Oh my goodness my annoying yet awesome basement. I love the size, I love the extra space (I love that it has windows), but every time I work on something down there it turns into A FREAKING DISASTER. Ok maybe not that bad. But the last time I did a little work down there this did happen. And the time before that it was waterproofing the whole basement (where they came and tore up the inside perimeter to put in a drainage system). So I should have known that my simple basement remodel was going to have a few little hiccups.
You probably remember it like this, carpeted and full of ribbon and baby gear. Well when we moved the Ribbon Jar this is what we were left with:
This was right after a play date so it looks extra crazy beans. Those wood pieces on the walls are left over supports from the ribbon racks. My dad and I put them up with these special bolt things that expand into concrete. So we had a couple of choices; cover them up or try to saw through the bolts and take them off. We decided that I would use this area for three main things. 1. a preschool learning area with a Montessori vibe. 2. a sewing corner with the drafting table for projects and 3. a studio to meet with clients and showcase photos. Yes, this is going to looks so cool I will actually bring clients down (right now we meet in my main level craft studio, it works fine, but I’d love more room to showcase some of my work).
So clearing everything out and starting from scratch sounded like the best plan. And since I couldn’t talk Bj into framing up this whole side of the basement we decided on a giant box to go over the wood (plus a little one for my sewing area). It will make it easy to hang artwork and add some depth and warmth to the space. Lucky for me my brother agreed to do it (his company mostly does commercial work). He bid the job and then came in under budget and finished ahead of schedule (one day!!!). I should have known it was too good to be true.
Brent suggested painting the black dimpled plastic (there for waterproofing reasons) with a special for plastic spray paint so the wall was all white. I liked the idea but the prep was a bit of a pain. I pulled back all the Flor tiles from the edge and then had to scrub the plastic (After doing this I’m pretty sure I had not washed it in four years).
Oh my goodness have you guys used this Krylon Fusion stuff? Talk about a brain cell killer. It takes about 12-20 coats (yes really) and the recommended re-coat time starts at 30 seconds so it’s non stop fumes. I did get smart and wear a full on mask and open everything but still so so yucky!
I did it though. And I ordered furniture for the play side. Seriously things we going so perfectly! Now, look back up in the picture of the cleaned out basement. You see those mis-colored tiles and an area with no tiles? A year and a half ago when I put this in I calculated wrong. So I had to order another set of tiles. Well I waited a while to put those in, since most of the floor was covered anyway (and I had a crawling non-napping baby). When I got around to it I realized one box was off colored…. and that I had miscalculated again!! Of course by this time they had discontinued the color (La La Lime in Toy Poodle, anyone have some to spare?). So I said, “forget it!” and left a hole. Of course that doesn’t look so nice so this last weekend Bj and I moved all the heavy furniture to hide the mis matched tiles underneath. Simple. Easy. The last step… but then…
MOLD!!!! Barely noticeable (and Bj swore it wasn’t even there). But I saw it and I could detect a faint mold oder and I knew I could not put those tiles back down there. I had a little bit of a panic attack when I realized the solution was probably NOT going to be cheap. Well, it’s not going to be free, but it’s not going to be as much as I thought. After stumbling upon this great blog I knew what to ask for and found someone who had the right supplies for $330 (Superseal for the floor). He asked me if I put in the carpet myself. I said yes, and he told me I could do the under mat myself too (80 cents a square foot vs. $2 installed). It’s basically the same thing as that bumpy plastic against the walls, but for floors. It allows the concrete to breath and air to move around so no moisture is trapped.
Now I get to pull up all of the tiles. Scrap as much paint off the floor as I can. Scrub and bleach the floor. Scrub each floor tile. Lay down the under mat. Re-lay all of the Flor tiles.
Oh, and that furniture I ordered that was supposed to take three weeks or more? Two weeks early. And I have no where to put it.
And GO!
Celebrating crafts, kids and the everyday through photographs.
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7 comments on The lower level IS a basement
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A super easy project for you today.
I read about a project like this in my Toddler Busy Book. I made it a bit more modern and fun by using giant binder rings, upgrading the ribbon, and adding bells.
For these short toddler sized rings I used ribbon in one yard pieces. I simply made a loop and pulled it through to tighten. It was coming loose so a dot of glue helped hold the ribbon in place. I used this tacky glue, but I think super glue would have been easier.
All of the ribbons I used are from the ribbon jar, and one was a wired ribbon from a special collection jar. I didn’t need it to be wired so I pulled it out and used the really soft copper wire that was inside to attach the bells. This stuff is so flexible I don’t think any end is going to come undone and poke Tuesday. I pulled the edges of the wire tight with craft tweezers.
