Basement Kitchenette

Basement Kitchenette DIY

We’re baaaaackkk

We really never went anywhere, just took a break from sharing updates. But we certainly didn’t take a break from house projects! Consider this our official commitment to share a weekly post, at least up to our current progress. If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s to not make commitments for the future, but this feels manageable and will be good accountability. 😉 This week we are sharing our basement kitchenette build.

I will skip the lament over how everyone’s 2020 is going so far, and jump right into a real-time project. We are nearly done with our addition, and we will pick up where we left off there, but thought it would be more fun to dive into what we’re working on right now, at this very moment — a kitchenette for the basement.

Basement Kitchenette Layout

Right when you walk into the house and turn left, there is a small stairway to the basement. Straight ahead there is a laundry room.

Basment Kitchenette DIY

To the right is the movie room, which we remodeled a few years ago.

Basment Kitchenette DIY

Everything down there was pretty much untouched, but we had to rip open the ceiling and some walls in this little hallway for the addition, and we haven’t done anything with it since.

basment-kitchenette-1

So here’s the kitchenette space we’re working with, about 75 square feet.

Basment Kitchenette DIY

The real impetus for this project was the niche we uncovered under the ductwork. It’s a really deep space. Originally we thought about creating some built-in storage feature, but then we had a better idea.

Basement Kitchenette Drawing DIY

The basement already has everything you need, minus a kitchen. It really is the perfect space for some cupboards, a mini fridge and enough counter space for small appliance. Maybe a microwave and coffee maker. So why not make a kitchenette for the basics? There is a sink in the laundry room, so we’re still debating if we run plumbing for a sink here as well. Now that we have the addition, we use find ourselves using the basement less and less, so the goal is to make this a guest space with its own separate entry from the walkout patio.

Basment Kitchenette DIY

You can see here where we’ll tuck everything. On board with our vision? Good, because we’re moving fast and furious on this. Should only take a few weeks and we’ve already got a good start on the demo work 😉

Basment Kitchenette DIY

We ripped out the old carpet and tack strips and Joe and my dad recarpeted the stairs. We debated taking out that bulky landing at the bottom of the stairs, but see how it ends up flush with the cabinet? I think it will be good.

basment-kitchenette-1

Here’s a good angle of it.

Basment Kitchenette DIY

So for the cupboards, we found a pretty good deal at the MN Home Outlet store in Woodbury. It’s a hit or miss experience for us, but they have tons of surplus items that are in great (if not brand new) condition. Anything from tile to lamps to bath tubs to windows. They get inventory directly from manufacturers that they need to get rid of for whatever reason. We scored these kitchen cupboards for about $50 each. We found a mini fridge on sale at Target that was the same height. 32″ I believe. Kitchenette basics covered.

Basment Kitchenette DIY

The kitchen cupboards just needed a little paint TLC. I decided to try a paint sprayer for the first time. I thought it would be a good test run if I ever want to try it on our kitchen some day. We primed these first with the sprayer.

Basment Kitchenette DIY

How did I like the sprayer? I think the finish turned out really nice! My only problem was that it kept clogging up at the nozzle, so I spent a lot of time cleaning it out rather than spraying. But when it was working, it was a very easy process!

Basment Kitchenette DIY

Next week I will share our finishes with you design lovers! We are working on sheetrock for now, but have purchased most of what we need. Hope you enjoy our basement kitchenette project!

Talk to you next week. -Leah and Joe

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