BASEMENT REMODEL - MOTHER-IN-LAW SUITE

February 26, 2023|Decorated Rooms

Hello! Thanks for stopping in to this basement remodel blog post, it's a long one! This project includes months (July through December, 2022) of basement cleanup, building activity, stress and finally a beautiful remodel and a sense of normalcy. 

My 82 year old mother-in-law, Paula, had been living with my father-in-law a few miles up the road in a senior living apartment. Both of them had a plethora of health issues, especially my father-in-law with a compromised immune system from a kidney transplant in 2009. We did lose my father-in-law in May of 2022 from pneumonia. This left my mother-in-law alone in the apartment. My husband would run there multiple times a day or we would have her over to our place for the evening. In September of 2022 she fell in her apartment and broke BOTH arms, one a compound fracture! The incident happened due to her leaving her walker behind in the restroom. 

We had planned on having her move in with us by November, but she couldn't be alone so we moved her in after a week-long hospital stay. There were several months of her living in our family room while the remodel was in progress. It was stressful to immediately have her in our home, with workers coming in and out and my dogs barking constantly lol, but we got through it. Those of you that have taken a parent in know the ups and downs of caretaking. With God's loving guidance, and lots of life lessons, we have gotten into a groove. 

Let's start with the cleanup for this remodel . . . 

We've been in our three bedroom ranch home 20 years at this point and the unfinished basement reflected that, even after several major clean outs over the years it is jammed with stuff! A basement is both a blessing and a curse, I'm sure those of you with basements would agree. We spent six weeks cleaning out the basement after meeting with the contractor. So many items in these images are long gone, and only a few things I have wished I had back. 

Multiple trips to the dump, Goodwill, and St. Vinney's cleared out most of the stuff. Additional items we sold on facebook marketplace. Half of our 1,700 sq. foot basement was now ready for the remodel, whew! It was daunting for sure, and felt never ending. The carpet was over 20 years old with quite a few stains of this and that, I was very glad to see it go! We did rent a storage shed to store our bikes and some larger things from my mother-in-law's apartment that  just wouldn't fit in the other half of the basement at this time, it was jammed with things we were going to keep or use in the mother-in-law suite. During this basement clean out, we were also clearing out my mother-in-law's apartment, getting rid of so many things. From this point on my photo descriptions will get shorter, I promise lol.

First up is the egress window. In Wisconsin it is the law if you have a bedroom in your basement, you must have an escape window/door. 

Ta Da! We have a window!

Next up, supplies are delivered and our garage is out of commission for a few months.

The egress window is used several times to bring in supplies, 2 x 4's for framing are in.

Framing begins! Such a long way to go, but exciting! 

I was sooo excited about this area! This indent in our basement was going to be a wall of closets, yay!

I had many of these snap together plastic shelving units that were in the other side of the basement, the side not being remodeled. I could NOT wait to put them in the area, plus I didn't have room for them on the other side any longer...I was getting deep plywood shelves that would hold storage tubs on the other side, something I've wanted since the day we moved in, I'm such a dreamer!

My plywood shelves and nosey pup Reina. :)

Almost done with framing! 

Framing complete and insulation in!

Next up was the plumbing for the bathroom, this was crazy to see! 

Once all the plumbing was in, they sealed it up all nice and pretty.

Drywall was next! One crew installed the drywall, another crew did the taping and mudding, then the first crew came back and added the texture.

A painter came and painted all the pocket doors. I remember first seeing this and it reminded me of something out of the Twilight Zone. Pretty smart way to dry the doors.

The shower, toilet, sink and vanity all hooked up and working. Tile flooring went in as well. Shower doors were on the way.

Vinyl plank flooring went in after the painter finished painting all the trim, doors and walls. There were electricians, hvac people and a carpenter in the mix as well who installed all the trim and doors after they were primed.

