Saturday, May 4, 2013

The Media Room Reno Begins....

I've been sick recently, and busy with work,  and when I'm not busy being sick, I've been been trying to get things done around the house. And sadly, not very committed to this blog with all that is going on. We'll just chalk it up to commitment issues, annnd, moving on.

Renovations on my basement have started! When I first moved into this house, the lower level was only partially finished--in the main room, the walls and ceilings were finished, but in the laundry room, back bedroom and half bathroom, the walls and ceilings were not finished. I should probably clarify that... they were "finished". There were just some really weird (*ahem* cheaaaapp!) design choices going on with the finishes. The back bedroom for example--an unfinished ceiling,  and there is one wall that is all pegboard and the rest of the walls are cheap shiny beadboard. Yech. There is beadboard done right and then there is my lower level bedroom. Neither belongs in my house.  I shudder.

In any case, since moving into this house, with my Dad's help, we have made a few updates to the lower level family room. We have:
  • Installed new carpet in the family room 
  • Installed a Gas Fireplace
  • Installed a French Drain around the perimeter of the basement floors
  • Put window trim around one of the unfinished windows in the family room
  • Replaced two horrific boob lights with nice track lighting
  • Knocked down a wall between one bedroom and the family room to make one large room
When I knocked down the wall, I had every intention of patching the holes and closing up the poles and generally, oh you know, finishing the room. Fast forward two years. I can't seem to find the "before" picture of the room, but in the two (very poorly taken Iphone pictures) I captured some of the "holes" that needed closed up. 



 (And, yes, in the second picture, you can see the dresser I started to paint. There was one drawer that was cracked so I handed it off to my dad to see if he could work his magic and fix it.It's just yet another 1,001 unfinished projects floating around the house.)

In any case, there is a laundry list of things to do in the basement. My dad has been busy with moving some light boxes and closing those holes off with drywall. I helped where I could, of course (mostly by sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee and making comments about how it was just like watching HGTV); but it was mostly mister handy man doing all the work. Gotta love that man.



I had also decided that I really wanted to test the new floor "tiles" I selected before purchasing enough to complete the basement, so I decided to test it out in the lower level bathroom first.  So.... we started demo in the bathroom, too.  But that's for another post.

Here are the holes dry-walled up and pre-mud:


Sorry for the poor pictures. I still need to buy a new camera. Oh, yeah, and take five years of photography lessons. My laughable photography skills aside, back to the room. This room will be my Media room. I am thinking movie nights, game nights, my library and a craft area. Yes, this room is going to do it all. But there is a lot to do before I get there. Here is my list:

  1. Mud the newly installed drywall (we will have to hire a pro for this because I am all about perfection.)
  2. Build columns around the poles
  3. Paint. (The color is lovely, I will admit that, but I'm not feeling "modern" with it.)
  4. Install new flooring
  5. Install new Trim (baseboards, moulding)
  6. Replace fireplace tile (currently it is two different shades of marble tile--very distracting!)
  7. Enclose the electrical box in a cabinet.
There is a lot to do. And that's just the boring skeletal stuff-- I'm already anticipating the fun stuff--decorating! Stay tuned for inspirational mood-boards I've been playing with for the new Media room! 


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