Basements can be the most under-appreciated rooms in any house, but basement finishing and remodeling can add real value to your home.  The challenge of designing your basement is identifying what each home wants in terms of functionality.  We’ll work with you to find your unique design that fits your lifestyle.

The Process:

As part of our first meeting we listen about how you intend to use your finished basement.  We’ll offer suggestions for how to use spaces you’re uncertain about.  We’ll walk the physical area with you to review the existing mechanicals such as heating & cooling methods, electrical and plumbing to ensure they can support your initial design concept.  Measurements of the space will be taken with notes on existing windows and other obstacles that effect the design layout.  From there we’ll open discussions about your desired finishes such as flooring, tile, drywall, wall paneling, knockdown ceilings, special electrical & low voltage needs, millwork, door styles cabinetry styles, countertops, fireplace and more as they apply to your design.   This meeting will educate us about your new finished basement needs usually accompanied with a potential “wish list” of optional items that you may really like to have but your budgets may not be able to incorporate at this time.

The information gathered will be used to prepare a formal estimate.  Generally, estimates are provided within 2 weeks of our first meeting.  Really narrowing down on the cost of a finished basement can be difficult due to the finish/color selection process.  There are endless options on the market for personalizing your space.  It is very common for contractors to keep their bids competitive by including builder grade finishes.  Customers then find themselves in the middle of construction making selections resulting in change orders for finish upgrades to personalize their basement.  It creates frustration for the customer because the project cost can quickly go over the intended budget.  Our solution to avoid much of this frustration is accomplished first by understanding your design up front and then formatting our estimate with allowances for many of these finishes.  Our allowance line items are included in the total estimate cost but are itemized and calculated off retail pricing.  Our allowance budgets are set based off what you shared in our 1^st meeting; not defaulted to basic builder grade.  Itemizing these allowances allows our customers to feel comfortable exploring the market and know if something they select will save them money or potentially be an added cost. Maybe a selection on an upgraded one finish and then an alternative cost saving selection somewhere else to offset the cost.  Allowance help our customers manage their budgets during the selection process.  Any money not spent of the allowance fund is refunded to you at the final invoice.  Any selection made that exceed the allowance are authorized for additional billing prior to ordering.  Finally, with so many moving parts involved with a finished basement estimate, we’d like a 2^nd meeting to review the estimate in detail with you.  Any necessary revisions to the estimate will then be sent for your consideration for hire.

Some things to consider when hiring Colorful Beginnings.  First, you get the people (owners) that you initially meet actually managing & working during the construction process.  This is important because there’s little room for lost communication.  Most of the work is completed in house by Colorful Beginnings employees.  We even have our own custom cabinet shop & finish shop.  Our most common sub-contracted trades are mechanical ie: electricians, plumbers & HVAC.  They are trusted contractors we work with regularly that meet our quality standards.  Even though these are trusted sub-contractors, they are never left on the job alone.  A member of Colorful Beginnings is onsite at all times to properly manage your project.  Once we begin a project we stay and see it through to completion.  We will not over commit by taking on too many projects at one time and not being able to keep your project moving forward.  The success of our company relies mainly on our customer referrals so it’s our mission to make you happy!  Lastly, we’re able to offer design & construction services together as one service.  Our design time is free for all contracted customers.

Once hired, we’ll request deposit money per the estimate, discuss a project start date and schedule our first design meeting.  Liz Lelm, owner/design coordinator, will bring samples of finishes (tile, flooring, paint, countertops, etc) within the allowances for you to review.  The first few design meetings generally take place at your home.  A few samples of different finishes are brought direct to you.  We find that most of our customers have very busy family and/or work schedules and can even sometimes be overwhelmed by the choices in the studios, these catered design meetings can reduce much unnecessary stress for most.  However, we will not hesitate meeting at a design studio if that’s what our customer desires.  It’s not uncommon for customers to share Pinterest boards, magazine clippings or photos of a model home that create design inspiration.  Sharing these inspirations with Liz is highly encouraged but not required.  Some finishes will take priority over others based on lead times or when they’re needed in the construction process.  Once you’ve worked with Liz to nail down the key design elements we can now compare lead times of selections against the scheduled start date to make sure your project runs smooth.

Let construction begin.  Communication continues through construction.   Regular construction progress updates are provided to keep you informed of our progress up until your job is completed.  Our work areas are cleaned up daily.  We invest in tools by Festool that reduce dust from cutting, chopping, sanding.  We even use HEPA rated vacuums.  Once completed you have a clean and quality constructed finished basement for your enjoyment.

Please enjoy the photos of our work.  You can also follow us on Facebook .