We’ve been framed!

Hey hey! How are ya?

I mentioned recently that we’ve had some actual progress happenin’ in the basement over the past couple of weeks. It is SO exciting!! The very first project was framing out the bathroom and storage room.

We did it that way because I was trying to figure out how big to make the laundry room. Initially I had planned to make it all one room – storage, exercise, craft stuff and laundry:

(It’s that room in the upper left corner.)

But as we looked at the space, we decided a smaller storage room would be a better idea. (I LOVE IT.)

I was still planning on fitting the exercise stuff into the laundry space, but I quickly realized it just wasn’t going to fit. And even if I did make it fit, did I really want to exercise in a teeny tiny room away from everyone else? It’s sad enough when I do it, who wants to make it worse? ;)

Sooooo…we ended up with a laundry room and only a laundry room:

(If you couldn’t tell, it’s the room with hearts in it.)

And I am SO EXCITED about it I could pass out. Seriously, Elaine Benes ugly dancing in the room excited.

It will be just for laundry and folding and hanging and dancing. Much dancing. I do believe I’m actually excited to do laundry. What the HECK?

We weren’t going to frame out the rest of the basement till next week, but a couple of weeks ago the guys who are doing most of the work called and said if we could do it last week they’d knock some of the labor cost off.

Heck to the yeah.

So now the lovely laundry room is ready for plumbing and electrical:

I’m still deciding where the washer and dryer will go. I’ve changed my mind three times now. Again, I’m thankful we’re doing this little bits at a time so I can figure this stuff out. ;)

The laundry room is slightly bigger than I had originally planned because at the last minute I decided that I wanted the door to be 36 inches wide:

Wide enough for me to carry our big laundry baskets through without banging into the door frame. Hollaaaaa!!

The bathroom configuration changed a bit too, because of a support beam that was in a weird spot. Now it’s much longer than we had planned:

More than eleven feet long! I’ve already come up with a way to use some of that dead space though – the plastic shelves will be replaced with built ins and will hold our extra cleaning supplies, paper goods, all that good stuff.

We only paid our builder to rough in a partial bathroom down here – but they ended up putting in plumbing for a bathtub/shower too:

(The drain is covered because the only spiders I’ve ever seen down here were the week after we moved in and they were coming from there. That hole totally freaks me out. It’s been covered for eight years.)

I opted for a shower instead of a bathtub, mostly because I wanted as much room in the storage area as possible (and a shower is smaller). But also because, really, we don’t need a bathtub. Most likely the only people using it will be guests and I don’t see them taking a leisurely bubble bath down there. That would just be…weird.

A few of you have asked how we are dealing with the heat issue in the basement. When we moved in, they had vents open and we had them closed up (because we were never down there eight years ago and didn’t want any valuable heat wasted).

A couple weeks ago we got some vents from Lowe’s and cut new holes in the duct work to install them:

I used metal snips like these to cut it:

It’s not pretty under that vent but it got the job done. ;)

We would not have done this if we didn’t know the space would be finished soon. It’s already helped a ton, and we hear the drywall will help a bunch too. Someday we plan to add some kind of electric fireplace to the family room area as well.

So now I need your help! Next up is lighting – they’re coming by this week to find out how many lights and outlets we want. The outlets I’m pretty good on, but I’m struggling with the lights.

It’s a lot of pressure! I have a chance to do whatever I want and I’m kind of frozen. ;)

We’re doing mostly recessed lights of course, but from what I hear on HGTV lately (is it sad that’s my only resource??) the new thing is the smaller, four inch lights instead of six inch:

I don’t really care because we have the six inch in our kitchen and family room and we don’t mind them all. But I do like the look of the smaller ones when I look at pics. I also like the idea of having some wash the walls with light too…

Now we’re thinking of adding the larger (six inch) lights in the main areas, and the smaller ones along the bulkhead. (We have one that runs the entire length of the basement.)

