase reveal is here! Taking a chance on a space that is used often, but not usually thought of when it comes to makeovers was completely worth it. Turns out that I now just want to hang out on our basement staircase.
This makeover has come so far in three weeks and I am so excited about the final steps we took this past week.
〈BEFORE〉 〈WEEK ONE〉 〈WEEK TWO〉
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Let’s take a quick look at the final touches that were put into our basement staircase makeover.
DIY STENCILED WALL
After painting the walls, they looked so fresh. The staircase had a whole new look. But…it looked plain and I thought it would be fun to add something unexpected to the main wall.
My daughter free-handed a design by sketching it with pencil and then going back in over it with paint.
It really is an unexpected pop of fun and I absolutely love it!
PAINTED STAIRCASE
I’ve been saying all month that I promised to get to the stairs and this was the week! After a good cleaning, I followed the same process from the other painted staircase in our home.
One coat of primer was needed and this was a quick process. Primer dries in an hour, so it was easy to paint half of it and then go back in and do the second half
Once the primer was set, I did the same process with the floor and deck paint. This is the same color {and leftover paint} that I used in a previous staircase, so there was zero cost. And now this basement staircase makeover reveal ties into the rest of our home with the pops of green.
SHELF STORAGE
After going through all the items we had in this staircase before, I realized that a lot of it didn’t need to be here. But there were a few things from the basement and our kitchen junk drawers that will serve us better on this shelf storage.
I only had to purchase the two gray bins and then used baskets I already had. The one hanging below is for our plastic bags as I opted not to put the ugly plastic container back in. {Click HERE to see what that looked like.}
A QUICK PEEK AT THE BEFORE
BASEMENT STAIRCASE REVEAL
After all the work on this space, I just couldn’t go and put the utility rack back on the wall. Using a freshly painted peg rack I had stored in my basement, a dust pan and broom look much better hanging here.
The cleaned up light fixture looks so pretty in this space now.
BEHIND THE SCENES
The stained shelving adds a warmth to the space and I am looking forward to adding anything to them that will help our home function better.
There was one thing I really wanted to add to this staircase. This slate chalkboard is from my grandparents home and was hung in their staircase. I’ve had it in our previous two homes and it’s been stored for a while in our basement. Once I decided to do this makeover, I knew that I would add this chalkboard. It holds some sweet memories and I look forward to my family leaving each other notes on it.
Before this makeover, these steps were disgusting and no one would even want to walk on them without shoes. We kept some extra shoes at the top of the stairs, but they were constantly falling down and getting in the way. I am going to run a little experiment and see if we can keep the staircase clean by storing shoes at the bottom to the side of a floor mat. Time will tell if it works.
Looking back, I am so glad that I spent the time on the little details like the hardware and hemming the curtain.
Remember the shutters? I’m so glad they are now painted and we have this little shelf here…for water bottles.
This was such a fun makeover. I honestly thought it was lame to choose our basement staircase for this $100 room challenge. But as it got started and a few ideas popped into my head, I got really excited. Now I just want to hang out down here all the time now!
PROJECT CHECKLIST
√ Prime and paint new drywall
√ Create a fun accent wall
√ Hang peg rack
√ Prime and paint stairs
√ Clean, stain, and hang railing {spray paint hardware}
√ Organize shelves
√ Hang slate chalkboard
WEEK THREE BUDGET
{Any $0 cost items are things we already had on hand.}
Primer: $0
Wall paint: $0
Brush and roller: $0
Stencil paint: $3.98
Floor paint: $0
Two bins: $12.00
Baskets: $0
Dustpan and broom: $25.20
Week One Expenses: $34.85
Week Two Expenses: $18.88
Week Three Expenses: $41.18
Total Spent: $94.86
If you love budget makeovers, you’ll need to check out these other $100 Room Challenge makeovers:
$100 ROOM CHALLENGE: BEFORE / WEEK ONE / WEEK TWO / REVEAL
SHOP THIS POST
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER $100 ROOM MAKEOVERS
PIN IT FOR LATER
You never cease to amaze me with what you can do on a budget! I am in L💛VE with that stenciled wall, and basically just every aspect of this makeover. Fabulous!
Looks so good. Love how you do projects on a budget they always look so good.
