“You hear all these amazing stories of people turning their basements into home offices or gyms or even apartments,” Stacey said. “So when I bought this house in Boston, I kind of had that idea in the back of my mind. But now that I’ve really spent some time in the basement, I’m not sure that my basement can be finished. It’s just in such rough shape.”

The concerns Stacey had about her Boston basement included some very common complaints. The floor was extremely unlevel; it was difficult to walk around without tripping. The walls were bare concrete block, with surface mounted electrical wires. The furnace was located in the center of the basement, making it difficult to image how the space could ever be used.

“My Mom was the one who told me not to give up on the idea,” Stacey said. “She said call in some Boston basement finishing contractors and see what could be done.” She shook her head. “I really wasn’t sure, because I didn’t have much of a budget. But you know how Moms are.”

After meeting with the basement finishing company, Stacey learned that some of the issues she thought were deal breakers could actually be addressed fairly easily. Leveling the floor and finishing the walls was pretty straightforward. Moving the furnace to a more reasonable location required a little more effort and some coordination with a HVAC contractor, but once it was out of the way, “We had a surprising amount of space to work with,” Stacey said.

Her mother knew exactly what to do with the newly renovated space. “Turning the basement into a guest room/getaway has been great,” Stacey said. “That way when Mom – or any of our out of town friends come in for a show or event – we have a place for them to stay.” She beamed. “It’s really awesome, actually. So if you think your basement can’t be done over, do yourself a favor and have a contractor check it out first. You may have more options than you know.”