Basement Project…the beginning of turning an ugly basement into something beautiful

The Beginning

It was a typical basement; concrete walls, unfinished ceiling with exposed pipes and wires going every which way, lots of spiders and a few mice. Really ugly.  If I looked past this, though, I could see that it had some advantages:

• It is really big
• The furnace and hot water heater are already in a separate room
• There is good ceiling height (over 7 feet)

My basement was an ugly mess, (I wish I had pictures) but I had a dream to make it beautiful.

Imagine moving into a house and piling all of your boxes into your basement, filling it from floor to ceiling, making it impossible to navigate.  This is what we did after a major downsize. 

 

We lived with this situation for several years while we worked on more pressing issues; a new roof, siding, kitchen, deck…. and then my husband died.

The basement was the last thing on our to-do list and I decided to just do it.  I was never short on optimism.

My basement dream

This room was going to be for my grandchildren.  A room for them to lounge in, watch tv, play their video games, read, nap, whatever.  I had a picture in my head which included the following things:

• • Shiplap walls
  • Beautiful built-in cabinets, shelves and closets for storage
  • A stone corner wall with a built-in fireplace and a TV over it
  • A wood floor, or one that at least looked like wood 
  • A finished ceiling that didn’t look too commercial
  • Comfy furniture for the grandkids to lounge or sleep on
  • Everything light and bright

In my dream I was going to accomplish all of this by myself on a tiny budget.  I had no idea how, but I figured I’d get a little help from Pinterest and YouTube.  It was going to be beautiful.  At the very least, it was going to keep me busy for a while.  I needed a project.  Crazy, you say? Stay tuned!