And it's finally finished! My mother-in-law has her own space and I have my family room back lol We had a stair lift installed, she is unable to climb stairs. She's a fall risk and needs to be with someone anytime she is mobile. Let's go down the stairs and see the finished space! 

Turning the corner at the base of the stairs is hubby's workout space, a small "kitchen" and a recliner from my family room. We have a lift chair in it's space upstairs for my mother-in-law presently.

Here is the view from the other side.

...and my wall of closets!! Let's peek inside at all my junk!

Plenty of room for a chest freezer . . . 

Seasonal home decor, more stuff I could probably part with . . . 

and three of my Christmas trees can remain upright! I love this closet. I kept some souvenir carpeting in here lol It was off the main path so it's nice and clean. 

We have a small "kitchen" in this area. This table from amazon is perfect to house a mini fridge and baskets holding silverware, paper plates and snacks. We are blessed to have wonderful health care workers that come in a few hours a day during the work week. They make her lunch, paint her nails and generally take care of her so I can work and run errands. She eats meals with us upstairs in the evening.

Let's enter her suite. There is a living room area that includes her Mid Century Modern dresser. I gave it a fresh coat of gel stain and it looks almost new. 

I like to add a little whimsy, these cute creatures are from IKEA, as well as the shelf and cacti. 

I used an IKEA book shelf we had from years ago. I kept things simple but comfortable in this room, making it functional for my mother-in-law. The striped rug is so soft! I found it here. The orange and grey rug was found on Target, great quality as well.

We have this same wayfair sofa in my hubby's music room, in navy blue, it's quite comfy. It's a sleeper but I don't recommend it for that, it's not comfy at all when reclined as a bed. The wicker ottoman is from IKEA. Paper feather picture made by me!

I needed a table with light between her lift chair and the sofa and this little one from walmart worked out well. The lamp shade needed a little something so I added some green velvet ribbon. 

If you're in need of a side table for your parent's lift chair, I highly recommend this one . . .

. . .it swings in front for eating perfectly, it's been so helpful.

We decided on a daybed for her. This one is from wayfair. She always sleeps on her back and doesn't move much at night. It has two drawers in front. We added a safety railing and ended up cutting notches into the bed to get it to fit properly. The bedspread covers it so it worked out. 

This pretty comforter and shams are from amazon, I really love it and am considering one for my room!

I needed something higher from the ground for a bed lamp, I picked up this little shelf from Lowe's.

If you know me, you know I like to organize! Here is one half of the closet with all the medical supplies and gadgets we use.

The other half has her clothing, which we pared way down with the move. The sump pump is hiding in back. It's a very quiet pump which is nice. 

We have a baby monitor to check on her from upstairs after bedtime if needed, it works great. We also use the Echo Show 10 where we can check on her when we are not home.

The best part is this fun image wrap in the egress window! It was just plain white inside, I wondered if there was a product that would make it "cuter" and googled! There are many backgrounds to choose from mountains, deserts, etc. Curtains from Home Depot.

The vinyl wrap holds on with velcro tabs. I found some flagstone on fb marketplace to add to the floor and added solar lights! It really brightens the room in Winter.

If we actually get sun in the Wisconsin Winter they light up at night.

And finally, the finished bathroom! The shower has a shower chair and suction grab bars for assistance. So far everything has worked out well. I purchased the grab bars from walgreens, shower chair from amazon.

**As a side note, my mother-in-law does not shower alone. She is helped in the shower and right to the chair, which is closer to the left door usually. Then helped out and right back to the chair which is moved outside the shower to dry her and do her hair. She doesn't use the grab bars but they are there if needed. I check them before each shower as I'm waiting for the water to heat. :)

This bathroom is still a work in progress for decor, or maybe it's done, I haven't decided lol If I see something cute for the wall, I'll pick it up. The little vanity is from Menards, the mirror is from Hobby Lobby. And that completes the remodel process and tour!! 

I know this was a very long post, thanks for hanging in there! If you are in the position to move a parent in with you, I hope this gives you some ideas.