REMODEL!

Well we bought a house and are remodeling the basement.

Just kidding.

But we are remodeling a basement that we will be living in! Almost the same . . . just a lot cheaper and highly recommended. :)

For those of you who haven't heard we are moving into my parents' basement at the end of March, but that is not what this post is about. I will save that story for a post about learning from mistakes and moving forward or something sentimental like that. We want to share our remodel photos!! Before and after photos are so fun!

So, my parents were thinking ahead to when their daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter would move into their basement back when they bought their house and set up their basement to be livable space. A long time ago they closed the water heater into a utility room, built 2 bedrooms, my dad's shop, a family room, and a half bathroom and put the plumbing in place. A few years back they moved the washer and dryer down into one of the bedrooms. NOW we are: moving the washer and dryer back out into the family room enclosed in a closet, finally putting a drop ceiling with recessed lighting in, finishing the bathroom, and redecorating all the rooms! Let's get excited!!!! Really not a whole lot left to do. Thanks mom and dad!!

So here we go . . . photo tour

First step: take down wallpaper and beloved duck border in family room. Darn.
In the mean time the men were working on plumbing for the washer and dryer move! 

Step two: build closet for washer and dryer! The door off to the right is to the unfinished bathroom, and the door in the middle leads to the utility room. We are putting bi-fold doors on the laundry closet and cabinets above them . . .

Three: Paint! We are using Olympic paint and primer in one, mildew resistant paint from Lowe's. The beige color is actually a Valspar color: Pontoon White. The lighting in this photo is horribly florescent, but the color is more tan in better lighting. We are painting trim white. The laundry closet was painted Nectarina. I will probably be using the Nectarina color in the bathroom as well over paintable wallpaper! Not for the entire bathroom but we're still designing so we'll see . . . 

Step 4: CEILING!! We are doing a simple drop ceiling with solid white tiles. So excited to not have look at the floor above anymore! Notice the washer and dryer have been moved! yay! (Out of my future bedroom! I'll post before photos for that when we get to it!)

Step 5: Recessed lighting! We will have 6 in the main room. 4 over the "living room" and 2 in front of the laundry and bathroom area. Aren't the ceiling tiles sooo much nicer looking than the floor above!

That's where we are at now. The lights still need wired (well dad is currently wiring at least one so we can have better lighting down there for working). The cabinets for above the washer and dryer are being built by my grandfather. He has one finished. AND We have accomplished this in 2 weekends! My dad, husband, sister's boyfriend, grandmother, grandfather, mother, and of course my self have all been chipping in where we can and as we have a spare moment or two.

In the next week I will be doing this 

to one of Libby's dressers! Only in coral!

I will also be tearing down border in our bedroom and other odd jobs here and there! I'll post again when I have a good amount to show! Can't wait for the finished photos!

~Carissa~

ps. Anyone know of inexpensive places to buy rugs? Looking for a 4x6/5x7 ish size for Libby's new room and I want a fun color and design. We also need a rug for the living room, not sure on size yet, and a small rug in our bedroom! Rugs are expensive!!