Basement Makeover

A few months ago I posted some Before pictures for a basement I was working on. Here are some reminders of what it looked like before I got called in to rescue this space.

It was dark! Did I mention it was dark? The floors were black, the ceiling was black, the paneling was dark brown and the stone walls were a nice 100 year old gray. 

The bedroom for the 12 year old son was just as colorful.

Our first course of action was to paint and paint and paint! Well, not me personally, but a great big crew of guys who looked at me like I was crazy when they saw the basement and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? Maybe you should call it a cellar and walk away..." Fortunately, I'm pretty stubborn and I had a vision of how this basement could look!

As you can see, the ceilings were painted white, the walls were painted a cheerful yellow, the floors were painted a fabulous blue and the paneling was painted a soft yellowish white. It looks like 20 lights were installed but it's just paint. 

Here are After pictures of the bedroom:

I rearranged the furniture and shifted the red storage unit and drawer unit in from the family room and installed a couple shelves to give him more storage. New bedding and artwork help brighten the room even more.

Now to the family room!

Quick reminder of the Before

Drum Roll Please!

The color palate stayed simple since there are so many different textures going on with the walls and ceiling. I flip-flopped the furniture placement so the tv area is more open and easier to access. View as you come down the stairs. I love it now!!!

The dining area is now where the tv used to be. I reupholstered the chairs with a bright cheerful print. The table in the background was made by the homeowner and his son so this sentimental piece needed to stay. It is now a great place to sit and do homework! 

The youngest member of  the family (5 year old boy with a hilarious personality) has claimed the area behind the futon as HIS play area! So keep out.

 Matching rugs unite the two areas, cream slip covers give new life to furniture, and an Ikea Expedit holds games, toys and videos. 

The whole family loves spending time in the basement now instead of avoiding it like the plague  I hear there has been a Little House on the Prairie movie marathon weekend enjoyed by all in the new and improved basement!

I would like to give a special thanks to my friend Karen Reinsch for taking the After pictures for me! Check out her photography blog HERE. 

Paint colors/products used:

Dry Fall in white on the ceiling

Sherwin Williams, Classical White on paneling

Sherwin Williams, Manitou Blue on floors

Virginia Limeworks, Washed Sand (a lime paint) on the stone walls

All Jazzed Up!

When can a leaky shower be a good thing? Well, pretty much only when the home owner doesn't like the bathroom and decides to get some outside help to make the bathroom lovely, functional and leak free! 

This bathroom was fine. It offered virtually no storage, no counter space, and the toilet was so close to the shower that there was no elbow room. But, it was fine and the home owners had no plans to renovate. As I mentioned, a leaky shower changed their plans and I had the joy of being a part of the project.

It all started with the tile. It's called Jazz Glass- St Louis Louie Linear. This tile is gorgeous! A whole shower of this tile would have been overkill and it would have lost its charm so we had the jazz tile installed as an accent and used simple white subway tile for the rest of the shower, which lets the jazz glass sparkle!

Everything after the tile selection was easy. In fact, the color of the bathroom is the same color they have in the adjacent family room. 

The home owner calls this her "guest bathroom" but this is actually where she gets ready every morning. So, this is not a bathroom that sees action every couple months, this is a bathroom that gets used every single day and may be the hardest working bathroom in the home! Now, the bathroom has plenty of storage and is lovely enough for the lady of the home. 

Put a wall in a tiny bathroom?? Sounds counterintuitive but now storage is a bragging point of this bathroom. Clear glass shower doors also increase how open the bathroom feels even though the shower is actually larger. 

A new 30" vanity with 3 drawers, an open shelf underneath, and plenty of storage behind the door also offer lots of  storage that the previous 23" vanity just couldn't compete with.

To bump this inexpensive shade up a few notches, I found fabulous trim at Brentwood Interiors that brings in the natural color of the baskets, vanity and mirror and also has subtle blue stitching that ties in the wall color. 

Function and Beauty are BFFs forever.

Here is a reminder of the Before: From dark and dated....

To bright and beautiful!

So, I guess sometimes a leaky shower CAN be a good thing!

P.S. I am starting the hunt for a decent camera so I can actually get good photos of my projects. Would really appreciate recommendations!
P.P.S. Sorry, I was having a junior high moment. I don't actually have anything else to add; It just felt right to say p.p.s.!

Long Overdue!

Finally. I painted my awful cabinets! 

I have wanted to paint my kitchen cabinets since the moment we owned the house. (I'm not going to tell you how long ago that was!) I have had a paint swatch tucked in a cabinet door for 2 years but I would forget all about it until someone would see it and ask, "Oh, are you going to paint your cabinets??" Yes, last year and the year before and the year before... 

The golden oak color has been out of date for years and made the kitchen seem dark, small and very ugly.

I found out about a Benjamin Moore product that goes on like a latex and cleans up like a latex paint but dries and is as durable as an oil paint. It is called Advance and I am SO pleased with how great it looks and how easy it was to use!

I love my kitchen now! I know it will never be on the cover of a magazine but it is wonderful nonetheless. It is bright. How bright, you ask? It is so much brighter I keep coming around the corner thinking I left the lights on and then realize it's all that elbow grease and white paint that brightened the place up.

I'm leaving the upper cabinet doors off for now because my life is so busy that I can't be opening and closing all kinds of doors! (Brian Regan reference). Actually, I do really like how open it feels but the long term plan to take out the center of the doors and add glass panels. Maybe I should put a time limit on that project!

I used to have big bulky blinds in the window but decided to take them down and go with something airy and bright. In steps ivory lace to the rescue! 

Now that my kitchen and I are on speaking terms, I'm pulling out my pretties that have been boxed up for years because they just didn't quite "go" with the kitchen before her makeover.

Now as I sit at the table drinking coffee while one child does artwork and the other drums for the entire Star Wars collection, I can enjoy looking at my lovely kitchen (and then get up and go find my ear plugs).

Boob lights, watch out. Your days are numbered.

Cabinets are Bejamin Moore Acadia white

Back wall is Benjamin Moore Woodlawn Blue

Walls are Clay Beige with green added to take out the pink so it is much closer to Nantucket beige.