This looks fantastic!! I love all the little details❤️ And the wall your daughter painted is so professional and beautiful🌼
Great transformation! Love what your daughter did..stenciling the wall….beautiful!!
Oh my goodness!!! I’m always in awe of how amazing you can make a space! I just love your home and your account and your daughter is such an amazing artist, I love what she did here ❤
Great job! The art wall is awesome. I would want to see it as often as possible. Morning coffee on the basement stairs?? ❤️
This is SO GOOD! Amazing job to both you and your daughter. I love the colors and the really bold wall. So many good textures in there too. Beautiful.
Wow! That painted wall is amazing!!! Your daughter is super talented. That is totally my favorite part. And what’s awesome is it will make you smile every time you go to the basement. Wonderful makeover!
LEIGH!!! This is such a gorgeous space!!! I totally thought you had put up wallpaper, so kudos to your daughter for PAINTING that! It looks beautiful and adds so much to the space! I love all the added details (especially the chalkboard). You are the staircase makeover queen! I always love having you join these challenges. You amaze me with what you do on such a tight ($100) budget.
Oh I love this so much. I love the colors you picked and that painted wall is GORGEOUS. And may I say you have the prettiest dustpan? I love how everything came together in this tiny space to give it a huge impact. I bet it’s so much nicer coming and going through here than before. Amazing makeover!
WOW! This is probably just my favorite I love those steps in that gorgeous olive green and that free hand stencil is beautiful just pure perfection!
Leigh what more can I say for what has already been said? Though I must say when seeing your daughters work I let out a gasp like OMG!! was this a design she created in her mind or copying something available? Nothing like a teamwork project! And yes i would be having all my meals on top of these steps because the transformation is THAT beautiful!!! The bar has been raised!! Congrats to you and the family!!
Looks absolutely fabulous! Your daughter did an amazing job on the stenciled wall…really sets it off! Great work!
Amazing transformation! LOVE the stenciling (that totally looks like wall paper:), well done!
Really appreciate all the little touches, the milk delivery door (hello 1915:) and the slate from your grandparents home is just so sweet.
Can’t get over this one! So good! If this were in my house, you’d find me perched at the top of those steps every morning with my coffee just enjoying the space. Your daughter’s stencil wall is perfection.
Oh my goodness! Your daughter did an amazing job, I wish we lived closer because I would totally hire her to do that for me! The green steps are awesome! I think the dark color will help a lot in terms of the stairs looking cleaner. I think it’s great to makeover small functional spaces like this in our homes. After all, we use them regularly and should make them pretty to look at. I recently cleaned up and organized the storage area under my stairs (access is from the garage) where I store seasonal decor and have a utility sink for cleaning thrifted items, paint brushes, etc. I actually have wall decor hanging in there around the sink that I love but didn’t want in my house and a pretty floral rug in front of it. We also put cheap carpet squares on the concrete floor which warms up the space and makes it seem more like a room than a storage space. My husband joked that now we just need a cozy chair, lol! Side note, since I noticed your plastic bag stash, have you ever heard of the method for folding plastic bags where they take up a lot less space? It’s basically like making a paper football. I saw a tutorial on Creek Line House blog and taught my autistic son how to do it, and he’s really good at it! I keep them under our bathroom sinks for trash can liners, and now I can store quite a few in a small little box or basket. Thanks for sharing your makeover!
The transformation is amazing Leigh and the wall your daughter painted looks incredible! Such a talented girl! Your space looks lovey!
Oh my goodness Leigh! This turned out amazing- I cannot believe that your daughter drew and painted that pretty floral/ leafy wall. I love it- you and she should be so proud!
Wow wow wow!!!! This is stunning!! The hand-painted wall is absolutely gorgeous! I love how everything came together!!
What a sweet memory you guys will have together! It turned out amazing as always!
Thank you, Elizabeth. I love that all 5 of us had a part in the makeover of this space.
This is my favorite makeover in your sweet home yet!! You should have a tv show! THAT WALL YOUR DAUGHTER DREW!!! Everything about the hallway/staircase is spot on. Congratulations and thanks for the inspiration!
Aww, you are so sweet! My daughter is really the star of this makeover. I will pass on your kind words to her! ♥
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