Tag: Basement
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Basement Progress
The walls are framed, the floors have been leveled, and much of the electrical work has been done. Our glass block windows are also in place, and most of the plumbing work is finished. Some of the heating ducts need to be moved, and I think there is more electrical work to be done, but supposedly we will be getting drywall very soon.
Hello, future laundry room and half-bath.
Hello, future lovely basement.
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The Basement Floor Plan
You’ve already seen photos of the empty basement, but now I have a floor plan to share with you. I even drew it to scale (click to embiggen).
So much space! I’m going to have another entire floor of my home to decorate (YESSSS). I don’t have any firm design plans yet, but I’ve been gathering some inspiration photos and ideas over on Pinterest.
Lots of black and white, including some stripes. And I’m thinking small floor tiles in the half-bath and laundry room. And a big, old-fashioned sink.
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The Empty Basement
It’s just over a month late, but we finished another item on my Thirty Before 30 list.
#9: Clean out the basement. (It’s getting scary down there.)We went from this:
To this:
Brandon worked pretty tirelessly to get it done, and we also had some help from our family. I’m rounding out (literally, ha) my second trimester and I haven’t been much use in the physical labor department. We donated a lot of our stuff, and the rest is either scattered throughout the house (yay) or in the 10×10 storage unit we rented for the duration of our remodel.
Say what? A remodel? Hell yes!
We’re finishing the basement!
Eventually, we will have a half-bath instead of an indoor outhouse. You can see our red washer peeking out of the background in the photo below. The washer and dryer have always been the nicest things in the basement (we bought them when we first moved in). Do you know how excited I am about having a cute laundry room? I might even have a skirted utility sink, just because I can.
We’re having the floor leveled because there are some pretty nasty cracks, but we’re not sure what flooring we’d like to have in the finished space. We may just paint the new concrete.
Brandon and I hired a contractor (first time ever!), and he began work this morning. We’re having the shell of the basement finished: level floor, new walls, glass-block windows, and trim. The future half-bath may just be an empty room with plumbing hookups for now to save money. We’re also leaving a large corner of the basement unfinished for storage and utility (again, to save money). And we’ll be doing the painting and finishing work ourselves.
We should have a finished basement sometime next month!
…I hope.
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Making Room for Baby
Among all of the congratulations (thank you!), one question is popping up repeatedly. How are we going to make room for another baby? After all, our hundred-year-old bungalow is just 1400 square feet, and I run my stationery business out of it.
My sweet, colorful, lovely little studio is going to move into the scary basement. I’ll miss you, studio!
I’ll be honest. I’m pretty sensitive to my surroundings, so working in our unfinished basement is going to be a bit depressing. Plus I scare easily and I think my assistant Erika might too, and I can see us both being weirded out by spending time down there. It IS a little spooky, but we don’t have any other options.
Eventually Brandon and I would like to put up drywall and make the lower level feel like the rest of our home, but we don’t have the budget right now. We’ll clean it up and arrange things as best we can, but I fear it will still be icky.
*Update*
I mentioned the basement walls in a couple of the comments below, but here is a photo. Unpaintable, bizarre crackled tiles. No ceiling either, and wires everywhere. Here’s a link to view the photo in a larger size.
My studio will become Eleanor’s new room though, and that will make me happy. It’s going to be adorable! And the room (12×12) feels so much bigger than her current space (7×14 with sloped ceilings), so that will be nice for her. The nursery will stay a nursery since it works really well as such. I do plan to make at least a few changes though, regardless of gender. I want the new baby to have a look of his/her own.
Now all of this puts greater urgency on #9 of my 30 Before Thirty list: Clean out the basement. All of this shuffling of space hinges on getting it ready, and I am SO not looking forward to that task.
