Basement is almost done!

We are in the home stretch of our basement remodel.......if you'd like to follow the story you can go HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE!

This is a picture of the same window about 6 weeks ago....taken on the night of the flood....

After crying and grumbling and complaining and crying some more, I was convinced by my husband to see the "brighter" side......he reminded me that I never really did like the paint color so it was my opportunity to rethink the room....so I did!

I am now painting the baseboard......hopefully we will be able to reuse it.  We labeled it as we pulled it off and not too much of it was damaged.

By the time we pulled it off, it had started to mold, so I wiped it with a clorox-based cleaner and sprayed it with industrial strength Microban....

Now I just need to keep him from getting his little pawprints all over my freshly painted boards!

Because this remodel was completely unexpected (and unbudgeted!), we've been trying to be as cost-effective as possible!  


One way to trim costs was to use MDF.  MDF comes in 1/2 and 3/4 inch sheets.  We bought the 1/2 inch sheets and my husband then ripped the boards on the table saw to a width of 3 inches to make our trim.  So far, we've only used 1 full sheet!

We then had my dad run the MDF boards through his router to add the fancy trim.....he added the rounded edge to the bottom and the groove.....all it cost was his time and he works for cheap.....a Misto shake at Rita's paid him in full!

My hubby attached the trim boards with nails, but we also needed to add some liquid nails to attach them......the same stuff that I used on my bathroom mirror frame!

We still have a cap to add to the top of the trim......baseboards to attach and rugs to stretch and reattach, but the...end...is...in...sight!!

Now lest you think that the room is actually cleaned and organized, here's a photo just to keep it real!!

I used some creative cropping to keep all of the "floor shots" out of the other pictures!!

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Sneak peek of the basement progress. . .

I am so excited about our basement progress.  When a complete overhaul got dropped into our laps a couple of weeks ago, I was majorly depressed....I was overwhelmed by the task in front of us!  


But as my husband and I talked about it, I had to confess that I never really liked the color that I had painted the basement 3 years ago. But, because the room was so large, I would have never voluntarily committed the time or expense to redoing it.


I realized this time that if I was going to repaint such a vast section of room, then I really need to L-O-V-E the color!  I have never bought paint samples before, but this time I decided to "splurge" and spent the extra $12 on 3 sample cans.....

I am SO glad that I did that because when I put the samples up....they looked nothing like the paint chips and I would have picked the wrong color!  (The "messy" looking swatch was my daughter helping....I so should have taken a picture of her in her Crayola smock!)


The other decision that we made was to go with real beadboard.  We would have had to pay someone to professionally finish our drywall seams.  As much as we are DIY'ers at heart, we knew that having a seam that was 12 inches up and ran around the perimeter of the room would be impossible to disguise ourselves.

We figure that the cost to buy the beadboard offsets the cost of the professional drywallers.


Here's a little side-by-side comparison of the red and the gray...

*Do you see that circle on the screen?  That's dust, people.....we were running a fan to try and remove the dust and that's how much is still stuck on the screen...UGH!


The change in color has made a HUGE difference in the feel of the room....it feels larger and more "airy!"  It also is making the room feel a whole lot "classier!"

We still have a long way to go...but I am SO excited at our progress so far!


Now...I'm calling in the "big guns".....my friend, Cheryl.  At some point, I will show you her kitchen makeover.  She has an incredible gift of decorating walls...and she uses inexpensive items!  

I can't wait to see what she suggests!

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Basement "progress".....

I'm not sure if "progress" is the right word, but we are moving ahead....and ripping out drywall.....

I've learned more about this horrid thing....

...than I really ever wanted to know!

Did you know that most newer homes (with basements) have a french drain system?  Water runs into a drain that surrounds the perimeter of your home and empties into the above pit.....gross, I know!


Well, ours was sealed because we had a radon system installed and the company sealed our sump pit.  That created pressure that backed up the entire system and caused all the water to come out through the perimeter drain....pushing water into our finished room. (Although, we had so much water that it would have poured out of the pit....we were doomed to get water one way or another!)


Did you know that if you don't have a pit or a drain, the pressure of the water can actually crack your foundation??  Crazy how much power flowing water can have!

Dry wall also acts like a straw and just pulls up the water....and mold...oh what I know now about mold!  Mold grows f-a-s-t!  After only a week, we had it growing on the back of the drywall and the baseboard!

So....for readers who are local and may have had water damage.....pull off your baseboard and look behind it.  We thought that we were dry because we were checking the front of everything.  


Once your baseboard is removed, cut out a small piece of drywall and check behind your drywall.  Again, we thought that we were fine because we kept checking the front.  The water that seeps up can't dry between the drywall and the wall. As we took ours out, it just crumbled in our hands, but on the outside was perfectly dry to the touch.....and it was moldy....after only 6 days!


As much as this has been a dusty inconvenience, I am starting to get excited over the prospect of repainting the room....I've been pinning ideas on my Pinterest board and looking at colors.  


I'm loving this....

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And this...

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How about this.....

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Now I need to convince my hubby that gray and white would be soothing (and not depressing like he is insisting) colors downstairs.....

......what do you think?

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Paint color suggestions?

Perspective is such a weird concept......last Tuesday, my husband had the foresight to make me this for dinner....

... after-all, on my actual birthday, we would be enjoying a quiet, kid-less dinner at a local restaurant followed by a movie....right?


He also gave me my gift a day early......

...which was a really good thing because we woke up to face this on my actual birthday....

As water started coming up through our drain system and sump pit, we did this.....yes, the picture is blurry because at this point, I was just physically shaking as a result of what was going on...

Then, we woke Friday, to the realization that our "dry" carpet was actually soaked underneath, so we did alot of this...

But...alas....we've discovered that our drywall is also ruined, so out comes the bottom 12 inches....


Yes, I've cried.....I'm weary....but I figure...if we have to go through all this work then, let's repaint!!!  Really....paint will be the cheapest part of this whole process!

So.......tell me.....what are good colors for a basement??  What are your ideas??  Suggestions??

Should I just buy beadboard and run it up the wall?  beadboard wall paper??  board and batten?

I'd like to lighten the color....it's just too dark.  What have you seen in basements?

Also.....just a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has commented or emailed me with encouragement! It has meant so much to me!!

I'd love to hear your ideas!

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