Leanne Ford’s Basement Reno

A workroom in the basement with all white walls and white furniture.

With the cold winters in Pennsylvania, it is important for Leanne to have a space inside for her and her family to create and relax. A space for ideas to become reality. The dark and dingy basement once filled with pipes, wires, and debris now works as what she calls her Sub-Studio, a bright, creative space with an art studio, a ceramic studio, and plenty of space for the family to lounge.

“It is exactly how I wanted everything to feel, a fresh start.” – Leanne Ford

When it came to picking the paint color, she knew it had to be white. But not just any white. A hue to fit the style of the historic home, but also crisp enough to brighten the space. She picked a white that matched her vision. Blank Canvas, a hopeful and welcoming white with limitless possibilities to transform any vision into a reality… this was the obvious choice for her basement walls.

“it’s warm and welcoming but still clean and fresh with a hint of vintage,” – Leanne Ford

An open paint can showing the color Blank Canvas.

Basements tend to hold moisture which causes mold and mildew. Starting with the right primer, choosing durable, stain-repellent, and moisture-resistant paint products is important.

Walls: BEHR DYNASTY® INTERIOR SEMI-GLOSS ENAMEL tinted to BLANK CANVAS DC-003

Stone Wall: BEHR DRYPLUS™ MASONRY WATERPROOFER tinted to BLANK CANVAS DC-003

Primer: KILZ 3® PREMIUM, INTERIOR | EXTERIOR PRIMER

Three products can images, Dynasty, DryPlus, Kilz3,

The art studio is filled with all of Leanne’s art supplies. This is her space to play and disconnect from her job.

A sink area for washing up.
An area in the basement with a large lantern light, the space is used for painting.
A seating area with all white walls.

Leanne’s ceramic studio is where she lets her creativity inspire. She likes to dive in with zero plans and see what comes out.

A large area for pottery projects.
Shelving with pottery placed on them.

“It’s creatively beyond inspiring for me to play in here.” – Leanne Ford

The comfy couch and pile of pillows are used to create a relaxing lounge area for Leanne and her family.

A comfy couch placed in the basement.
An area in the basement with a bunch of pillows piled up to use as a lounge area.

Leanne made sure to make every space special. 

A bathroom with all white wall and a mirrored heart shape leaning above the sink.

She used the extra Blank Canvas from the walls to paint furniture, old doors, picture frames, and canvases as part of the renovation.

A work area with a small desk in the basement.

The old doors from her main home were pulled, painted, and recycled as a wall in the new space.

An office area in the basement with white walls and a dark brown table.

For the picture frames and canvases, Leanne poured the extra paint into a baby pool and dipped the frames, fully covering them. Check out the link to see how she went about this: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu9kSG1OzB_/?img_index=1

A white brick wall with white painted picture frames leaning against it.

A special touch was added with expressions written on the walls and minimalistic designs hand-drawn on the furniture.

A painted brick wall in the basement with the words written on it; "The writing is on the wall".
A sitting area in a basement.

“It’s wild how, when you give your mind space, and you actually have a physical space, you can think freer,”– Leanne Ford

Click on the link to watch a two-minute recap of the renovation   https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu1_lUWubVj/?hl=en

For additional inspiration and fresh ideas for your home check out Behr’s Designer Stories.

Colorfully yours,

Larayne

Design Credit: Leanne Ford Interiors

Interior Styling Credit: Hilary Robertson

Photography Credit: Erin Kelly

Copy References: leannefordinteriors, Instagram reels, DIY Diary

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