You’ll Never Need to Go Out When Your Basement Is The Party Hotspot

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Walk into any bar and you’ll find three basic elements that draw people in: drinks, counter, and music. What if you can replicate that in your own home and never have to go bar-hopping again?

 

Here are the three essentials to turn your basement into the party hotspot:

 

Drinks

Every bar out there knows that if you want to get a party started, the drinks have to keep flowing. To get started on your own bar, first think about the kind of drinks you and your friends enjoy.

Are you all wine connoisseurs? You’ll need a wine cooler to keep all the bottles at the perfect temperature. Better yet, consider partitioning a dedicated wine cellar room behind or next to the bar counter.

Is beer where it’s at for everyone? Keep a mini-fridge stocked full of beer or go as far as to install some of your favourite beers on tap. If you’re into crafting your own beer, you may even want to set aside your own room for that in the basement.

Or perhaps cocktails and martinis are your drinks of choice? In that case, you’ll want to build an impressive liquor display shelving behind the bar. You should also put in an icemaker as well as a mini-fridge to chill your drink garnishes.

By starting with your drink sources first, you’ll lay down a much more practical basement bar setup that you can design around. This takes us to the aesthetics of the bar counter itself.

 

Counter

The counter is often the centrepiece of most bars as that’s where the party fuel is kept. This is why they spend a tremendous amount of effort into designing their bar counter to be attractive.

For a more traditional or refined feel, use natural materials like wood and stone with polished finishes. If you want your bar counter to have a hip vibe, use engineered materials like quartz or porcelain. Another trendy bar counter material is backlit onyx.

 

Music

Now, let’s get the music pumping! Besides hooking up a thumping surround sound system though, make sure you insulate the basement with quality acoustic panels. Your household members and neighbours will thank you for that if your parties go late into the night.

Next, build a stage at one end of the room and a dance floor right in front of it. If you like to jam with your friends, this is where it can happen. It’s also the stage where you can DJ your own mixes or host a karaoke night. Finally, for the finishing touch, wire the main lights and party lights to dimmers so that you can adjust with ease to create the dance mood you want.

 

And that’s how you have a good time!

Don’t Make These 7 Mistakes If You Want to Attract Homebuyers

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There’s so much you can do to attract homebuyers that you can get sidetracked by the small details. Sometimes, it’s just easier to figure what not to do first:

 

Missing out on renovations that increase resale value the most

If you’re going ahead with renovations, make sure you focus on the rooms that will bring you the most return when you sell your house. The kitchen is, by far, the most crucial room to renovate and it’s definitely worth it to make that the priority. The bathroom is next on the priority list and will boost your home value with the right attractive features. The basement is another golden opportunity as long as you renovate it into a practical space.

 

Sweeping issues under the rug

It’s only going to come back and haunt you because those issues will inevitably get uncovered upon inspection. Then it’s back to the negotiating table again or worse, the buyer just walks. The bottom line is if it’s an issue you would want to know about if you were the buyer, then be upfront about it. Either fix the issue before putting the house on the market or disclose it to buyers and lower the price accordingly.

 

Forgetting to boost curb appeal

First impressions are everything so if the front of your house doesn’t look inviting, no one will want to come knocking. Take a moment to cross the street and really scrutinize objectively how your house looks from that vantage point. Could it use a new coat of paint? Do you need to replace the front door or any of the windows? Does the yard need some landscaping work? The curb appeal effect will stay with potential homebuyers as they view the rest of your house.

 

Neglecting a regular decluttering routine

This is to lessen the amount of mad scrambles you have to do every time there’s a house showing because your house is already practically show-ready. It’s easy to maintain a tidy house if you keep up with decluttering regularly. As soon as you let it lapse though, that’s when everything starts snowballing downhill.  It only takes 15 minutes to declutter each room in your house. On your calendar, set each day of the week to tidy up a different room. Then all you have to do is find a 15-minute window in the day to declutter that room.

 

Leaving a house smell to linger

We often forget our houses have a smell until someone drops by and mentions it. It may not be a bad smell, but then again, not everyone has the same tastes. So don’t leave it to chance! Start dealing with the kitchen scents first and use similar techniques in other areas of the house.

