What's wrong with this room? (2 Viewers)

[Jake14mw]

Hi all. Finished my basement about 15 years ago. Started out with the main purpose of being a kids play area. I originally had bright color walls, multicolor CVT tile on one side, and Berber on the other side. Been slowly updating it into an office/poker room.

The Berber carpet has stayed. Painted the walls a few years ago, and just did the last step of vinyl plank. Now that it's "done", I'm underwhelmed. It's always been a low budget space, but I think the colors don't work together?

Any thoughts/ideas? Thanks!

Old - sorry bad pic

Now

 

[Kensco]

Maybe your expectations were too high??

I think it looks great, I love the muted color. Classy

 

[Rhodeman77]

It is a nice space, the only thing that I don’t like is the carpet on the supports. Understand why it was there with kids, a little extra padding, but I’d box them in now.

 

[TheRealTeddyKGB]

It's great! What would make it "pop' are some brightly colored chips on the table. Speaking of you left the cover on the best part so I don't even know what color the felt/speed cloth is...

 

[BonScot]

Every basement needs a gimp

 

[springbox]

I think it looks good, I wish I had that much space for movies and poker! Maybe some adjustable or redder light bulbs? Too much blue light can make a space feel a little too 'clean'. I agree the carpet posts are a little odd. Maybe some more wall decorations if you have anything you'd like to put up.

 

[AZBOARDER13]

Chairs at the table
Just kidding- it looks great man! Agree maybe boxing in the support, but great space

 

[Gubbins]

Darken the paint on the walls and I think you are all set.

 

[JeepologyOffroad]

Darken the paint on the walls and I think you are all set.

Looks amazing. I do think this would give that extra oomf you are looking for

 

[JMC9389]

Some extra overhead lighting over the poker table. Boom. Done.

 

[CraigT78]

Darker walls or at least contrasting walls.

More lighting that isn't overhead lighting. Put those in dimmers.

 

[Grimace]

Easy. Where’s the hotdog roller?

 

[JMC9389]

Darker walls or at least contrasting walls.

More lighting that isn't overhead lighting. Put those in dimmers.

This is what I meant to say but totally bottled it.

 

[CraigT78]

Maybe a chair rail around the room - I've seen some rooms where that just makes it look totally different. Paint the bottom half a darker color.

 

[TheBigTater]

Obviously at least 1 or maybe 2 more tables.

 

[Goldfish]

Room looks like a great place to play poker IMO. Fire up some action shot…..let’s gooooo.

 

[bernielomax]

LOL, your asking the PCF population which is mainly men. I think your basement looks like a great space.

What sort of lights are those? Are the canned lights? I installed flush mount LED's in my basement. They can really make a difference, especially if you don't have any basement windows. I would enclose those support posts and paint the wood to match your trim/doors/molding.

I also asked my wife too. Here is what she said:

Ditch the sofa table and rocking chair
Ditch the current accent pillows and replace with a brighter color

 

[Mojo1312]

Need panoramic pictures from all four sides.

First, the carpet needs to come up. Agree with boxing in the supports. Second, the furniture doesn't suit the space. I would ditch the wooden furniture in favor of a poker table and replace the projector with a wall mounted t.v.. Maybe create a bar area in the corner where the built in bookcase is located?

If you want to keep the projector for the family, I would replace the sofa with two reclining loveseats to open up the space. Replace the wooden rocker with a barrel chair or some other swivel base style chair if you want seating for five. You can add a comfy bean bag for a sixth seat or two bean bags if you want to drop the chair all together. Ditch the rest of the wooden furniture.

Either way you go, you need a small fridge somewhere.

 

[MaxB]

Any thoughts/ideas?

You need a nice new La-z-boy recliner down there for some movie and tv watching, not grandma's foo foo wooden rocker

 

[BonScot]

Waiting for the inevitable “just demolish the whole house and start again” post

 

[TheOffalo]

You need a nice new La-z-boy recliner down there for some movie and tv watching, not grandma's foo foo wooden rocker

View attachment 1061784

I was going to recommend replacing the wood furniture (like this rocking chair and the table behind the couch) with some darker more modern pieces, maybe a leather couch. A display case for chips?

 

[Big Jilm]

I would do the same flooring throughout, turn those supports/cat scratch posts into roman columns/pillars, and maybe a different paint job. Add a kegerator/bar area. I am very jealous...wish I had that kind of space! Well done sir!

 

[wickedwonka121]

Some dark brown leather or dark brown bookshelves. Give it a couple "clicks" towards "tavern". That should do it.

 

[Jake14mw]

Thanks very much everyone for the suggestions. They are very helpful. First let me say, I do feel very fortunate to have the room. It's been great. Maybe I overstated things a little. My only real issue is that when I replaced to old, worn CVT tile floor with the Vinyl plank, I thought the room would get a big bump, but it just didn't do as much as I thought. As someone suggested, my expectations were probably too high. The dated furniture will really hold back the room no matter what else is done. All of the furniture and decorations down there are old hand me downs from the main house, or Facebook market buys, or some other kind of deal. My budget for the room is very low. New furniture is out of the question, as I have furniture in the main house that would need replacing before this stuff.

