Novice needs help with the basement cave.

[Malin Eriksson]

Hi!
So this is my first post in this forum! Fun!
I love renovating, and I am a very restless soul. I am at home on maternity leave, but my partner, on the other hand, works full-time and is not quite as restless as I am.
I have promised him to keep him out of this little project, which I started the other day.
There were masonite boards in the ceiling, drywall on the walls, and a beautifully deep red carpet on the floor.

I don't know what this nook will become (probably a closet), but what I do know is that I want to keep it as airy as possible, and I will have tiles on the floor and just polish the walls, so moisture and other goodies are not trapped in any way.

Naturally, questions arose immediately, and I hope some kind soul will take the time to help me answer some of them.

I intend to polish/spackle the walls down here and just paint the walls with some diff-open paint. But I don't want a lot of different visible materials and "patches"; instead, I wish I could get the walls to fit snugly against the stairs on all sides.
First silly question: How do I make it happen? Do you build some contraption with drywall and then spackle over, or how do you do it? I hope you understand what I mean when you see the picture below...



And if you look closely at the pictures, there's a small "nook" on the left side of the picture. It’s like a little alcove under the stairs on the left side. Between the "room" and the nook, there's just a partition wall made of cinder blocks.

My question there is also whether it serves any function, or could I take it down and make one floor under the entire staircase, so it becomes easy to clean and open??

And please, you skilled renovators here, don't make me feel silly; it’s the first time I'm taking on such a big project on my own, and I am both willing to work and relatively handy, and I think it feels perfect to practice on such a pointless little nook

 

[Carla]

To seal the gaps, I would fill the cavities with crumpled plaster mesh or stucanet and then plaster with gypsum plaster from Knauf, simple and cheap.

 

[Malin Eriksson]

Oh thank you! I was considering putting leca into hålighererba, but that sounds much smarter!
Thanks for the help!

 

[Fred vom Jupiter]

How about filling the cavities with foam sealant, carving off the protruding parts and a few centimeters more, then finish with gypsum plaster.