Bottom Dwellers, Part II
The Finished Basement
The Steelers might not have given him much great football to watch this year, but Nick Spanos was able to take in the second half of the season in style.
After extensive work by Gatesman Home Improvement, renovations wrapped on Spanos’ game room in November. Work finished the Monday before Thanksgiving, just in time for the surprise birthday party Spanos’ friends and family threw him the following weekend.
“We’ve had a couple parties since then,” he says, leaning casually against his new wraparound bar made of a beautiful swirled granite called sienna bordeau. “It’s been broken in.”
Just a few months ago, the unfinished basement in Spanos’ Peters Township home housed nothing but storage. Now, the room boasts the comfortable accoutrements of a modern game room. On the far wall is a true bachelor’s bar, complete with a suspended flat-screen TV, wine cooler, apple spice cherry cabinets and seating for six. A few feet away, a stone fireplace with a sleek black grate waits to warm up visitors.
On another wall, a dark wood entertainment center with shelves encompasses a big-screen TV and faces a brown, arch-shaped leather sectional couch adorned with green, gold and brown-striped chenille accent pillows. In one corner, French doors lead to a workout room with a treadmill, weights and a second flat-screen TV. The last corner holds the bathroom, where deep Portobello-tinged walls complement the tan- and creme-swirl tiled floors.
In the main sitting area, latte-colored walls flow into speckled tan carpet. The furniture comes from a variety of retailers - the entertainment center is from Levin Furniture, the sectional came from Colonial Modern Furniture and the round, wooden end tables were bought at Macy’s.
Homes in Peters Township sell based on their finished living space, which runs approximately $130 per square foot, says Dave Gatesman, owner of Gatesman Home Improvement. Spanos’ finished basement gained him 1,700 additional sellable square feet. For now, the homeowner is happy to enjoy his new favorite part of the house.
“I can actually come down and relax on a Saturday afternoon. I just have to stay away from the bar,” he says with
a laugh.
Discreet white surround sound speakers rest above the entertainment center, bar area and exercise room, which all have access to a volume control system. Decor is in the form of framed artwork, much of it sports-related. A poster of Heinz Field hangs across from the bar, the New York Yankees grace the exercise room wall, and a painting of caricatured cyclists is perched just outside the bar area.
Spanos says he has had no doubts about going ahead with the project, though he admits he has not yet used the shower in the new bathroom. Gatesman says that’s typical, though he encourages most customers to add the shower because it does not inflate the cost of the project by much. “Plus, if you have a guest staying down here, that’s exactly what it’s for.”
With his new space, Spanos will be watching every game in comfortable style, no matter how his hometown football team fairs next year.
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By Shelly Belcher
