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Yep, had a house in the 1980's that had a big bar in the basement. The bar had a sink, refrigerator, several bar stools, a big mirror on the wall behind the bar, and wood paneling on the walls. Had a large picture window since the basement was only partially underground.
Also had a big wood burning fireplace, a big TV, couch, chairs, carpeting on the floor, etc. It was a great place for entertaining and we had numerous parties and gatherings. We also had a full bath, a bedroom, a huge utility room, and a spacious 2 1/2 car garage on that level.
I was the second owner of the house which was built in about 1974, and it already had all this stuff in it when I bought it. There was waaaaay more room in this house than we needed, but it sure came in handy for hosting parties and large family get togethers. We would build a big fire in the fireplace, put some music on the stereo, have some drinks and snacks, and enjoy each other's company. Good times.
Some of my fondest memories are of various relatives' basement bars, friends' rumpus rooms, and my own finished basement. My uncle devoted his entire walkout basement and backyard to entertainment - in good weather we were out on the patio, and in the winter we were in the basement bar and adjacent den. So much fun. The bar had all the accoutrements - real wood paneling, chrome and red vinyl furniture, my aunt's old blond formica tables, a fully stocked bar, neon beer signs, a beer can collection, a crystal shoe to drink champagne out of on New Year's Eve, the little outhouse guy that peed on you when you opened the outhouse door - it was incredible, the love he put into that basement and into the good times we all had there.
We were probably the only family on the street that didn't have a finished basement rec room - when we outgrew our parents' 1200 square foot ranch, they built out instead of down. My sister and I took it upon ourselves to fix up the basement when we wanted to have parties, using sheets to block off the working areas of the basement, and hauling lawn furniture and throw rugs for ambiance and a place to sit. We had a pool table down there already, and a half bath. Hanging out in the basement was just something everyone did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blahblahyoutoo
I'm happy both of these have gone the way of the dodo.
Have they, though? Every time I turn on HGTV someone is whining if the basement isn't finished in the house they're looking at.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Formerly Known As Twenty
One of my couples friends scored mightily when they bought their 1950s rambler a few years ago.
Real knotty pine panelling throughout the basement (including tons of built in storage, a full vintage tiled bath and an additional bedroom with a built in dresser and desk) plus an amazingly pristine original bar with a sink and under counter (vintage!) refrigerator built into a room that also had a fully functional wood burning fireplace. They left it as it was--knotty pine panelling, cupboards, Formica-topped bar and all.
Sounds divine!
Quote:
Originally Posted by blahblahyoutoo
the problem with the basements of yesteryear are the inconvenient supporting beams in the middle and the low 7 ft ceilings, and some even 6 1/2 ft.
No one I knew really cared about the low ceilings. Plus we were all capable of ducking under the beam.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marcandme
I hated rooms in the basement. They always smelled musty.
Improper ventilation. Easy fix.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tamajane
In high school pretty much all parties were held in someone's basement. I can't remember one that didn't have a bar. We didn't care about musty, we just needed beer, dim lights and a comfortable sofa.
Two or three generations had some wonderfully memorable times in that musty basement bar, let's show some respect.
Some music helped, too. And cigarettes. Ack, my poor lungs.
Some of my fondest memories are of various relatives' basement bars, friends' rumpus rooms, and my own finished basement. My uncle devoted his entire walkout basement and backyard to entertainment - in good weather we were out on the patio, and in the winter we were in the basement bar and adjacent den. So much fun. The bar had all the accoutrements - real wood paneling, chrome and red vinyl furniture, my aunt's old blond formica tables, a fully stocked bar, neon beer signs, a beer can collection, a crystal shoe to drink champagne out of on New Year's Eve, the little outhouse guy that peed on you when you opened the outhouse door - it was incredible, the love he put into that basement and into the good times we all had there.
We were probably the only family on the street that didn't have a finished basement rec room - when we outgrew our parents' 1200 square foot ranch, they built out instead of down. My sister and I took it upon ourselves to fix up the basement when we wanted to have parties, using sheets to block off the working areas of the basement, and hauling lawn furniture and throw rugs for ambiance and a place to sit. We had a pool table down there already, and a half bath. Hanging out in the basement was just something everyone did.
Have they, though? Every time I turn on HGTV someone is whining if the basement isn't finished in the house they're looking at.
Sounds divine!
No one I knew really cared about the low ceilings. Plus we were all capable of ducking under the beam.
Improper ventilation. Easy fix.
Some music helped, too. And cigarettes. Ack, my poor lungs.
Has no one here ever watched "That Seventies Show." Where would that show have been without that basement?
It was like that at a few of my friends' houses, too, back in the early 'nineties. Parties where parents would be upstairs but pretty much let the kids do their thing (within reason), hanging out, watching movies on old t.v.s that had been relegated to the basement, listening to music, playing games and music. So much fun.
We finished the basement in our first house- Kearneysville, WV. Totally underground, low ceilings humid environment in the off winter months. I built a bar and it was awesome. With the right sized dehumidifier we were totally comfy.
The best basement bar I ever saw was in a podunk town in Switzerland.
A friend's sister's boyfriend had an affinity for American C&W music and built a bar with a great sound system. If you were blindfolded and brought inside, you would not know it was a basement bar. You would have thought you were in some roadhouse in the South. The details were amazing.
He even had the refrigerator stocked with Dixie Beer. How he procured it in Switzerland, I will never know. I think I asked, but his Swiss-German was incomprehensible to me and I was smashed anyway. Nice guy and something akin to an artist.
There are effective ways to mitigate. I have installed a good dehumidifier that drains directly into our house drainage. Installed a high cfm ventilation system with duct work and vents to bring fresh air in. I barely notice that this is a basement.
Ventalation fan was designed for agricultural/hydroponic applications and run very quiet with variable speed. AC infinity brand (cloudline) offers various sizes and features... Options for smart controllers that can manage several in various configurations. Not too expensive either. There is enough CFM that I can literally vent out the exhaust from a portable AC during hot summers.
In St. Louis basement bars were called rathskellers. They were popular when I was young.
My father completely remodeled most of my family’s basement, but there was no bar. The basement was where we spent hot summer days, before we got air conditioning. We had our TV down there, along with seating.
Having a family room in the basement was not unusual in mid 20th century.
And homes with walk out basements might use the lower level very simply as living area.
We finished the basement in our first house- Kearneysville, WV. Totally underground, low ceilings humid environment in the off winter months. I built a bar and it was awesome. With the right sized dehumidifier we were totally comfy.
We finished the basement in our first house- Kearneysville, WV. Totally underground, low ceilings humid environment in the off winter months. I built a bar and it was awesome. With the right sized dehumidifier we were totally comfy.
Love this. Redoing ours right now and ours is laid out about the same, except it's a walk out with all sliding doors on that open side. I like the color scheme, looks very pretty. Our ceiling needs some help, not finished like yours.
We already have a kitchen in that same corner and my husband is going to build a bar around it. I have such fun memories of my grandparents' home and their basement bar where Grandpa was king - he loved having friends down there.
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