Saturday, April 6

Basement Planning Update

You guys know we tend to hop around from project to project. And we're at the point in the cycle when we start thinking about the basement again! What's that? You forgot we even had a basement? Yeah... it's been a while since we've touched anything down there. Partly because we decided to focus on some of the big kitchen projects first, and partly because winter hit and we couldn't go out to use the saws and what-not. But now that spring is on the horizon, we're ready to jump back in. Let's peek at where we left off:

Last year we started working on our plans for the bar area. We got as far as installing cabinets, running water lines to the sink, and we even have the countertop bases all in place now. But that's where things slowed down.


Our next step is installing the tile countertop (we already have all the slate and grout ready to go!) but we're missing one important thing - a wet saw. By the time we started thinking about tiling it was already too cold to think about sitting outside and getting wet anyway, but we did a little research and found out Menards rents them out (I think it was $30 for 3 hours, but that was last year so we'll have to check again). And let's be honest, that's not a lot of time pull off a whole countertop and we don't want to pay an extra 30 if we can avoid it. So we're going to try to do some planning ahead of time and see just how many tiles we'll have to cut. That way as soon as the weather is warm enough we can git 'er done. I'd really, really like to get it finished before #2 makes an appearance. We'll see. :)

We also made some tentative plans for using the rest of the space. The bar area is really all we've touched so far, but we're planning to make it a fun, liveable space that can double as an extra guest room when the whole family comes. And of course there needs to be lot's of storage.


Now that I'm really itching to tackle this part of the house again, I'm looking for some style and design inspirations for the space. So far we've been working on lots of functional aspects, but we definitely want it to look pretty too. I'm still trying to decide on what direction we'll go, but here are a few of my favorite inspirations from pinterest.

You may not have noticed, but the cement floor is currently red. And scratched. And really really ugly. So we definitely plan to re-paint it. Now I'm just trying to decide if we should keep it simple with a solid color or try something a little more fun like stripes or a stencil.

painted floor via pinterest

I would LOVE to pull off this feel. Exposed wood, metal work, muted colors, just really comfortable and casual. I don't know if it's something we'll be able to do with shorter ceilings, less natural light, concrete floors, and no metal to speak of. But I'm keeping my eyes open for ways to get them same vibe.

basement via pinterest

I know I shared this picture before, but this is still my favorite idea for the laundry space. I want to dress it up bright and simple so I can leave it open to the rest of the basement.

laundry room via pinterest

We're still planning to section off the storage area since it probably won't be pretty. Right now I'm thinking we'll either do some white flowy curtains like in the pic above, or bring in the wood aspect with an up-cycled pallet wall like this.

pallet wall via pinterest

Apart from the countertop, most of the work is going to be cosmetic. You know, the fun part. :) Plus lots of cleaning. Boo. But I really feel like we should be able to pull off a good part of it this spring. So this me starting the timer before baby #2 gets here in July. Game on, husband.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe