Ya'll. When I initiatory of all showed you lot the beginnings of the basement renovation, I had no thought it would accept us 8 months to complete it. I precisely looked dorsum on the appointment of that first post, as well as lo as well as behold, I pretty much wrote it the twenty-four hr catamenia I got pregnant.
Sooooo....that's means also much information, but I experience similar it's my best shot at explaining why I moved at extreme sloth speed on this one.
Let me warn you lot on the front end end...this is a long post. I debated on breaking it upward into several smaller posts, but I've made you lot hold off long enough. So, today you're getting 8 months of difficult operate crammed into i long post.
Let's start at the beginning. Eight months ago, the basement pretty much looked similar the below picture. I used it equally a hoarding room for projects gone bad, it smelled similar a litter box, as well as it seemed to survive the official countrywide coming together identify for spiders as well as ants.
I avoided it similar the plague.
Once nosotros decided to accept the plunge on renovating it (worst timing ever), nosotros ripped upward all of the gross truthful cat carpet as well as onetime 1970's trim.
And this is where the problem began. I've been putting off writing this post for weeks because, well....SHAME.
The bottom trace is this: Back inwards Oct I chose the grossest dark-brown woods plank tile ever.
In my defense, I was newly pregnant, sick equally hell, as well as I totally allow some relieve store sales guy bulldoze me into a buy I didn't genuinely love. I intend this pic of Jesse looking at the tile inwards the store kinda sums it up.
And what's fifty-fifty worse.....once nosotros brought the tile home, one-half of it was damaged as well as dingy (we assumed all of the gunk would come upward off during the dehazing process...and it definitely did NOT), as well as spell the tile looked a picayune to a greater extent than grayness inwards the store, inwards our basement it was a lovely shade of poop brown.
But nosotros pushed forward. Because that's what you lot practise when you lot pass $1000 on tile that you lot can't return.
Never again, relieve shop. NEVER AGAIN.
Jesse spent virtually ii weeks installing this poop tile inwards the entire basement. And spell I tried to encourage him as well as cheer him on (he worked thus difficult as well as did such a skillful job), I was also secretly crying inside.
I knew I hated it from the minute he installed the initiatory of all tile, but I precisely couldn't talk up.
I experience similar it's a life long mission of mine to larn how to trust my instincts. I tend to e'er know what I genuinely desire correct from the beginning, but I'm thus bad at listening to my gut. I acquire pressured into things genuinely easily, as well as I'm the worst at speaking my mind. I basically take maintain to disaster-ify something as well as and then call virtually it for a duo weeks before I take maintain the balls to start over as well as ready it. It's a painfully obvious flaw.
So, equally you lot tin privy view inwards the below picture, I was genuinely diving headfirst into the 'make the 1970's basement fifty-fifty to a greater extent than of a night pit' strategy. I was testing out night grayness pigment colors on the walls, as well as obviously....poop floors. I intend I felt some sort of self-imposed pressure level to build this into a 'mancave', as well as thus I didn't genuinely accept into concern human relationship what would genuinely hold off the best inwards our house.
Also, after several attempts of dehazing the tile, it all the same dried similar this. And the night grayness grout nosotros used dried white.
All inwards all, a totally ideal outcome.
Sarcasm.
So, nosotros decided to pay someone to come upward professionally dehaze the tile, as well as they weren't able to practise it either.
The disaster precisely kept growing alongside intensity.
So, I spent a few days freaking out as well as feeling similar nosotros were precisely going to take maintain to alive alongside this. Because who asks their hubby to rip upward M foursquare feet of tile he precisely spent ii weeks installing past times himself.
Well, after a few days of soul searching...I do.
It took a picayune convincing, but ultimately Jesse admitted that he genuinely hated the tile, too, as well as that nosotros should precisely suck it upward as well as ready it. The infinitesimal nosotros were both on the same page, I felt a huge moving ridge of relief, as well as I knew it was the correct decision.
And I'll survive honest. We decided to pay someone to come upward demo the poop tile as well as install the novel tile of our choice. I was plainly pretty worthless (renovation-wise) at this point, as well as it was precisely i of those times where nosotros knew it would suck to pass the money, but that it would survive coin good spent. And it was.
