Design to Win

By Lisa Arnett
April 2026 View more Home

From basic basement to party house

After 13 years in their St. Charles home, Karlye Novy and her husband, Nick, had remodeled just about every room except for their basement. With checkerboard tile, a brick fireplace they never used, and a bar with dark cherry cabinets, it felt all-around out of style.

“The main piece of it was my husband always wanted a golf simulator in the basement…but we thought: We can’t just put this new golf simulator down here, and the whole rest of the basement is outdated and doesn’t fit,” Novy says. To help give the space new life, they brought in Dana Silver of Naperville-based Desa Design Studio. Silver had some tricks up her sleeve to integrate the family’s toys—pool and shuffleboard tables in addition to that new golf simulator—and give the whole level a fresh, unified look.

“On the half of the basement with the bar area and golf simulator, we painted the ceiling dark to give it more of a cozy intimate vibe, and the other side we painted bright white to make it feel a little more open and spacious,” Silver says. Silver’s husband Jason’s construction company, Silver Bullet Inc., served as general contractor. Post-reno, the basement is now a more comfortable space for the Novys to spend time together as well as entertain friends and family. “We have a 16-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter,” Novy says. “I love it because there are always kids here, and I’m happy they can stay in our basement and have a good time.”

1. (above) The golf simulator and shuffleboard table (complete with Michigan State wall sign) are major attractions in the Novys’ basement. Designer Dana Silver reimagined the traditional brick fireplace with a sleek new surround of hot-rolled steel. “We had to get very fine measurements, down to the eight of an inch, to get the steel fabricator to make sure every little detail was exactly right for the returns at the side and the returns into the firebox,” Silver says. “I think it was 300 pounds of steel, so it was quite the process, but it really gives a different, more modern vibe.”

2. The next challenge was how to update the 2000s-era bar without busting the budget. “The cherry wood cabinets were very high-end, they were just outdated,” Karlye says. Silver suggested they keep the neutral black granite countertops and give the cabinetry a face-lift with new paint and hardware. “They had a ton of bottles, so we wanted to get them off the counter to declutter the space and use that height that they had here,” says Silver, who designed custom backlit shelving to display their bottles like artwork. “They also had a few different ceiling heights and soffits in this space, and we wanted to make it feel like it was all a part of the cabinetry.”

3. One quirk that Silver had to contend with was a rectangular cutout in the granite countertop. “The previous owners had a reach-in cooler and when they replaced it with under-cabinet refrigerators, it left a void,” Silver says. “We decided to replace it with an accent stone piece in a light color that they can use like a cutting board.”

4. The basement previously housed plenty of sports memorabilia, which they worked with Silver to pare down. One thing they chose to keep was the Michigan State neon sign (a nod to their alma mater) above the shuffleboard table. Silver decided to play off that element by creating an accent wall with horizontal planks and a second neon sign for their billiards area. She added two swivel chairs with a metallic-look fabric and a floating shelf to serve as a drink rail. “Another thing I don’t think people realize you can do is we had the felt of the pool table redone,” Novy says. “It was the traditional green so we had it changed to a blueish gray so it blended in better.

5. To create a cozy media area, Silver selected a rug with an abstract print, a spacious sectional, and an upholstered ottoman that can serve as extra seating or just a soft place to put your feet up. “We added in the vertical slats so the TV isn’t just floating on the wall, so it feels more intentional now,” Silver says.

6. Could the bright primary colors of the Pac-Man machine (see photo 5) jibe with rest of the basement? As it turns out, the alcove ended up being the perfect spot for the arcade game and its matching stool. “Initially, [the homeowners] were like, ‘We don’t think we need to keep [the game],’ but then we felt like it added some fun color,” Silver says. She chose a quartet of graffiti-inspired artworks to help it fit in. The bright colors of the alcove also tie into a playful piece of artwork on the other side of the room that has special meaning for the family. “They have a little Frenchie [dog] and wanted artwork with a brightly colored Frenchie, similar to a family member who has a brightly colored frog picture that they liked,” Silver says.

Photos: Ryan Ocasio Photography