Basement Blahs Banished

I'm happy to report that the basement is (almost) finished! 

Just in time for us to move.  But we won't talk about that right now.

Here it is while standing in the kid's playroom, looking into the guest room.  I didn't want to close off the space entirely because of all the wonderful daylight from the sliding glass doors.  But I wanted to provide a sense of privacy to guests, which is why I opted for a partial wall and the drapes between the rooms.

Just to refresh your memory, here's the same space in the midst of the remodel.

Just a slight improvement, don't ya think?

Our only regret is that we didn't do this a lot sooner so that we could enjoy it more...we LOVE our basement now!

Here's a dresser I rescued from dump-dom (and yes, 2 of those knobs are a little different....I started painting them and wiping away the excess, but I'm not sure if I prefer the painted look or not).

Here she is before the makeover, all $25 of her.  Someone had started refinishing the top, but since that time the top had suffered extreme trauma so I decided to just fill, sand, and paint the whole thing.

The whole dresser was completely thrashed with scratches and dents, and the light colored "stripe" you see there is actually exposed raw wood from where part of the vertical corner piece was entirely ripped off.  Steve helped me a lot on this piece = he was really tired of it sitting in our garage (I lacked the energy/impetus to start the repair work on it) so he fixed the broken corner and helped me fill the millions of scratches.  What a great guy, eh?

 

Here's another rescue project...but unfortunately I don't have any "before" pictures of this one.

I decided to just go with all the dings and dents that were in this piece and distressed the finish to accentuate the "character marks". 

Here's another fun project, my darling armoire named Big Red.  Yes, I'm really good at stating the obvious.  Again, no "before" pictures of this one, but I'll just tell you it was blonde pine wood with a lot of knots showing and you can probably imagine what it looked like before.  I actually painted this one a long time ago, but I don't think I ever showed it to you.

The guest bed is another refinishing project I started long ago and finally finished this past month.  The initial layer is turquise, with white over the top and then distressed.

I made this pillow a few days ago because I just COULDN"T let that huge red bedspread sit there all alone without a single cute pillow to engage the eye.  I love the ruffled red ribbon in this pillow - and I love how easy it was to attach to the pillow front with fusible hem tape!

The bed skirt is another recently finished project - I swiped 20" from the width of 2 IKEA drape panels to make the skirt, then fused grey grosgrain ribbon to the (already hemmed!) bottom edge.  I put a center box pleat in the middle of each skirt for added interest.  The remaining drape fabric was then used to make drapes for the sliding glass door - I sewed the red and white polka dot fabric (3 yards of home dec fabric cut in half lengthwise) to the raw edge that I had just created by swiping the 20" for the bed skirt.  I love multi-tasking fabric!

I still have to paint the louvered doors which lead into the furnace room.  The previous owners had slapped paint all over those poor doors...you can probably imagine all the huge drips and globs that were marring the finish.  I spent quite some time sanding it down, and haven't had time to repaint them yet.  I can only paint trim and doors in spurts because it's not a task I enjoy...and after cutting, installing, patching, caulking, and painting all the baseboard and doorway trim in the entire basement, I needed a rest.

Here's a closeup of some little paintings I did a few months ago.

I hadn't painted any artwork for YEARS, and after finding out we were moving I had a sudden, very impractical urge to start painting again.  Not the best timing in the world, I know.  I think it was a reaction to all the stress of not wanting to move and being overwhelmed with everything that needed to be done prior to leaving this home.  Kinda like blogging about the basement remodel at 3:00 a.m. instead of sleeping.  Not that I would ever do such a thing.

Anyway, I did these little "practice" paintings to get warmed up again, before starting on the GIANT paintings that I was craving to do (big, door-sized panels like I painted for galleries before having children).  Needless to say, reality hit before I finished any big giant paintings, but at least I enjoyed a little creative outlet for awhile.  I'm really looking forward to resuming painting once I get settled in North Carolina.  No fair taking bets on how many years that will take.  :-)

 

 

 

Comments

[Beverly Atkins]

Love what you did! It's beautiful. Can't wait to see what you do with the new house. You're just full of talent! I wish I could paint. It looks so relaxing and fullfilling to me. Look forward to seeing more. Hope the move goes smooth for everyone!

[Leslie]

I love it. What color paint is that on the dresser? Metallic silver? I'm in love. You should be called the miracle worker.

[Karen]

The new space is beautiful and I love the dresser and especially the red armoire. Karen

[DeAnn]

All I can say is wow. And I want to come stay in that guest room.

[Linda Beam]

I love the dresser. You must have worked your fingers to the bone getting that so lovely and the finish so perfect. (Lots and lots of sanding?) Oh- Welcome to NC from a Raleigh Chick!

[Beverly Atkins]

Miss you! Hope all is well and that moving has been accomplished!

[Joachim Wang]

This is an excellent makeover! It’s difficult to imagine it used to be a basement with the added features and new arrangement. I like the way you used red, as it perfectly blends in the area, giving it a more intense look. You did a great job applying your artistic skills to this place.

[Garden Designers]

adorable bedroom, the red bed spread and the bed skirt is beautiful. Also, i must say that you have great painting skills.

~Aansy Stone

[Ogee skirting]

I like it. I love the innovation of the entire room. Changes are really noticeable, from the furniture to entirety of the room.

[Linda Hernandez]

I couldn't believe you have done this in your basement. I have been in dilemma how to renovate my basement as well. You just gave me idea!

[mark flancia]

It is so wonderful how did you do that? I have an idea now to renovate my basement.

[Kim Encarpio]

This is brilliant!! Kudos to you dear. You;re designing and innovative skills are almost on the prof level.

[Maxine Goyer]

The colors are very nice. They work well with each other. Keep them coming.