 

Forgoing the help of professionals

Whether that’s hiring a general contracting company for renovations or a real estate agent to market your house, it’s the professionals who’ll give you peace of mind that everything is done properly. Selling your house is a major life-changing decision and it makes a big difference to have some of the workload taken off your plate.

 

Getting emotionally attached to your house

You love your house and understandably think very highly of it. But if you are open to selling it though, you have to check your emotions. Emotions will lead to an instinctive clinging to prices or conditions that are beyond what the current market favours. In the end, you’ll only shoot yourself in the foot by leaving your house stuck on real estate listings for too long, which will further alienate homebuyers.

 

Avoid these mistakes and you’ll be ready in time for the next home buying season!

8 Extra Storage Ideas to Tack on During Basement Renovations

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Let’s face it: there’s a lot of stuff that gets accumulated throughout your lifetime. Much of that stuff eventually make their way into boxes stashed in your basement that you may or may not ever see again. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

 

If you’ve decided to take the first step to turn the basement into a useful space, then it’s time to take a hard look at all the stuff down there and start de-cluttering. And you can do that starting this weekend. Once you’ve got everything down to what you truly need in your life, put them all in their proper places throughout the house.

 

As for the remaining items you still want to keep but don’t belong anywhere else other than the basement, sort them into plastic bins and label everything. Then store them with one or more of these ideas you can tack on during your upcoming basement renovations:

 

Deep shelving

If you have a lot of essentials or memorable keepsakes even after you’ve gone through an honest de-clutter, deep shelving is the best storage workhorse to stack bins. Make sure the shelves are built on a sturdy frame of 2-by-4s. The shelves should be deep enough for at least one large plastic storage bin placed length-wise or two smaller bins.

 

Floor-to-ceiling cabinets

The advantage of using floor-to-ceiling cabinets is that you get to both maximize storage space as well as hide your items out-of-sight behind cabinet doors. In addition to solid shelves inside the cabinets, include deep pull-out drawers as well. They’ll give you better access to your items instead of straining to reach for things at the very back of the cabinets.

 

Cubby-hole shelving units

On the flip side, having all your collector’s memorabilia displayed out in the open may be exactly what you want. In this case, you can opt for cubby-hole shelving units. It’s a versatile set-up that allows you to arrange the items however you want without sacrificing storage space.

 

Under-stairs storage closet

Don’t underestimate how much you can fit beneath the stairs to the basement! It’s a great place to convert into a storage closet, inside which you can build shelves supported by each stair step. You can even turn each step into a pull-out drawer from the side.

 

Partitioned storage room

You can always dedicate an entire room to storage, too. Put up walls and a door around an unused corner of the basement. That way, you can design custom storage units for the interior to suit your needs. When guests come over, all you have to do is just shut the storage room’s door.

 

Wall storage

This idea is perfect to support your hobby and all the supplies that go with it. Find creative ways to store or organize your hobby items with wall-mounted magnetic strips, pegboards, and wire racks. Remember to always secure any weight-bearing organizers to wall studs.

 

Locker row

To safely store expensive or delicate tools, consider getting a row of lockers. Keep the key or combination code on your person or somewhere hidden and go about your day with peace of mind.

 

Furniture with built-in storage

There are furniture specifically designed with extra storage in mind. If you’ve renovated your basement into a den or entertainment area for guests, make use of furniture with built-in storage drawers.

 

With all these ideas, the end result is less stuff and more space. Not to mention a big sigh of relief.

Guide to Bringing Holiday Cheer to Every Room in the House

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You may be part of the annual neighbourhood tradition of keeping the holiday spirits going with front lawn decorations. But what if you also want to do the same on the inside this year?

 

Fear not, we’ve got you covered – with ideas for every room in the house:

 

Basement

The decorations you choose for the basement depends on what kind of room you’ve turned your basement into.

Den or home theatre

LED strip lights running along the baseboards are a great feature for the den. They give the authentic theatre experience of guiding people to their seats. What’s even better is that you can customize the lighting colours you want at the flick of a switch. So come Christmas time, you can change the LED colours to patterns of red, green or white. If you’ve got framed posters of your favourite films on the walls, swap them out with framed posters of your favourite holiday movies. Finally, border the television screen with tinsel garlands. Or you can flank it with two Christmas trees decorated with everything but string lights. You don’t want any lights to distract you from the movie, after all. For a simpler décor, just mount a large festive wreath above the television screen.

