Extreme Makeover: a sad suburban basement gets a revamp courtesy of television’s Love It or List It

By Meaghan Binstock | Photography by Michael Graydon

BEFORE: The basement was an unwelcoming holding pen for toys and cast-off furniture. It was also in dire need of a bathroom and a functional laundry area. AFTER: A papered wall behind the shelving unit adds pops of colour

Geoff Cullen, an ad executive, and his wife, Mieke, had two kids under five years of age and a suburban house with a dearth of functional space—and only one loo. Enter W Network’s Love It or List It, which snapped up their application for a before-and-after. (On the program, homeowners with space challenges go through a reno while simultaneously scoping out their options to move up the property ladder.) The show’s design team, Hilary Farr and Desta Ostapyk, zeroed in on the neglected basement, which was essentially unfinished. During a whirlwind TV-style two-week makeover, the Cullens got a laundry room, a much-needed second bathroom and an entertainment room with storage and a sectional that divides the living space from the kids’ play area. In other words, they didn’t list it.