And I never captured a pic of the flooring guys demo-ing as well as installing the novel floors (because it's thus awkward to tell contractors that you're a blogger as well as and then accept pictures of them). But, here's a reminder of what the floors looked similar after the poop tile was removed.
After the tile was removed, I spent a lot of fourth dimension going to unlike domicile improvement stores as well as flooring stores as well as weighing my options. I was determined to build the correct flooring conclusion this fourth dimension (and honestly terrified that I was precisely gonna build a mess of it all over again).
But luckily, I did destination upward making a dandy decision.
I chose the Leonia Silver woods plank tile from Lowe's inwards the 6x24 inch. And I precisely chose a grout to jibe the tile because I didn't desire also much contrast.
Lowe's didn't render me alongside tile or pay me to tell you lot virtually this. I bought this tile alongside my ain coin similar a normal somebody as well as I'm telling you lot virtually it because I similar it.
So, after the novel tile was installed (and I felt similar I could breathe again), I decided to follow my catch as well as precisely build this entire infinite low-cal as well as brilliant as well as basically the contrary of my master copy awful plan. Our solid is from the 1970's as well as it precisely looks ameliorate when it's low-cal as well as bright.
You'd intend I would've learned this lesson when I stained the upstairs floors night dark-brown as well as had to redo them.
YOU WOULD THINK.
AND YOU WOULD WOULD BE WRONG.
So, Jesse painted all of the night beige walls white. I used Sherwin Williams Simply White similar nosotros did upstairs.
And then, fresh off the publish energy high of finally choosing the correct tile, I decided to practise something that I've wanted to practise since the twenty-four hr catamenia nosotros moved into this house.
I had Jesse pigment the fireplace.
For those of you lot who take maintain been next the spider web log for awhile, you lot know I've debated paradigm the upstairs fireplace for years. And when I mentioned it a few times on the blog, I got a massive moving ridge of emails from you lot guys. Half of you lot wanted me to pigment it so bad, as well as one-half of you lot were absolutely freaking out virtually me ruining it. It totally got inwards my head, as well as I never painted it.
So, since the basement fireplace is much smaller, easier to paint, as well as well, inwards the basement, I decided to accept a confine of faith as well as precisely practise it.
I tested out a picayune night grayness pigment initiatory of all as well as decided it looked awful, as well as ultimately went alongside the same merely white pigment nosotros used on the walls. The goal inwards the destination was to precisely acquire inwards blend inwards alongside the walls as well as ultimately build the infinite experience larger.
And it totally worked.
Here are a few before as well as after shots thus you lot tin privy view how much it brightened upward the space.
Before...looking into the living room.
And after....
Before...looking towards the fireplace.
And after.
And here's the room equally it looks today. We painted the within of the fireplace box alongside dark high-heat pigment as well as it genuinely precisely added the perfect finishing touch. I mightiness add together a mantle similar I did upstairs, but I'll acquire to that later.
And here's how it looks from the other direction. We're making some major changes upstairs (which I programme on showing you lot inwards my next post) as well as thus the upstairs slice of furniture has been moved downstairs. And all I genuinely added was a Homegoods ottoman. Because where else tin privy you lot discovery an ottoman for $100.
I know painted fireplaces aren't for everyone, but in the end, we're both genuinely happy alongside the means it turned out as well as the entire room precisely feels bigger as well as to a greater extent than modern. And Jesse was real apprehensive virtually doing this as well as past times the fourth dimension it was finished, he wouldn't nigh upward virtually how awesome it looked. So, it was genuinely a dandy learning lesson inwards trusting my vision.
And for the record, since the twenty-four hr catamenia nosotros moved into this house, Jesse has basically allow me plough our solid into a frilly dollhouse as well as he's never i time batted an eye. But every fourth dimension I mentioned paradigm the fireplace at that spot was a tiny hold off of terror on his face. So, a huge give thank you lot you to Jesse for trusting my sentence (even after the dark-brown tile disaster).
He's a skillful one. :)
He's a skillful one. :)
We also updated all of the low-cal fixtures inwards the basement. The worst offenders were the night dark-brown boob lights inwards the living room area. Always a fave.
We upgraded them alongside some beautiful chrome as well as drinking glass even out mounts from Lamps Plus.
