Before and After: HGTV’s “Renovation Goldmine” Transforms an Old Basement Into a Modern Sanctuary

While Anita and Andre’s home in River Forest, IL was already up-to-date in the main living area, the two doctors wanted nothing more than a modern sanctuary in their outdated basement. The busy parents of two hoped for an adults-only sanctuary that they could relax in after a long day. In the latest episode of “Renovation Goldmine,” Meg and Joe Piercy found several money-saving renovation and restoration ideas to help give the couple their oasis.

The basement began as a large living room-style space, with a very outdated kitchen and small workout room off to the side. The floors were made from large white tile and the walls and cabinets were made from wood. The ceiling had some issues, namely water damage in the kitchen. The furniture — including multiple overstuffed leather sofas — was also from another era. 

The focal points of the basement were the pool table and gray fireplace, but both were in desperate need of some upkeep. Andre had already tried to do some renovation and knocked down a few walls, so the basement had a fairly open layout, but he left some loose pieces of wood floating around the room. The couple requested a modern space that would be consistent with the rest of the house, plus room for a poker table.

With a $50,000 budget, Meg and Joe got to work turning the basement into a swanky lounge. They started by stripping the old tiles from the floor. They spray-painted the ceiling, which added more height to the space, and added drywall (with crown molding to hide any jagged edges). The couple painted the fireplace black, which gave it a fresh look. They also took apart the pool table and refinished it with yellow paint, to help give the room “some pops of color,” according to Meg. For a finishing touch, they added several pieces of tan and green modern furniture to the space. 

The kitchen and workout area become a wine cellar, bar, and poker room. The Piercys gutted the original kitchen and brought in cabinets from another project (to save on money), which they painted green. They painted the walls of the poker area black with some orange patterned wallpaper and kept the drywall of the kitchen white (with additional backsplash tiling). They added white countertops to bring some lighter color into the dark space. 

Joe found an old, free poker table (with a built-in bumper pool table) at a used casino game store and brought it into the home. The structure came with a large wooden table top, so it could easily become a dining space if needed. The duo “re-felted” the table with the same camel color that they used on the pool table (as seen in the room beyond the kitchen, above), so all of the basement’s “gaming” areas had a similar look. For a finishing, flourishing touch, the Piercys enlisted one of their artist friends to paint a simple line mural against the far wall of the basement. 

“With the money we saved by getting free cabinets, by reusing their pool table, [and] a free poker table, we were able to add a lot of special design elements,” Meg explained, “like the tile on the wall, the really cool countertops, [and] the mural.”

“Renovation Goldmine” airs Saturdays at 10 pm ET/PT on HGTV.