I’m also trying to figure out how many – I’m leaning towards a LOT. Can you have too many lights in a basement? I’d rather err on having too many than not enough. (Of course, everything down there will be on dimmers.) I wish we would have added a bunch more recessed lights throughout the rest of the house, so I don’t want to make the mistake of not enough again. We have the ability to add pretty much as many lights as we want -- we had a dedicated electrical panel installed so we wouldn't have to worry about over doing it.

There will be a couple rough ins for drop down lighting – over the craft table and maybe in the laundry room. The ceilings are less than eight feet down there so that will probably be it.

And switches – I want lots of them! ;) I love the idea of main light and then separate ambient lighting as well. The guys are going to love me when I tell them my plans. ;)

So that’s where we’re at right now. We need to give them a fairly concrete plan on how many and locations by the end of this week, but I can adjust details as we go.

I cannot WAIT to get more light down there! I think it will make just as much of a difference as the actual walls will. For years we’ve used random lamps everywhere to keep it bright, but this will absolutely transform the space.

If you have any advice on lighting (sizes, how many, task lighting, etc.) I’d really appreciate your thoughts! Like I said, this is one area I’m not quite as familiar with, so I want to make sure we’re making good decisions. (Thanks in advance!!)

Hopefully I’ll be able to show you a new bright basement in the next couple of weeks!

P.S. A few of you have asked what floorplan program I’m using and it’s this one. It was $5 but I’ve found it to be WELL worth the money.

In the air

Hey there! Have you seen all the closet posts from earlier this week? You MUST check out those links! I’m truly inspired!

I took the dog out this morning (without a coat!) and couldn’t help but notice all of the buds on the trees and plants!! Uhh, am I wrong or is it still February? It has been the mildest winter for us, and I although I thought for sure we’d get a nasty dose of not-so-fast by now, so far so good.

It’s been so nice lately, I can’t help but get excited about spring. Normally that would be just cruel, but this year, it seems more acceptable. ;)

I love adding fresh flowers where I can in the house, but it’s usually in the kitchen, where we can enjoy them best. I have a couple places I love to keep flowers in there, no matter what time of the year. They just make me HAPPY.

I’ve shopped a few places over the years, and our local florist has an incredible selection, but they are not cheap. I always end up going back to Trader Joes – their prices can’t be beat! They make it easy to add some fresh around here.

For years I wasn’t great at arranging flowers, but over time I’ve figured out tricks that work. I started with a simple bouquet for only $4:

My first step is always to use the floral “food” they put in with the flowers. Although I’ve heard if you just crush up regular aspirin -- it inhibits the growth of bacteria and keeps them pretty longer.

I can usually keep flowers for about two weeks, and even then they are still looking OK, they just kind of start falling apart.

And 90 percent of the time, I’m a all one flower kind of girl – I think an arrangement of one type and color makes a BIG impact.

I used to just take them out of the package and plop them in:

But really, they don’t look too happy that way. ;)

So I start snipping (I hear cutting them at an angle under water is best) until they are the height I want. And I separate each stem so I can put each one individually:

I like to cut the ones in the middle a bit taller than those on the sides, so they make a nice mound of flowers. :)

I also pull off most leaves, at least those that will be under the water:

I heard once that it helps the water from getting mucky and it works well for me.

A few minutes of cutting and fluffing, and you’ve got a perfectly lovely little arrangement:

But this time, I had some green mums I was going to use elsewhere, and decided they would look pretty perfect combined with the purple (say that three times fast):

Now it’s even MORE lovely!

Obviously I changed out the vase to my white Target pitcher. (You can see how I started with a different DIY pitcher here and how that one eventually failed here.)

The $13 Target version has held up great:

I also picked up some forsythia at TJ’s, which I’ve never tried. I wanted a tall skinny vase for that one and remembered a cheapy one I’ve had in my stash:

I think it came with Valentine’s flowers (thanks dear!) and I’ve always loved the lines of it. It just needed some updating.

I primed it once, and then used my gold Valspar spray paint from Lowes to give it a little makeover:

I think the design is just the coolest!

I’m not sure how long it will take the buds to open, but you can already see the yellow peeking out a bit:

I’m hoping in a couple weeks it will look something like this:

(source)

Have you ever tried forcing forsythia?

When it’s in the budget, a few flowers go a long way to making me and our space happier. ;)

It also helps when I clean off the MASSIVE PILE on the island too:

Just sayin’. And that’s totally free. Gah.

Another little trick I sometimes use is to put a plastic grocery bag down in the vase if the flowers are too short. It gives them something to “stand” on and makes them even fluffier. :) And I love me some fluffy flowers.

Do you treat you and your house to flowers every so often? Do you have a favorite?Any floral arranging tips? Do tell!!

And now let us all send good vibes to Mother Nature so she continues to be oh-so-kind. ;)

Show Us Your Closets!

Heya! Are you ready to show off more of your house? Some of you are totally ready for this party, and some of you will be hanging back checking out the links for some organization inspiration. I get you. ;)

This month I’d love to see your closets – anything closet related. A laundry closet, master closet, linen closet, pantries (big or small!), or closets you turn into something else to meet your family’s needs. Anything closet-y goes.

Why don’t I say closet one more time?

Closet.

OK, let’s move on. I’ve shared quite a few of ours over the years, but tonight I’m recapping my top three.

First up, of course, the linen closet in our loft that I turned into a book nook:

  

I rearranged and purged the items in that closet, and by the time I was done it was pretty much empty. So I thunk up this idea. :)

We still love it and it’s so fun having a little nook in our very open house. If you’d like to see the how-to, check it out here.

Next up, one I shared most recently – the pantry redo:

It’s only been a couple of weeks but so far it’s stayed organized. Many of you asked where all the dang food is, and it’s still there. ;) It’s mostly along the sides, since it goes back about a foot past the door frame on both sides.

Finally, I shared the decrapification process I use when I go through and organize a closet (which is about once a year for each one):

And…I just realized I must have saved “decrapification” in my spelling check, cause it didn’t flag it. That’s awesome. :)

Now it’s time to see yours! (Remember if you’d like to be featured later this month, be sure to link back to this post or the blog!)

Here’s a button I threw together because I’m a slacker and still haven’t had one made. I know.

Now link it up!!

DIY craft table

Heya!! Hope you had a lovely weekend! I had a great one – got plenty of stuff done and then today spent the day with my sis and family as we shopped for her wedding dress (my wedding gift to her). We found it and it’s just beautiful! She’s beautiful in it. I was doing OK till she put the veil on, but then it was pretty hopeless. ;)

I put together a project this weekend that I’m pretty smitten with. It came out just like in my head, which is always nice. Love when that happens.

As I mentioned last week, we’ve had some activity going on in the basement lately, which I’ll show you soon. Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing my best to do another purge and reorganize what I keep down there, as far as decorative items and crafts.

I want them all out of sight when things are said and done. This project was a big step in that direction.  :)

It started with this photo of Brook’s craft table I showed you here:

If I remember right, her hubby made this one. And it rocks.

I wanted to try to do something similar but not have to actually build it. Well, not build it with major power tools anyway. Just minor power tools. ;)

At first I was going to use bookcases to make the table, but I ended up with these cube shelves I see everywhere:

I got mine at Lowe’s but I have seen them at Target, Meijer, Walmart too maybe? They were on sale at Lowe’s, I think for $39. Much cheaper than any bookcases I’ve seen!

Because the backing that came with them didn’t cover the entire back, and because I can’t help but pretty things up a bit, I had a beadboard panel cut down:

And then I nailed them into the backs of the cube thingamabobs.

I knew exactly what I was going to use for the top – I kept our old laminate island countertop after I replaced it with the butcher block. It’s been sitting in the garage forever and I have always felt like I’d be able to use it for something, and this was it! I LOVE using what I have!

WHOO!!

I dragged the incredibly insanely unbelievably heavy counter downstairs to put it on top of the cubes:

Oh em gee, that sucker was crazy heavy! And I’m crazy for shuffling it down the stairs by myself, but that is how I roll. 

I screwed long screws through the top of the cube shelves and into the bottom of the counter to make sure it wasn’t going anywhere. (I used six screws on each side.)

The cubes were just a skosh wider than the island top, but I was fine with that:

I found the little canvas drawers at Meijer for $6 each, which is the cheapest I’ve found:

I didn’t get enough for every shelf, just because it was going to get a tad expensive for both sides, and because I thought it would be nice to display some of my decorative items I use most often.

Pretty much every bit that used to sit on these shelves:

Is now in these bins:

PLUS some! And I am giddy about it!!

I actually have empty shelves on the other side of the desk, so there’s a ton of storage space still left. Ya. hoo.

This spot in the basement will (hopefully) be a small kitchenette some day, so this craft desk will work as a table as well:

(I still need to paint the back of those beadboard panels.)

Originally I was going to put my old craft table in another room down here, but that’s changed for a few reasons. One of the biggest is that when I really thought about it, I didn’t want to be in a teeny room away from everybody when working on crafty projects.

This way I can be out where I can watch TV be with the family while I craft:

The chairs are actually from our kitchen island, I just brought them down here to see how the size and height works. When it’s in the budget, I plan to head to Garden Ridge to get a couple more for this spot.

I love that the table is SO large and we can use it for anything – eating, crafting, puzzles, games, whatever! The old craft table was great, but it was HUGE. This still has plenty of surface area, and the storage is the cherry on top!

I may look into stools instead of chairs, so we can potentially fit a couple more people at the table as well:

But for now, I luuuuuuurve it. ;)

My hope is that when we start the electrical in the basement, we can rough in a spot for a pretty little chandelier that will hang over the table. FUN!

The total cost was $100 to build the whole thing – the two cube shelves were $80 and the beadboard backing was $20. (And I have a bunch leftover!) If you don’t have a island counter top laying around (but really, who doesn’t??), you could have a piece of wood cut to size and then round off the corners and paint it. Or maybe some butcher block from IKEA?

It only took a few hours total – to put the shelves together, nail the beadboard to the back and secure the island counter to the top:

And we’ve got a custom craft table with TONS of storage:

Ohhhh, I love storage. It makes me SO HAPPY.

And there you go. Now I promise not to show the cement walls again for…well, at least a few days. ;)

Come on back tomorrow for the next Show Us Your House party! This month we’re showing off closets – so any pantries, linen closets, master closets, closets-turned-other-things. It will go up Monday evening!!

The Basement: Step 1 of 587

Hey hey!! I’m SO excited about some work that started around these parts today. SO. EXCITED.

This may not be the most beautiful post to read, but it is beautiful one to write! We have finally, after eight years of saying it…started taking some steps to finishing our basement.

GoodNESS.

OK, I know some of you are shaking your heads and saying “Geesh woman, more pictures of cement walls and floors?!”

But I am so excited.

So bear with me.

Very little has been accomplished so far, but when you’ve waiting eight years for something this big, it’s the little things that make you giddy. Well maybe not you…but me. And it was the smallest thing we did today has rocked my world.

A few weeks ago, I shared the very rough plans I came up with for our basement:

See that area in the top left? That one is the space that I’ve been trying to figure out for months.

I want to fit all kinds of STUFF in that small area. Our sump pump is over there, so I knew it would be a great spot for the washer and dryer, but I wanted it to be a REAL laundry area – with plenty of space to fold and hang.

And birds singing and butterflies twittering about. Cause it’s going to be that amazing.

It also has to house the exercise stuff, my craft table and supplies, AND all of these:

Approximately 85 storage bins.

OK, not that many. It just looks like it. (And I’ve even gotten rid of some since this pic!)

The guys that are doing most of the work in our basement came by last week to discuss where to start, and one of them looked at the space under our stairs. Until recently, it looked like this:

That space under the stairs used to be the spot where I stored our extra doors that I’ve taken down in the house.

