Built-ins

As the work finishes on getting the basement back to the glorious state it was in pre-flooding (haha), Justin and I are really getting excited about turning it into living space. In my scattered brain, I've been trying desperately to try and figure out priorities down there. Like, what needs to be done first in order to get us down there? I have a list now, so look out! I decided that a great start would be something that would help clear a lot of the stuff in storage down there. Our goal is to have only the basement closets filled with boxes, and only boxes that are things that absolutely don't need to be out, like baby stuff. Or holiday stuff. Since I've been hating the living room closet since we moved in and took the stupid bi-fold doors off of it, I decided to go ahead with our "somdeday" plan of turning it into a book nook. A couple/few Saturdays ago, I took measurements of the closet and looked closely at the one existing shelf so that I could mimic the construction. After dinner (and a beer or two for Justin) I convinced Justin to take me to Home Depot shortly before they close so we could buy the materials. Win for me! Roxanne had a great time "helping," and it was altogether kind of a newbie Home Depot lumber shopping experience, but it came out OK in the end. More or less. In any case, I measured, screwed, puttied and sanded supports into the closet to make more shelves. I did them fairly large so that we could display our (my) antique books as well as our novels, etc. Five million coats of white trim paint and four melamine white boards later, they are pretty OK. I still need to fill them with my books and some choice clutter, as well as figure out some kind of center support, but for now, I'm proud. I did them by myself. Justin helped a lot by keeping Roxanne busy for me to work. She kept trying to "help," which is heart breakingly sweet, but not necessarily productive.


Here they are all done, but not quite. :) I can't wait to load them up... If you want to read book titles, I think when you click and expand, you can see them. If you see anything you like, let me know. I might let you borrow something.
I took the rug out of here and put it in Roxanne's room. We took the side off her crib, and I was terrified of her hitting the floor when she rolls out of bed. I think Justin and I agree that it looks much bigger in the living room with no rug. I just took that little wood shelf out of here and put it in Roxanne's room, too. It holds her books beautifully.
Just to show you how we "watch TV" in our living room. That's Yo Gabba Gabba playing for me and Roxanne. Katie is sniffing some spot on the floor hoping for something edible. I can't wait to get some soft chairs in the living room. Justin and I agreed that we would love to find a pair of leather club chairs. Vintage ones. Cheap vintage ones. A girl can dream, right?