Basement mini-makeover

Up until a few weeks ago, our basement got little use since it was sparse, cold, and hard. We didn't spend much time down there. With Christmas and the inevitable growth of toys upon us, we decided to fix it up so it would be more inviting for us to play and hang out down there. We didn't to spend a lot of money because it's temporary and, well, we don't have a lot, but I think we did a pretty good job!

The walls had been damaged by moisture before we had working gutters (the previous homeowner drilled holes into the gutters for who knows what reason). Kevin scraped off the damaged paint with a wire brush. Before carpet, it was gray concrete floor. We got a big remnant for a good price, and Kev and my dad laid it down with carpet tape.

My co-worker/art teacher friend Amy helped me decide what color to paint the walls. We went with Georgian Bay by Sherwin Williams. We used SW's online color visualizer to come up with a coordinating color, Navajo White. Once I started painting the white walls, I realized they already WERE Navajo White. I put on a very quick coat of it on, not worrying about covering the entire area. I'd like to either buy a vinyl decal or have Amy paint something on a wall, but for now they're just blank.

Here are the before-and-after comparisons

As you're coming down the steps. My mom gave Colin some foam floor tiles for Christmas and they almost fill in the concrete part.

Bottom of the steps looking to the left. The laundry room, bathroom, and storage room are down that hallway. I'd like to buy a plastic magazine rack to hang on the wall by the little table to store coloring books in. Some day we'll get a little table and chairs to replace the IKEA end table and hand-me-down camping chair :)

The treadmill :)

The future TV/couch area. Once we get our big TV fixed, we'll move our small TV down to this corner. My parents graciously offered to give us an old loveseat they have just sitting around. Kevin would like to enclose the stairs and have a TV mounted to the wall someday.

Now we spend a lot of time in the basement "cooking," "camping," building, playing trucks, fixing things with tools, riding four wheelers, and just running around or dancing to music. It's not our dream basement by any means, but for now it's a dream come true for Colin and us!