the basement post

alternate title for this post: how to re-finish your basement in two short years

let's back up a bit...to 2007 when we purchased our house. the basement was one of the "not ideal, but livable" parts of the house. the day we moved in, it looked a little something like this: 

half knotty pine, half evergreen-themed wall paper, carpeting with almost no padding underneath, and a dingy fireplace...cute right? 

we actually used this space as a tv room for a few years, but found ourselves spending less and less time down there. after azalea was born, we found boxes and bins and other baby crap that we had no where else to put taking up residence down there. it essentially became a huge storage room. 

in november 2012 (I was shocked when i found this picture and realized how long ago it was), we decided to make some improvements that included: taking down the wallpaper and painting, while leaving up the knotty pine, and leaving the carpeting. it wasn't going to be a total fix, but it was a start.


look at how little azalea was!  

thatcher started taking down the wallpaper only to have the actual walls rip down along with it...and behind the wall (that he didn't actually want to tear down), he discovered that there was zero insulation. awesome! i remember him telling me "i guess this is going to be a bigger project than we thought" famous last words. 

so, down came the walls, and the ceiling, and the carpeting was ripped up because it was getting destroyed anyway. thatcher and my dad worked on the basement in chunks. sometimes they spent an hour a week down there, sometimes they would spend an entire weekend, and sometimes weeks would go by with no new progress at all. we sort of stopped talking about when it would be "done" and accepted that it would just be an on-going project. 

demolition in june 2013: 




framing in november 2013: 


december 2013: 

**we interrupt this basement remodel to have a baby**

fouir days after bringing ashford home from the hospital, we stayed at my parents' for the weekend, so the spray foam insulation could be installed. 



in the spring of 2014, we hired a contractor for the sanding, taping, and mudding. i think it took him four full days to finish, so it's a good thing we did! at the end of last summer, thatcher painted the walls and then we hired out for the trim work (which was another huge time commitment).



in september 2014, the carpeting was installed and the basement was essentially finished. we still need to build out the storage closet, but here are the after pics: 



the unfinished closet is behind the couch in this picture: 




no, the toy area never looks this clean :)


we are loving having and using this "bonus" space once again. and it's so nice to have a place (besides the living room) for the never-ending piles toys we've accumulated over the years. we don't have anything on the walls yet, but some day! thanks for checking out our project! 

Comments

Bridget said…
OMG...the space looks amazing! Good job!!!
We interrupt this remodel to have a baby...

I can totally hear you saying that. ;)

Looks great. Love it. Next time I am at the tweens middle school, I will consider stopping over. :)
~Dawn~ said…
Love Love LOOOOVVE!! Melissa, this room looks amazing. I can't wait to come visit!
Syndal said…
omg that looks amazing!!! Did you do the fireplace yourselves? was it easy?
Anonymous said…
This looks incredible! You guys did a wonderful job on everything and what a great space for playing and relaxing!!
wow! what a great space!
DeNae said…
it looks wonderful! I love the color and that space for a play area.
Paige said…
Looks great! I'm dying to start finishing our basement!
Diana said…
Like everyone else said...it looks amazing! Love the paint color and excited for you guys to have such a wonderful space to spend time as a family!
Sarah said…
Super cute!!! I love it! What a great space!

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