I hung muslin along the wall to hide the not-so-pretty, and the Bub’s toy shelves were along the wall too.

We’ve since rearranged a lot of things down here and gotten rid of a LOT of things and I moved all those doors to the crawl space.

Because of the little change they made today, it now looks like this:

Do you hear singing? No? Just me?

Not cute at all. But TOTALLY functional. Well, it will be. :) It took the guys all of two minutes to cut down a stud (around the corner) so I could get bins inside.

WHY did I not think of this before?

They’re putting another doorway in tomorrow, at the end to the left up there. So I’ll have two spots to access everything underneath.

I cannot even believe how many bins I got in that space!! It’s all of my Christmas stuff (except the trees) and some other storage bins.

Giddy.

It won’t be quite as easy to access everything, but I am SO OK WITH THAT. I figure I need this stuff twice a year – once to get it out, once to put it away.

I can deal. I am more than happy to deal.

I still have a few more bins, and they will go in another storage spot we thought up today.

Here’s the layout with the minor change that’s going to give me a storage closet:

See the red lines? That little spot in the corner will be a storage room. A STORAGE ROOM people.

I could cry.

It will actually be a bit wider than what you see on the layout.

All along I had planned on all of those bins being stacked around this room like they've always been. I didn’t think it was possible I could get them all away, out of sight.

But that little corner was the perfect spot, and uses the space more efficiently. It only took us a couple months to figure it out. :)

If we were paying a company to come in and do everything start to finish, they would have come up with this from the start I’m sure. But we’re piecemealing this project out – little bits at a time. So I’m the contractor. And it takes me some time, obviously. ;)

I am crossing my fingers that the storage space will be big enough for our mongo Christmas tree bags and the few additional bins. (If it’s not, I’m purging more stuff.) I’m also hoping that if there’s room, I can maybe install some shelves around the room for extra paper goods and supplies:

It doesn’t look like much now, but tomorrow…well, it still won’t look like much. But it will be framed in, so it’s progress and that’s all that matters.

They’re starting by framing out this area because that big black wire on the floor is going to a new electrical panel that will be dedicated to just the basement. We had no more room on our house panel so it had to be done. We also just wanted to have all of the electrical for the basement located in one spot.

They are going ahead and framing out the bathroom and the storage room so the panel can be installed. And with that all up, then I can figure out the size for my laundry room.

A real. live. non-mudroom. beautiful. laundry room. (With some exercise stuff thrown in. Maybe.)

I could die.

I have a plan for my craft stuff that I hope to show you soon. I was going to wait till the basement was finished to do it, but I came up with what I hope is a brillz idea, so we’ll see.

We’re hoping next month we’ll go ahead with the rest of the framing of the basement. Can you even believe it?? I wonder if I should say those words out loud…I could jinx myself.

We’re doing it all in phases – paying the guys to frame it out, then do all the electrical, then plumbing, hang drywall, flooring and trim work. I think they’ll do all of it except for the mudding and taping of the drywall. (I want that to be done by drywall-only folks, so it’s done really well.)

So, it will take a while. I’m guessing six months, but it very well could be longer. We hope to budget some towards it every month till it’s done.

This way, with me overseeing each step, it’s going to be MUCH cheaper. Not as cheap as if we did it ourselves, but much better than paying a contractor to organize it all.

I think it will be fun.

And I could be losing my mind. :)

All I know is I’m expecting a whole lotta disaster before it gets better. It’s already started -- my hubby’s below-ground office that usually looks like this:

Now looks like this:

And I know that’s nothing. I’m already preparing for the dust that will cover the entire basement.

Oh happy day!!!

So there’s step one – really all it is so far is that I’ve figured out storage solutions. But I think the first step in this process will go down as one of my favorites. I’m SO happy I won’t have to look at bins for the rest of my days. :)

Have any of you taken on a project like this yourselves? Have you ever acted as the contractor instead of hiring it out? Taken months to do what could be done in a few weeks? Any advice for me?

All I gotta say so far is, WHOO!!