Thursday, September 17, 2009

Basement Remodel

For those of you who didn't catch this in my last post, we've been having major flooding problems in our basement recently. Our home is 10 years old and the problem only started about a year ago. We've already removed the carpeting, which killed me, and we are in no position to get new flooring. Not to mention, we still haven't completely diagnosed the problem, so to put new floors in would be silly at this point.

Mr. Wonderful finished the basement himself about 5 years ago and our family has spent lots of time down there - especially the kids and their friends. And as of recently, it has also become home to Mr. W's office. Given that he will now have to spend alot of time down there (and the rest of us don't want to!), I tried to make it as nice as possible for him down there. We were lucky enough to score a free L-shaped desk for him through Craig's List. Also, the front half of the basement so far has been untouched by any water, so we put down some carpet tiles we scored at the auction last week for fifty bucks. The rest was just stuff I moved from around the house and things I picked up at yard sales. Here is what I have done so far:

The bombe chest I got at a yardsale for $25 and painted black with some gold rub'n buff accents. The chair was from Goodwill and I also painted it black and reupholstered in a leopard print fabric.


The fireplace Mr. Wonderful put in himself, we just had to have a plumber do the gas line. It makes winters alot easier to bear down in the cold basement. The shelves I got from Christmas Tree Shoppe and the accessories I shopped for around my house.


This sofa definitely needs to be replaced, but until we can afford it, I just dressed it up with some pretty pillows I got at an estate sale. The wrought iron piece over the sofa was $3 at a yardsale. May paint it black at some point, but for now I like it gold.


This is at the bottom of the stairs. It makes a nice statement when you open the door to the basement. I picked up the server from someone's curb. It was in need of a little TLC, so again, I painted it black with the gold to spiff it up. It now "serves" as my candle storage. I love it when I can repurpose something and actually use it to store something. The mirror I got from Ebay and the other accessories were from the auction. I love the lamp with the leopard glass shade.

And there you have it. So now even I don't mind spending time down there. Now mind you, I purposely DID NOT show you the rest of the basement - the actual office part where poor Mr. W has to work. There are now huge holes in the dry wall where we tried to find the source of the flooding and the floor is just the bare concrete. For now, I'll add it to the growing list of things that need a fixin' around here. Ah, the joys of homeownership. Ugh!

13 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG, Kim! The way you talked, I wasn't expecting much and I see your basement looks nicer than most people's "formal" rooms upstairs!! Your transformations of the furniture pieces is fantastic. And your accessories are great, too! You done good, girl! Now come over to my house and decorate!! ;-)

Nancy

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Looks great! I really like the redos - especially the chest. Sorry you are having to deal with the water problem.

Traci@ Beneath My Heart said...

Love what you have done! I especially love the bombay chest. $25.00? Wow! Looks great!
Traci

Anonymous said...

That is the best looking basement I have seen in a long time ;o) You did a great job sprucing it up.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kim! Oh your basement is gorgeous! I know you're certainly enjoying it!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)

The Charm House said...

Don't you just love Goodwill!!! Wonderful and Beautiful!
Hugs,
Yvette

Carolyn said...

Everything looks great. I love the chest-great find!
I can see you will enjoy this room.

Carolyn

Melissa Miller said...

~WOW! Kim you sure found some beautiful and amazing deals! You have made your basement so cozy, beautiful and elegant. I hope you figure out the flooding for the rest of it soon. Yikes!

Thank you very much for your encouraging support on my last post. I really appreciate it.

I'm so sorry to hear about the arthritis diagnosis. That is a tough thing to deal with I'm sure.
I hope you are feeling well.

~Blessings, ~Melissa :)

Pat@Back Porch Musings said...

It looks wonderful, Kim!

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

So many are painting things black..and I want to paint my dining room set...but I am scared to death to undertake it. Did you prime? I cannot use spray paint on this...just trying to get the nerve to start it. You did a wonderful job. Beautiful!! :)

Sherri said...

The chest is AMAZING! And I have an off white hand me down sofa now. It shows EVERYTHING and I pretty much hate it. LOL But until something else comes along ...it's REALLLLLL comfy. It doesn't have to be 'perfect' to make up my home.

Queenie's Vintage Finds said...

Your blog and home is so pretty...I have really enjoyed seeing all of your re-do's and yard sale finds...what fun fun! Everything looks beautiful...and it's so wonderful to see, when someone makes things look so beautiful on a budget! I hope darling hubby finds out where that leak is coming from too.
I'll be visiting you again soon!

Anonymous said...

Hi Girls. This is 'hubs' as I think Kim calls me out here in blog land. I need help! Look what she did to my man cave! Is no place sacred? Last week she rub and buffed my power drill! As Kim mentioned in her post, she did not post any pix of my office, since that was heavily damaged by our recent flood. What she didn't mention though, is in addition to my desk, computer and other office stuff, I also have a keyboard, Donkey Kong Junior arcade game and Air Hockey to keep my creativity flowing. Once the flood damage is fixed, it will be a fight for my man cave preservation. Husbands unite! Preserve open man space at all cost!!