There's No Place Like Home

Ok, so I know I finished the basement a long time ago and crossed it off the list, but I haven't written the post for it yet. Mostly because I'm lazy and can't take pictures of a dirty apartment. But, here it is. Better late than never. Some of you have already seen it, or parts of it, but now you'll get to see it clean and all finished (with the minor exception of the bathroom taps, which WERE there until last week and will be back within the next 10 days. I hope).

Before I start a project of any kind, or even before I go shopping, I tend to to picture what I want in my head. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Seeing it in my head makes it seem more real, but it does tend to lead to disappointment when things don't turn out the way I imagined them. This is why I gave up drawing as a child; my vision usually exceeded my skill level.  It's also why I have a relatively small wardrobe. I rarely go shopping without knowing EXACTLY what I'm looking for and rarely does my mental picture exist in retail stores. It's one reason I've started sewing more.

The one thing that has been clear to me since we started the whole basement renovation process was what it would look like when it was done. I chose my colours very early on and knew exactly where I wanted my furniture (even though I didn't OWN a lot of it at the time). Even though it was clear to me, I had a really hard time explaining it to other people. My parents protested the gray paint, my best friend questioned my design plans (although for a while there I definitely did overuse the word 'kitschy') and most people I talked to about it (including the ones at the paint store) thought my paint choice was a bad decision for a basement apartment. But I stuck to my guns and I couldn't be happier.

The only thing that proved challenging was fitting in all the furniture. I ended up with several extra pieces of furniture that my mother didn't have room for in the rest of the house, but I eventually managed to work them all into my design, including an antique crib, aka orphan piece number 1. Yes, a crib. Not the easiest piece of furniture for a single girl back on the dating scene to explain to people, but it's now residing in the living room, turned into a very handy storage place and much loved bed for Diggory. My entertainment and reading corners ended up switched around because the wall unit (orphan piece number 2) my mother was sending down to me was too tall to fit where I originally planned it (the ceilings were 7 feet there vs 7 and a half feet where it eventually ended up). That measuring tape was both my greatest ally and my worst enemy, crushing dreams as it went, saving me from later frustration, and giving me time to mentally rearrange things.The couch, love seat and TV didn't end up where I wanted them (the couch stuck out more than I'd imagined), but I now prefer the way they are to what I had designed in the first place. 

My parents have since admitted that the gray looks good, or, in typical fashion, said it "Doesn't look as bad as I thought it would", which is pretty much a glowing recommendation from them. It's a definite step up from "Mmm hmm" which means they tolerate it. So here it is. I'm going to put before and after pictures when I have them so you can see how far it's come.

These first few are from the living room. The woodstove IS in that first picture, it's just hidden behind wood and lamps.

 

After

Before

Where all those boxes of dolls used to be is now where my couch and TV sit.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

 

Before

After

And now into the kitchen.

Before

After. Also, same table.

Before

After

That's all I have for before and after pictures. Here are some others.

I used my movie shelves and a cabinet in the kitchen to separate the two rooms. I also painted the deacon's bench (bottom behind the couch) to match my entertainment stand and I use it to store blankets. Storage was a big issue. There are things stored in the wall unit (big bookshelf), in and under the crib, in 2 footstools beside the deacon's bench and in the dead space between the wood stove and the movie shelves.
 

Here's my entryway. I didn't have room in my bedroom for both of my nightstands, so I used one here in the living room to fill some empty space by the door. The painting on the wall above it was done by my grandmother when she was young. Painting the doors and all the window frames made it even brighter down here.











Here's one of my beloved stained glass windows. On the wall is a circular mosaic mirror I bought in St. Andrews. After drooling over it for a couple of years I finally broke down and bought it. The fact that it was 20% off and that the store was going out of business didn't hurt. The piece of furniture with my coats on it is another leftover (orphan piece number 3) that my mother wanted to keep but didn't have room for. It still needs a bit of TLC.

This is where I spend most of my time. This couch and loveseat are the most comfortable pieces of furniture ever created. Don't sit on them if you're tired or you WILL fall asleep. They also have nice wide arms which make great seats for visiting friends or extra large cats (like mine). I made the curtains (which you can't really see) and beside the entertainment stand I have an old furnace that I always gravitated toward as a child.

 Here's more of my kitchen. Storage was tricky here too, so the cabinet (orphan piece number 4) is packed to the brim, the drawer bin is full, some infrequently used things are in the wall unit in the living room, and the microwave table has things stored in and under it.

 I'm hoping to get a curtain or something to cover my food shelf. Not very attractive. The mini fridge is working pretty well. I do have a second (much older) one behind that door where I store things short term (like things to put in the slow cooker in the mornings), and I freeze almost all of my leftovers right away so they don't take up space in the fridge.

 On to the bathroom/kitchen sink/broom closet! Here you will see orphan item number 5, which I use to store my towels. This is where a shower or small tub may eventually go. I can dream...

I have recently fallen in love with yellow and used a lot of it in here. I painted the medicine chest bright yellow and the table (which you'll see in a couple of pictures down) with spray paint, and then whipped that canvas up in just a few minutes after seeing it on Pinterest one night. Please disregard the lack of taps. I am currently without them and as such carry my dishes upstairs, water downstairs and wash my hands in the washing machine. Thug life!

Here's a picture of some art my cousin made me. It's a tye dye fish and I love it. Her twin sister painted me one of flowers which I also love and put in the living room on the table by the door.

 Here's the table I was talking about. I also painted that canvas. I free styled it and it's about as artistic as I get. I made the curtain as well. All the yellow things I bought matched really well even though I got them all at different times and different places. Sorry the pictures are cramped. It's not a very big room.













This is my bedroom. Sorry this picture is a bit dark. There are MANY Pinterest projects in this room. You can't see it, but I covered the box spring with fabric which I saw on Pinterest. The window blind is another project, but I consider it a bit of a fail. I always make sure it's open when people come over because the fabric was too thin and when it's pulled down you can see the glue through the fabric and it kind of flops around.

 The canvas on the wall was a Pinterest project, but it was more trouble than I had expected. It says 'The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return', which is a quote from 'Moulin Rouge'. You're supposed to put stickers on a canvas, paint over it and then peel off the stickers. Well, nice alphabet stickers are hard to find. These ones were puffy and hard to paint around, and then they stuck to the canvas and I had to scrape them off and paint over the residue they left behind. But I like the finished project none the less. I love my room.

 This is something that needs to be completed. I had some paint leftover from the desk and night table reno, and I planned on using that to paint the wardrobe, but it dried out and I haven't bought new paint yet. It'll be quite a process when I do because it's wedged in there pretty tight and is extremely heavy once my clothes get in there. Maybe a summer project.

I couldn't believe I fit all my clothes into this tiny dresser and the drawers beside it. Even with a lot of stuff in the closet I didn't think it was going to happen, but it all fit.

My wonderful headboard is another Pinterest treasure. It makes me feel like a grown up to sleep in my own bed, the first one I've ever slept in that was totally my own, with a headboard that I made. With help from my parents....lol.








So that is my home. It's not big, but it's just right for me and Diggory. It feels like me, filled with the things and colours I love, and when I look back on what it used to look like I'm still amazed at the difference.