Pamela Anderson's Revitalized Basement

After the glamour of life in Hollywood, Pamela Anderson makes her triumphant return to Ladysmith, British Columbia to completely transform Arcady, her grandparent’s property that she purchased over 20 years ago. The six-acre property includes three main buildings: The Boathouse (set to be Pamela’s principal residence), The Roadhouse (where Pamela is living while construction of The Boathouse is underway) and The Cabin.

Phase one of the project has already been completed—a cheap and cheerful renovation to make the properties livable (and get them painted white, Pamela’s favourite shade!). Now Pamela is joined by her talented and dedicated crew, ready to take on the massive challenge of renovating the property on budget and within the tight timeline.

In the premiere episode of Pamela’s Garden of Eden, the team starts with an essential project: Renovating the basement of The Boathouse in order to transform it from a scary storage space to a functional yet beautiful laundry room. Read on to see the stunning results that will have you reaching for a glass of rosé and your laundry hamper.

Watch Pamela’s Garden of Eden on HGTV Canada, also available on the Global TV App and on STACKTV with Amazon Prime Video Channels, fuboTV, Rogers Ignite TV and Ignite SmartStream.

Designer Francesca holds up a vintage bucket with flowers

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Getting on the Same Page

The renovation of the basement into a functional and pretty laundry room was the first priority for designer Francesca. It served as the perfect project to test the waters and ensure that the designer and Pamela had the same vision for the property. The total budget for the basement renovation came in at just under $25,000.

A shot of the landing stairs in Pamela Anderson's renovated basement

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A Scary Basement No More

The space formerly functioned primarily as storage, stacked high with boxes filled with Pamela’s belongings including over 1000 pairs of shoes! It was dark, drab and unpleasant for Pamela to even enter the basement before Francesca got her designer hands on it.

A wide shot of the mudroom zone in Pamela Anderson's renovated basement

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Marvelous Mudroom

Francesca completely re-imagined the space into three functional zones: A mudroom zone (pictured here), a laundry zone and a pantry area.

The key to brightening up the space was painting it and revitalizing the existing floors. Working with tiler Gavin, the floors were given a rough polish (after several attempts to ensure Pamela was perfectly happy with the finish) to give them that stylish, lived-in concrete look.

Pamela's assistant Jonathan hangs the DIY window treatments

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DIY Window Treatments

In order to stay on budget, the team took on cost-cutting projects like sewing the window treatments. Pamela and her assistant Jonathan took on the task, with Pamela proclaiming that if she could do it, anyone could.

A shot of the vintage working record player in Pamela Anderson's renovated basement

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A Record Laundry Room

One of the highlights of the basement is this working vintage record player that Francesca sourced so that Pamela could play records and enjoy a glass of rosé while doing laundry. Pamela is unique in many ways, one being her passion for doing laundry (a household task that many have nothing but disdain for). But with a great record spinning and a laundry room as pretty as hers, the task is made that much more pleasant.

A shot of the large white laundry sink in Pamela Anderson's renovated laundry room

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Don’t Sink It

One of the benefits of the renovation team having already worked on the ‘phase one flip’ with Pamela is that they’re already familiar with her and can at times anticipate her needs. Pamela mentioned it would be helpful to have the large sink located near the door so she could fill up buckets of water for the dogs, however, she didn’t want to create extra work for the crew in moving the drain. Francesca and Darren, knowing Pamela, didn’t heed to her insistences to make things easier, and relocated the sink where Pamela preferred it.

A shot of the laundry area in Pamela Anderson's renovated laundry room

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Eco-Conscious Touches

As an animal and environmental activist, it was important for Pamela to manage waste and energy consumption on the property. Francesca brought this into the laundry room in details like dissolvable laundry soap and soap nuts, plus reusable dryer balls.

A shot of the newly renovated pantry area in Pamela Anderson's basement

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A Perfect Pantry

Another zone that Francesca created was this open-concept pantry shelving area where Pamela could easily access dry goods, pickled items and veggies that don’t fit in the upstairs kitchen.

A close-up shot of various jars in the pantry area of Pamela Anderson's renovated basement

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Satisfying Organization

One of Pamela’s hobbies at Arcady is the upkeep of her flourishing vegetable garden. The pantry area serves as a space to store the pickled garden produce in the prettiest, most satisfying way.

Carol and Barry Anderson see the basement reveal

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An Unrecognizable Space

Despite growing up on the property, Pamela’s father Barry could hardly recognize the basement after the transformation. Her mother, Carol, was shocked that the floors were refinished and not completely replaced. With the update, the basement, typically the ugliest part of a house, has become a pretty spot where Pamela and her family can enjoy spending time.