Playroom

Whether the playroom is for the kids or the “kidults”, this is where you can throw in all the whimsical holiday decorations you want. Stick on cartoon wall decals of classic holiday characters. Create a giant, wall-sized advent calendar with fabric pockets for different days of the month. Hang colourful homemade stockings on the side of every basement stair step. And don’t forget to put up framed photos of your favourite past holiday party moments.

 

Bathroom

After converting the bathroom into your very own personal spa, you want the holiday decorations to be subtle and not too intrusive. Keeping with the spa theme, you can first get candles in holiday colours or designs and do the same with the towels. Next, hang up a framed painting of a winter landscape or a holiday theme.

If you want a little more, set a poinsettia flower arrangement on a back corner of the bathroom vanity. Not a fan of poinsettia? Fill a large glass jar with Christmas tree baubles instead. You can also arrange evergreen boughs around the edges of the vanity mirror.

 

Bedroom

For the bedroom, choose decorations that bring out as much of its cozy feeling as possible. For example, change the pillowcases, blankets or bedsheets into ones with holiday patterns or colours. Add to the coziness with a couple of thick oversized stockings hanging on the two lower bedposts. Next, border the ceiling with colourful string lights to create a sense of magic in the air just before you go to bed.

The finishing touch can be a mini Christmas tree on a corner of the dresser. Or as a cute gesture, arrange a mistletoe above you and your significant other’s bed.

 

Kitchen

With the kitchen being the centre of holiday feasts, decorations should be all about making the room appeal to the appetite. Bring the Christmas-themed cookie tins out onto the counter and fill them with baked goods throughout the holidays. Then, place a holiday-inspired centrepiece on the kitchen island. It could be something as simple as a fruit bowl with festive carvings or even a tiny Christmas tree with edible ornaments.

Still focusing on the kitchen island area, take inspiration from the shape of the light fixture above to decorate it for the holidays. If they’re pendant lights, you can use tinsel garlands to create Christmas tree outlines. If they’re built in a square or rectangle shape, transform that into Santa’s sleigh. Top off the kitchen decorations by changing the bar stool fabric upholstery to ones with holiday designs. Make sure that you’ve also got tea towels in place that have festive embroidering.

 

Living Room

As the main room that’s the hub of holiday festivities, decorate the living room in a way that you and guests will find warm and inviting. The big Christmas tree in the corner is probably a given, of course. Up next is the window display. It’s nice if you can make it fun to look at from the outside and the inside. Macy’s holiday window displays are famous in New York so it doesn’t hurt to take a page or two from their designs.

You’ll also want to change the throw pillows and quilts on the couch to ones with holiday-themed designs or colours. The best way is to get throw pillows with removable fabric covers. That way, you just have to store fabric covers for whatever occasion and switch them out as needed every year. Hook up a sound system in the room and pipe in a broad range of holiday music – from classic carols to pop songs. Just make sure to keep the volume level down to background level. Last but not least, decorate the fireplace with stockings and ornaments on the mantel. After that, stock up on firewood because nothing complements winter holidays best than getting a lively fire going.

 

From all of us here at Premier Group Contractors, we hope you make merry and enjoy your holidays!

How to Turn Your Basement into an Inviting In-Law Suite – Part 2

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Part 1 was all about peace of mind in maximising accessibility and minimising risks in the in-law suite. Now we make it comfortable and inviting:

 

Privacy and independence

This part is actually just as important because you don’t want the suite to seem clinical nor do you want it to be merely an extension of your house. Your parents or in-laws would definitely appreciate your efforts to provide them their own space to maintain their lifestyle. That way, they won’t feel like they’re burdening the family, which no parent or in-law ever wants to do.

One way to give them privacy is to soundproof the suite. You can shore up the insulation, which will also help maintain a steady room temperature. You can also use dual layers of dry wall or even special soundproofing mats behind the walls, doors, and ceiling. Solid soundproofing will allow both households to carry on their day-to-day lives without disturbing each other.

Even if the suite is small, try to set aside a sitting area with armchairs and a couch. This will give them a place to read and watch television. Above all, they’ll have an area to entertain guests while keeping up with their social lives.

