I had to remind Jeremy (and myself) earlier today how far we've come on the basement. It seems like the project will never end, and the sad part is we're not really finishing it, just making it livable and somewhat cute.

We don't have much in the way of before pictures, but it wasn't great. Skanked out floor (as most basements have), made worse by a muddy flooding after a summer storm. In the northwest corner there used to be two old storage closets (which we ripped out). The walls were stained and had white paint on some areas, rust-colored paint on others. There were boxes down there full of stuff that J hadn't gotten the energy to sort through yet after moving into the house from an apartment. You get the picture.

Even though it's not paradise now, it's a damn fine improvement. It's great to have more room to put things. The house is pretty small, so we need a spot for kitchen appliances that only get used sporadically, and books and other things. I'm also a big believer that no one wants to actually look at one's collection of CDs, DVDs, or videos so you should put them in a room that's not your actual living room. So, my videos are downstairs, and the DVDs will probably go down there, too. I don't think Jeremy can part with the CDs, but we'll call it even and move on. Compromise, baby. Compromise.

So, here's where we're at:
- Walls, done. Painted Ironstone White (Martha Stewart), satin finish.
- Trim, done. Painted Dogwood (Martha Stewart, semi-gloss.
- Stairs, partially done. Will be Dogwood in some areas, Silver Gray (Behr) in others.
- Stairwell walls, partially done. Will be Corn Silk (Martha Stewart).
- Floor, done. Silver Gray.
- We laid down some berber carpet on the north half -- it's not professionally installed or anything, but it looks nice. It's a definite improvement. Incidentally, the carpet was $300! That includes padding, but still. Holy crap. And we bought the on-sale special buy stuff! Egad, how do they stay under $1000/room on Trading Spaces? Anyway, the most painful part of laying down the carpet was trying to work around the sewer stack and support pillar thingies with an xacto knife, but Jeremy was all-pro. Nice job, honey!
- Bought a heavy-duty storage shelf and started loading it up with swanky Sterilite storage containers from Target.
- Moved my futon, Jeremy's Poang chair (the real one isn't that color) and my entertainment center-type stuff down there. He thinks my videos are so '90s (which, of course, they are) but I can't wait to make him watch Strictly Ballroom, A Little Princess, and Thrashin'!

So, this week I vow to finish painting the stairs, and stairwell, and move more stuff down there. Sweet!

Pictures coming soon.

Posted by meghan at July 27, 2003 11:12 PM