Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Before the renovation

Ann Marie's basement before it's fairytale makeover.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Once upon a basement

Style at Home senior editor Ann Marie Favot favours a crisp, clean look with soothing pale paint colours and a place for everything.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Chez Maddie

With a chic style editor for a mom, is it any surprise that little Maddie loves to play restaurant hostess - and that having a beautifully set table is equally important to her as the (imaginary) food she serves?

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Before the renovation

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Artist in residence

How do you like them apples? Homeowner and senior style editor Ann Marie Favot made them herself. “The room needed some colour, and I wanted something graphic, fun and youthful, but I couldn’t find the right piece,” she says. “So I made these with construction paper.” Another budget score? The antique-look rug. She bought it on sale, and it disguises the hair of Loki, the family husky.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Budget finds: Toss cushions

A patterned toss cushion for $18 also acts as a backrest for the white banquette.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Budget finds: Artwork

Construction paper + creativity = inexpensive artwork.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Budget finds: Rug

This overdyed antique-look rug was a steal at $150 - discounted from $700!

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Before the renovation

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Miss. Dress-up

Whether hosting a princess’s tea party or performing an impromptu ballet, a young lady’s work is never done, so a costume closet - with a basket full of hats and crowns - was a makeover must.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

All dolled up

With plenty of extra storage space thanks to a customizable system, Ann Marie ensured there was a place to tuck away her daughter’s toys, from the art-supply closet to a drawer for dolls and stuffed animals.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Imagination land

In lieu of a tiny kids’ desk, a large coffee table offers more space to spread out. The massive dispenser on top offers all the art paper an imaginative child could hope for. Maddie sometimes curls up with a book on the banquette behind her desk.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Polka face

This mother-daughter workspace-slash-playroom is perfect for the creative minds at work and play here. Ann Marie can draft a room redesign at the desk while Maddie paints her Disney princess dream house at the table behind it. The long desk is actually custom made using a wall-to-wall kitchen countertop, supported by small ledges and a storage cabinet in the centre. The bold designer polkadot wallpaper would have been a splurge, but Ann Marie saved big bucks by applying it to only half the wall.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Budget findsr: Wallpaper

Ann Marie saved by applying polkadot wallpaper to one small wall.

Basement makeover: Functional family playroom

Va-va-va vessels

Organized living comes easy when you have a place to put your most-used items. Magazine holders are key for editors like Ann Marie, and a tray for fabric samples, a cup for paintbrushes and a bowl for a measuring tape and pins are always within arm’s reach. But rather than looking cluttered, they appear chic and cohesive.