Providing them with a spacious walk-in closet is a great way to increase their storage space. After all, they’re now packing their entire life into one suite and a large walk-in closet would help a lot in de-cluttering their living space.

For convenience, make sure that cabinets, shelves, and drawers are no higher than shoulder-height. This is so that they don’t have to reach too far up and risk injuring themselves. Also, give them independent control of light switches, heat, and air conditioning. It’s another way they can adjust the environment to their liking on their own.

 

Kitchen

Check first with municipal authorities to see if you’re allowed to have a full kitchen in the in-law suite. A full kitchen – including a stove, fridge, and sink – would give the greatest independence to your parents or in-laws. If it’s not possible to install a full kitchen, then include these at the very least: fridge, sink, microwave, and a portable double-burner cooking plate. Remember to also set up a table and chairs for taking meals there.

 

Bathroom

For the bathroom, make sure that the shower stall doesn’t have a curb that’ll present a tripping hazard. It’s also a good idea to include a stable, waterproof seat inside the stall so that your parents or in-laws have the option of sitting down during showers. Install a showerhead that has both an overhead fixture and a hand-held extension. The hand-held extension is great for when they’re sitting down for their showers. It’s a nice luxury touch, too, if the showerhead has a spa-like body-spray function. Handrails – with reinforced wall backing support – in the shower stall and around the toilet are essential for safety. However, they don’t have to be the cold, stainless steel hospital-style types either. To make the bathroom feel more stylish and warm, choose handrails with designs and materials that match the rest of the bathroom hardware. The handrails will then serve not only a functional safety purpose, but also as a decorative feature.

 

It can be challenging having your parents or in-laws move back in with you. But as long as respect is at the core of every interaction, solutions can be found for everything and everyone will appreciate one another’s company. Take the time to ask them what they need and really listen to them. By all means, voice your own needs as well. What’s most important is always keeping a dialogue going so that nothing ever gets lost in assumption.

How to Turn Your Basement into an Inviting In-Law Suite – Part 1

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Life is circular and it’s natural when the time comes for us to take care of our parents, just as they had taken care of us when we were little. This is also the time when our parents want nothing more than to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Having your parents or in-laws move in with you merges both needs together into one convenient location.
The best way to do this is by creating an in-law suite. If you already have basement space available, work with your contractor to prepare it for remodelling. Part 1 of this two-part series will give you some ideas on how to convert your basement into an inviting in-law suite:

 

Accessibility

It’s always a good idea planning ahead to help your parents or in-laws get around easier in the suite as they get older. This is not to say you’re expecting their health to decline; it just doesn’t hurt to have everything in place and hope for the best. Things like wider, 36-inch doorways are easy to install if you do it right from the start. If the suite has its own entrance from the outside, make sure it’s accessible via a ramp or at least a paved gentle slope. For the closet inside the suite, locate it directly under another closet upstairs in case you ever have to install an elevator one day.

 

Health and safety

Although you’d like to do your best to keep your parents or in-laws safe, don’t go so overboard that you might as well wrap the whole suite up in bubble wrap. That wouldn’t be inviting at all. Instead, think of it simply as managing risk. You can’t foresee every potential harm so just focus on minimising risk in the general environment.

First of all, let in as much natural light as possible so that the suite doesn’t feel like a basement. That means putting in large windows, which is mandated by law anyway if the suite doesn’t have its own exit outside. In addition, you can install a sun tube that’ll focus sunlight from the roof all the way down to the basement suite.

The basement is always prone to humidity even with all the proper vapor barriers in place. High humidity often increases the chances of getting sick. For that reason, an automatic dehumidifier should be set up to maintain the humidity at a preferred level.

The flooring should deal well with basement humidity. Above all, to minimise the risk of injury from falls, it should have a non-slip surface that’s not made of a hard material. That pretty much narrows it down to vinyl for the bathroom and kitchen as well as cork for the bedroom and sitting area. Cork is technically not water-resistant, but it’s a good compromise for safety since it’s got a springy surface (unless they don’t mind having vinyl laid down for the whole suite). Just make sure to clean up any spills right away.

Whenever you can, opt for rounded corner and edge finishes of the suite’s countertops and furniture.

