Basement

Since we've had the driveway replaced, John pointed out that we haven't had any leaks or water in the basement when it rains. A minor victory!

I cleaned out the basement yesterday - 6 hours and 4 large construction bags later, we are almost all cleaned out. I still have to make a donation of some old items and we have to drag some old sheet rock and doors to the curb.

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I don't anticipate ever having a completely "finished" basement. We're looking for a cheap and quick update. We're both schkeeved every time we walk downstairs, and I hate feeling that way.

So we're thinking of having someone paint the space - ceiling, walls, and floor.

The basement is now used for:
- working out - we have a treadmill and weight bench
- laundry - right now we set it and forget it
- storage - the back corner is walled-off and we use it to store hardware, paint, etc

Ideally we would add the following function:
- Storage shelving for larger excess kitchen items, Christmas decoration, etc
- Storage area for toys and excess baby items
- Empty area for kids to play

The main goal is to keep it neat and simple, but it would be awesome to add some rugs and have cohesive shelving to prevent things from looking sloppy.

This shelving from IKEA might work out nicely:

I would also like to add some nicer track lighting. We currently have those flourescent tubes that are really harsh. 

Below are some examples of unfinished basements that have been painted - I would love a white ceiling, but I fear that it might take more coats of paint and get expensive, so I'm thinking a medium grey color.

Crazy how the ceiling paint immediately pulls it together:
 

I like the curtain the installed to the left of this photo, something like that might come in handy:
 

All white - looks nice, but might be too "neat" for the basement anyway?
 

Hopefully we can get this thing painted within the next few months - have to call up some people for estimates!

Nursery

The day we closed on our house, the third bedroom looked like this:

This room went through many stages over the past 2 and a half years. 

First weekend we owned the house, we tore out the purple carpet. 

6 months later we had the floor refinished (along with the rest of the second floor). Click here for the cruddy before photo.

Then we replaced the door to match the rest of the house, and added the missing quarter-round molding.

Last winter I painted all the trim white and painted the walls soft aqua blue - Benjamin Moore matched to Valspar Pianissimo:

Last winter I painted the dresser and mirror soft grey:

We just got around to hanging the mirror. 

The dresser was a little musty smelling. I had tried cleaning with Murphy's oil, spraying with vinegar water, and then I left sprinkles of baking soda in the drawers for a long time. I left the drawers open for a year just to air out, but none of these remedies worked! So last week my mother and I gave the inside of the drawers a quick coat of polyurethane. It is airing out right now and so far so good. 

The ceiling fan has to go. I ordered a new light from Overstock. I really hope it works out because the price was almost too good to be true. Crossing my fingers and will be sure to write it up when we're done with that.

I'm just so glad we are this far along at this point! I still have some touch ups to do on the built in closet shelves. Then I'll tackle the window treatments. I already have a crib and comfy chair picked out. Also I need to shop for some lamps, pillows and fun stuff. There is a new Home Goods opening up nearby in a couple weeks. Just saying.