...because home doesn't happen overnight.

It’s Feature Friday!  On Fridays, I’ll be featuring one room in my house in its current condition even if there are some things I’d like to change about it.  If I do happen to improve something later, I can always revisit it when the time comes.  Plus, I’d kinda feel dishonest if I only focused on “finished” rooms in my house.  And if what they (the professionals) say is true, a room is never really finished anyways…you’re always tweaking it.  Concentrating on just one room weekly should give me some time to tidy it up a bit, too.  At least, I can throw all the toys into another room! 

This week I’m swallowing my pride and sharing snapshots of our totally dysfunctional basement.  It’s a large space with 9′ ceilings that has great bones for a future media room/bar/urinal.  (That’s right.  I’ve promised Handy Hubby a urinal in the basement.)  For now, though, it’s where we DIY projects, store overstock, and hide things that haven’t quite made it to Goodwill.  (It also is the breeding ground for large, furry spiders.)  And it lies just beyond this door…secured with a toddler-unfriendly safety knob for reasons you are about to see.

I’m pretty sure if my basement was a business I’d get shut down for violating safety regulations with these cluttered steps.  For some reason, I don’t have time to walk all the way down the steps to put things away after I finish a project elsewhere.

Once downstairs, there is a pile of empty boxes and packing materials that haven’t found their way out to the garbage man.  The sump pump is in the corner…a must for keeping the basement dry during wet weather.

Looking towards the back of the basement is more, well, stuff.  Notice the ‘work table’; it’s really a ping-pong table that hasn’t seen much pinging or ponging lately.

Two closet doors that we removed…one from the mini mudroom…one from the guest room.  More will be joining them, too, if I have anything to say about it.

Here we have our own little paint store.  Black, gray, green, blue, white and even some pink.  Primer?  Check.  Paint rollers?  Check.  Plastic dropcloths?  Check.  This is my secret to staying thin…hiding my paint supplies all the way down in the basement as far away as possible (under the sunroom) so that I have to walk nearly a quarter mile one way to retrieve them.

A few floor cabinets hold an overstock of toilet paper and paper towels.  Another good way to keep my figure.

Finally, a view from beneath the sunroom looking back towards the basement steps.  Man, we really need to organize down here!

To all you folks who think my house is spotless and mess-free…think again.  This basement has turned into a dumping ground for unwanted furniture and toys.  I’m officially labeling these as ‘BEFORE’ photos.  A basement intervention needs to take place this fall!

2 Comments

16.August.2010

looks like a nice dry basement, with heaps of potential…nice high ceilings, lots of room for a great multi-purpose space…

FYI, even your “mess” looks pretty organized relative to most people!

13.September.2010

Ooooooo! I wish I had your basement! And those great chairs in it!