I wasn't even really thinking about the columns, but thanks for pointing them out, I will definitely change those. Suggestions on that? I am leaning towards simply boxing them and painting them the same trim white?

To me, I think a basic problem is that the colors of the carpet, new plank, and wall don't work well together. I don't know jack about colors or decorating, so feel free to disagree. The problem for me is, the carpet and new flooring have to stay. No time/budget to replace the carpet. So, the main question is, should I bother repainting the walls? They were just repainted a few years ago, and I was never happy with the color. It seems too blue to me. I was trying to go more current with a grey color, but I think it needs to be more beige to complement the carpet color more? I'm clueless here. I don't want to bother repainting if it won't help much. I suspect the carpet color is the main culprit? Opinions please!

 

[Colquhoun]

Home Depot used to sell hollow Tuscan-style wood columns. I neighbor got them and cut them in half lengthwise then glued them together over the lally columns. Came out beautiful.
I don’t see them on the Home Depot website, but a local lumber yard or other big box home improvement store may have them.

 

[BGinGA]

I agree with @CraigT78 and others; the best -- and easiest/cheapest -- two changes you can make are 1) ditch the scratching post carpeting, and 2) add a chair rail with new lower paint.

Those alone will make a huge difference in how the room presents.

The flooring and carpet are fine.

 

[Gubbins]

Thanks very much everyone for the suggestions. They are very helpful. First let me say, I do feel very fortunate to have the room. It's been great. Maybe I overstated things a little. My only real issue is that when I replaced to old, worn CVT tile floor with the Vinyl plank, I thought the room would get a big bump, but it just didn't do as much as I thought. As someone suggested, my expectations were probably too high. The dated furniture will really hold back the room no matter what else is done. All of the furniture and decorations down there are old hand me downs from the main house, or Facebook market buys, or some other kind of deal. My budget for the room is very low. New furniture is out of the question, as I have furniture in the main house that would need replacing before this stuff.

I wasn't even really thinking about the columns, but thanks for pointing them out, I will definitely change those. Suggestions on that? I am leaning towards simply boxing them and painting them the same trim white?

To me, I think a basic problem is that the colors of the carpet, new plank, and wall don't work well together. I don't know jack about colors or decorating, so feel free to disagree. The problem for me is, the carpet and new flooring have to stay. No time/budget to replace the carpet. So, the main question is, should I bother repainting the walls? They were just repainted a few years ago, and I was never happy with the color. It seems too blue to me. I was trying to go more current with a grey color, but I think it needs to be more beige to complement the carpet color more? I'm clueless here. I don't want to bother repainting if it won't help much. I suspect the carpet color is the main culprit? Opinions please!
View attachment 1061870

I don’t think there’s any problem with the floor anyway, I think it looks good. The furniture is fine too. My main issue with the room is that is is so light. I prefer a few lamps here or there and a bit more orange instead of white/blue light. For me I like to player poker in a relaxing room, with a bit less light, and I think the light grey walls amplify that a bit, despite them being a really nice colour for a lounge or what not. I would use this room as an oppurtunity to paint the walls a more bit interesting colour, and shade it darker. Maybe a dark grey mixed with teal/olive/crimson or whatever you prefer. It would just make it feel more cosey/chilled. I think my putting dimmers on the lights would make a massive difference, as would buying a couple of FBmarketplace lamps and painting the walls, these are all valuable and cheap fixes.

Following that, don’t underestimate how much floor plants can do for a room. (It they can get any light down there)

Gl, and keep us posted with how you get on.

 

[Irish]

Home Depot used to sell hollow Tuscan-style wood columns. I neighbor got them and cut them in half lengthwise then glued them together over the lally columns. Came out beautiful.
I don’t see them on the Home Depot website, but a local lumber yard or other big box home improvement store may have them.

^This^

You could also try to dress up the main support beam a bit. Could be as simple as painting it white like the trim, or add some fancy molding to match the appearance of the new wood columns.

Your basement is fairly similar to mine in terms of carpet/paint color, so I personally wouldn't change that until you really need to paint. But you'd be surprised how much a difference adding those columns and dressing up the support beam would make.

You can see what I did here with my columns/support beam - which is obviously a completely different style that wouldn't match your room - but it's the same concept, dress it up nice. It really helps to accent the room for minimal cost.

 

[Gubbins]

Either Americans all have massive houses/basements, or everyone on this site is rolling in it $$$

 

[MeridianFC]

No one has stated the obvious problems with the room; it's far too clean and bright. If you play poker there it should be dim and look as if a crime is about to or has taken place. More booze/booze holding/booze serving furniture & equipment.