I’m going to warn you now.  This house has a big basement.  A big, ugly basement.  This post is heavy on pictures but light on pretty.  And it’s a bit confusing.  We will try to get a floor plan put together so you have a better idea of how this place all flows together.  I’ll do my best to explain it as we go.  Let’s get on with the gong show.

There are two staircases to the basement (which we l.o.v.e.), one off of the kitchen at the back of the house and the curved staircase in the front entry which you saw here.  We’re going to start the tour by heading down the back staircase.  If you went down the back staircase and looked back – this is what you would see.      

The door at the top of the stairs leads outside to the deck in the back yard and the kitchen is to the immediate right.  Now lets spin back around and take a tour of this basement.  The basement is basically divided in to two areas – one unfinished and one finished (we use the term finished very loosely).  Here are a few pictures of the unfinished area.   

As you can imagine, I haven’t been thrilled about doing any laundry down here.  The laundry pair was included in the purchase of the home and although we aren’t really pleased with how old the dryer is, it’s clean and it works so we will be using it until we spot a really great deal. 

This is an awkward hallway that the previous owners used for storage.  All of those cupboard doors are labeled – bed linen, table cloths etc.  The hall leads to a long room across the back of the house that was also used as storage space and is where two of three electrical boxes are located.   To the right of the hallway pictured above is the electrical box and to the left is a long hallway with shelf storage at the dead end.   

Now, I should mention that this unfinished portion of the basement did have one “finished” room.  We have been lead to understand that this room functioned as the adult son’s bedroom.  

Now, just so you can get an idea of where you are, when you’re looking out this door, the laundry is to the left and the hallway with the labeled cupboards is to the right.  Confused yet?  I am.  If we walk straight out of this room there is another bedroom to the right (not pictured) and a large open room that was presumably used for more storage.

It is the space under the foyer, given away by the back of the curved staircase.  Oh, and as I’ve mentioned before, the previous owners left quite a bit of stuff behind.  None of the items in these pictures are ours.  Moving on.  Through the door way on the far wall of this room is another utility room.  It houses our brand new furnace and the old wood stove which has been removed for insurance purposes.

The third electrical box that I mentioned before is also housed in this room.  I don’t have a picture though – it’s pretty much a standard box.  To the left of the stove on the far wall is another strange dead end hallway.

It looks like it was once used as a craft space.  We found old paintbrushes on the floor and there are a few posters on the walls.  I don’t know about you, but this space isn’t exactly making me overflow with creativity.  This is when we head in to the “finished” portion of the basement.  A recreation room, a bedroom, another strange room and a tiny little bathroom that I don’t have a picture of yet.  Imagine a toilet sitting on an angle in the middle of the room. 

We’ve made it around the basement to the curved staircase in to the foyer.  And not a moment too soon.  As with the rest of the house, the potential in the basement is off the charts.  There is so much space down here we can basically do anything we want.  There is enough space for a workshop, a beautiful laundry room, a craft room, a workout room, a rec room and a bedroom.  One step at a time.  The first step – out with the carpet!

Have you missed a post in our House Tour series? House Tour: Entry Way, House Tour: Living Room, House Tour: Kitchen, House Tour: Master Bedroom, House Tour: Ensuite, House Tour: Back Bedroom, Tour Our First House