You know those projects–while you’re doing this, you might as well do that—they take on a life of their own.
We were nearing the end of work on an addition and major renovations to my mother’s whole house. Up to [now], we had been successfully ignoring the 1970′s basement. It was already a big project and we were pretty busy, but we all gathered down stairs, took a good look around—and started the demo. (sigh) You might as well.
Digging through photos for my New Year’s Resolution project netted two old pictures, so I thought I would share the changes with you!
The basement began with dark paneled walls, the paint and wallpaper was a lame attempt to brighten it up at some point. We demoed it back to a raw space, although we kept close to the original floor plan, for cost’s sake.
New; electricals, plumbing, insulation, vapor barrier, drywall on walls and ceiling both! A wood-look vinyl floor was laid directly over the old. We ditched the party bar for a grownup kitchenette, and used a mix of cheaper raw cabinets, some I already had, and one made on sight. The rooster doors hide the entrance to the new crawl space under the addition.
We used leftover travertine (from other projects in the house) for the counters, and the diamond patterned “tile” back splash is actually venetian plaster. The trunk is a toy box and extra seating when needed.
The family room and dining room–we hid the electrical panel in a shallow closet in the back corner, and added 12ft of real closet storage to replace the attic I took away. All door casing headers have a little extra heft to the ceiling, and picture frame molding adds simple detail to the walls.
That window–what to do with that window…??? Okay, I got a little “crazy!” What if it looked like a door with a transom? We framed it in just like all the real doors. We had to cut the door down some, but left the hinges on and glued on a back plate and knob. It, literally, looks like you could open the door and walk over to the neighbor’s house (Joe), so I had a sign painter paint “Giuseppe’s” on the [transom] window! I’m still looking for a private or patio plaque to put on it!
When I couldn’t get the stain on the door casing to match my “faux door,” I faux painted it to match!
There is so much more to share, but I’ll save it for another post.
Catherine