And I haven't hung whatever wall fine art downwardly hither (or fifty-fifty upstairs) as well as am all the same feeling real minimalist inwards my approach to the walls. There's something virtually spending the ameliorate portion of a twelvemonth renovating a infinite as well as and then feeling real 'iffy' virtually poking a bunch of holes inwards the wall.
So, that's the living room!
Now let's motion on to the balance of the basement.
Remember the bedroom? This is how it looked before nosotros renovated it. We had ripped upward the carpet years before (CATS!) as well as it was precisely a disgusting box of carpet gum as well as dust.
And this is what it looks similar alongside the novel flooring, freshly painted walls, as well as build novel chunky trim.
We're currently using this room equally the novel invitee sleeping accommodation as well as domicile office. It's a massive room as well as gets tons of daylight, as well as it's been thus prissy to come upward downwardly hither as well as relax from fourth dimension to time.
We replaced the low-cal fixture inwards hither alongside the same even out mountain that nosotros used inwards the living room, as well as nosotros added an amazing novel carpet from Rugs USA. (It's the Satara Edison inwards Nickel.)
The upholstered bed was a craigslist discovery as well as the bedside tables are the Ikea Rast dressers I stained grayness inwards this post.
And precisely yesterday, I changed out the hardware on the dressers alongside these super affordable chrome loving cup pulls.
You tin privy view inwards the higher upward pic that they all the same had the gilded hardware, as well as I intend the chrome industrial plant thus much ameliorate inwards this space. It's the picayune things.
The bedding is precisely materials I had to a greater extent than or less the house. The pinkish velvet pillow is from Etsy as well as the patterned pillows are from Target
(I intend they're all the same there.).
(I intend they're all the same there.).
And this is precisely all the materials from the upstairs office, styled equally minimally equally possible, because who wants to add together a bunch of trinkets to a room that Tootie spends 3/4 of her twenty-four hr catamenia in.
Not this truthful cat mama.
And similar a shot let's motion on to i of my favorite parts of the basement: the bathroom. I'll preface past times maxim that it in all likelihood won't blow your mind. My photography is pretty bad as well as it's a pretty minimally styled space. But, it makes me thus happy to take maintain this picayune bath finished as well as prissy as well as new, as well as so, precisely practise me a favor as well as pretend similar I pulled off the best bath makeover of all time.
Here's the before. So gross.
Nothing worked. Everything smelled.
And here's the after. So clean. So new.
Makes me wanna waddle all the means downstairs precisely to accept a shower.
The vanity is from Lowe's (the solely i I could discovery that looked skillful as well as didn't build me become broke), as well as the shower pall is from Target.
The low-cal fixture is from Lamps Plus (my absolute favorite...I beloved the picayune crystal globes.). And the mirror is a thrift store discovery that I painted silver.
And as well as then the in conclusion picayune expanse of the basement...the hallway. It's non genuinely all that exciting, but I intend it's a dandy event of what a large divergence pigment tin privy make.
This is the 'before' view, looking towards the invitee sleeping accommodation as well as bathroom.
And here's the after. All nosotros did was pigment the panelled walls alongside Simply White, supercede the doors, as well as pigment the bring down as well as doors Ultra Pure White. And as well as then nosotros replaced the low-cal fixture alongside this modern chrome sconce from Lamps Plus.
Here's the 'before' stance looking the contrary way, towards the door that leads to the garage. (That's how the tile looked before it was grouted.)
And here's how the hallway looks today. For now, nosotros precisely painted the door to the garage, because Tootie enjoys her truthful cat door, as well as frankly, nosotros ran out of steam to supercede some other door (exterior doors aren't cheap, ya'll).
But still, how much ameliorate is that hallway?!
And that's the entire basement makeover inwards i big, long, brutally honest post. Thanks thus much for beingness here, ya'll. And give thank you lot you for allowing me to precisely survive a existent somebody virtually all of it.
I'll survive dorsum presently to portion some genuinely fun materials virtually the upstairs, but initiatory of all I'm going to accept a picayune fourth dimension to hang out alongside Mathias who is domicile from the Navy for a duo of weeks. It's the initiatory of all fourth dimension I've seen him since I've been pregnant...and I'm piece of cake adjusting to errrrrbody grabbing my belly the infinitesimal they view me.
I'll survive 33 weeks on Sunday...still truckin' along! :)
'Til adjacent time!
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