Consider also installing an intercom or emergency call system so that your parents or in-laws can easily reach you on your side of the house if there’s an emergency.

 

Now that you’ve taken care of the crucial safety and accessibility issues, stay tuned for Part 2 where you can make the suite feel like home for your parents or in-laws.

6 Practical Basement Ideas for You and Future Buyers

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The basement is perhaps one of the most challenging spaces to deal with in the house. It’s usually left till the very end during renovations and when you finally do get to the end after spending all your energy and money on the rest of the house, you wearily let it slide with a whispered, “Let’s just keep storing stuff down there.”

 

The opposite extreme can also happen: let’s say you’ve been good and saved up a nice chunk of money that you plan on using to finish the basement. By now, you’ve probably already made full use of all the rooms in the house and the sudden idea of having extra space in the basement is just pure gravy. Your head is spinning with wild ideas about what you can use that space for and when the dust from the finishing whirlwind has settled, you somehow find yourself with an indoor floor hockey rink, or an indoor pool, or a giant shrine for your collectibles. While these ideas may sound amazing to you, it may not fit the tastes of everyone and may even hurt your chances of attracting a future buyer one day. (Of course, if you’re already in your dream house or don’t plan on selling any time soon, by all means go for whatever you want!)

 

If you are going to put your house on the market soon though, these practical basement ideas will help you get top value for your house:

 

Guest suite

Extra living space is a solid choice because it gives you the option to offer comfortable quarters to your friends and relatives if they ever need to stay the night. You’d no longer have to awkwardly try to cobble together something resembling a bed out of your couch and thankfully still clean blankets. Your guests would also appreciate the privacy of the basement suite without having to worry about getting in the way of everyone the next morning. You can even build a separate entrance from outside and turn the suite into a rental unit. The potential of extra rental income would pique many buyers’ interest.

 

Den or home theatre

The TV screen is still the most popular entertainment hub in most households; the bigger the screen is, the better because people want to re-create the cinema experience in their own homes. Most big-screen TVs are placed in the living room because there isn’t another room that’s central and large enough to hold the TV. The living room is also where you entertain your guests though, which means there’s a limit to how big the TV can be so as not to make it the main focus of the room. However, if you have the opportunity to turn your basement into a den or full-blown home theatre, well you can get a TV that takes up an entire wall if you want. That way, you can maintain the true spirit of the living room where everyone chats on comfy couches over some wine and move downstairs for a full cinematic experience whenever you want.

 

Home office

If you have a side business or are planning to start one, a home office may be the best option for you. You won’t have to hunch over your laptop at the dinner table or on the living room couch anymore. You’d also have a dedicated space to store all your physical files and documents. What’s more, a lot of people are supplementing their regular income with a side business these days and future buyers who see a fully renovated home office in your house will find it irresistible.

 

Home gym

A home gym would be a great long-term investment if you regularly work out at a gym with a membership. You’d not only save on membership fees over the long run, but also the time and gas spent on the commute to and from an outside gym. Setting up a home gym also means that you get to customise it exactly to your fitness routine.

 

Playroom

This is a no-brainer if you have kids. They’ll have their own place to run around in and you get to be the world’s most awesome parent in their eyes. Think about this, too: a playroom doesn’t have to only be for little kids; it can also be paradise for the big kids that we all are. So you can stock the playroom with a pool table, foosball table, ping pong table, dart board, video games – anything you want to have fun after a hard day’s work.

 

Multi-activity room

Stuck on picking one basement idea out of all the equally great ones? Why not get them all? If you have a large enough basement, you can split it up into different zones for different activities. For instance, you can work out in your home gym corner while keeping an eye on the kids playing in their corner and then you can all watch a movie together later on at the other end of the room. The advantage of this idea is that you don’t have to sacrifice one idea for another and from the buyers’ perspectives, they get to see how the basement space can be maximised to its full potential.

 

Just keep in mind that although we’ve focussed a lot on basement ideas that will appeal to future buyers, the final choice has to be something you’ll be happy with that fits your needs. It’s impossible to predict what the tastes of future buyers will be; however, it should bring you peace of mind knowing that a finished basement – regardless of the style – is often already a big home value boost.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU

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