Of course the bells are optional. Here my silly girl is also holding the bell-less version I made my god-daughter (she’s taller so I used two yard pieces for hers).
They were a hit (and so were those 75 cent pants from my thrifting score I posted about yesterday).
I used a bunch of different ribbon including ric-rac (3mm and 6mm), double faced satin (6mm, 9mm, and 15mm), and dupioni silk. -
So I’m slowly going back through all my old posts. If I mention this more than once (or more than a hundred times) it’s because I’m still doing it and it takes forever! I really want my new site to be functional though and for links to work and pictures to be in the right places. One thing I am doing is updating my categories and adding tags. One category that was smoking hot for a while and has almost fallen off the map is New to Me – Thrifting Adventures. There are a couple of reasons.
When I first got his house I thought to myself, “1,100 square feet, how will I ever fill that up? Plus a basement? I’ll be thrifting for years before I even have to shove stuff under the bed!” Well my friends I even added a second story and I still managed to fill the house up nicely (and garage, ahem…). So there’s the space issue, and there’s the lovely husband who doesn’t think we need another chair that I might get to in the next three years (but probably not since I haven’t in the last three) and there’s Tuesday. The way I tend to thrift shop (early mornings at estate and garage sales, popping in and out of the car as I notice one) doesn’t work well with a toddler. I have become annoyed with myself lately at the things I am buying brand new and paying full price for. Things I used to just wait to come around while thrifting.
But tonight I sit here in my $2 Columbia fleece as cozy as can be ready to change my ways.
Observe my $20 shopping spree: a reversible ironing board for hems and cuffs I’m guessing (plan: set up for Tuesday with a play iron, and use myself when needed), tiny hand rake, a couple pairs of pants for Tuesday (when did she start growing like this?), a jersey stripped boat neck shirt (plan: cute skirt for Tuesday), the above mentioned fleece (was this ever worn?!?!), ugly horse thing (plan: let Tuesday get her $1.95 of kicks out of it and send it back to the thrift store), small tool boxes, funnel (I finally remembered we needed one of these!), nice little shovel, $1 double CD set of annoying kids music, 2 bars of Fels-Naptha (I keep reading things that say to use this stuff, I figure it will come in handy some day), Tuesday sized butter knife, little thing to learn to use chopsticks, and a Dover activity book (I always have one in my purse).
I know how quickly these things will get incorporated into our lives and I’ll forget exactly when I got them. I know this because I stumbled upon this post and realized I used four things from that thrifting trip just today! I love that, using old things, things people don’t want. So I’m making a better effort. With my mom and (almost) sister in law Kat helping wrangle Tuesday I’m planning on thrifting every Friday morning. So I’ve set up a nice little list of goals.
Some inspiration from Flickr (these are also on my newly made Flickr gallery: Things I want to find thrifting). 1. Vintage Wood Tray, 2. Vintage Children’s Sewing or Lacing Cards, 3. FP Record Player 2, 4. DSC_0014, 5. vintage doll highchair, 6. coming soon to the store – old fruit crates!
-vintage wire baskets (I’m doubtful I’ll ever have enough of these)
-wooden crates to turn into a shelf thing for Tuesday
-small trays for Tuesday’s projects
-doll highchair (I was thinking wooden, but that blue one is pretty cute!)
-interesting things for Tuesday to sort
-Lacing cards
-Fisher Price record player. They have ones with little plastic records and ones that take actual little records.
-photo holder, I’m thinking a flower frog maybe?
-cute container for my business cards, they are 4×4 so they don’t fit in a standard case
-books, books, books! I still need hardback Harry Potters 1 & 3, Tuesday loves I Spy books, and I collect a vintage children’s series about a girl named Maida (the books are Maida’s little house, Maida’s little zoo, etc.)
-And my dishes: Johnson Brothers Ironstone plates, bowls, etc. I love them. I still remember when I got them (ah yes, and the basement surprise… guess what we’re dealing with round two on that. Details after I told to the waterproofing expert tomorrow). I’ve had some luck on eBay, but shipping prices and breakage in transit never make it worth it (I admit I’m putting all these photos up in the hopes someone says, “hey I live down the street and I have a whole box of these I don’t need!”).
Of course the things I stumble upon that are not on my list are just as fun (like this fleece!). And there are more things in the back of my head if the deal is just too insane. Like the time my mom found a silver tea set for something like $20. If I could get Bj a scroll saw for that I’d be all over it (I’m obsessed with Made by Joel and have determined that toy making should be Bj’s new hobby).
So what are you hoping to find this thrifting season? What is the best thing you’ve ever found? Give us all hope with your astonishing finds!
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