Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Finished Basement

Finished at last, and worth almost every minute!

Potty Power

First, we needed to figure out what pattern we wanted to use for the bathroom tiles. We took some measurements of the actual bathroom walls, then walked over to the family room concrete floor and drew all the "bathroom walls" on the floor.

That way, we could experiment with different tile patterns without having to cut any tiles and without the real walls getting in the way. In total, we came with 10 possibilities. Some of our favorites were:

After we decided on a stunning design, it was time to sweep out all the junk in the bathroom...,

...and start drawing lines on the bathroom floor to figure out just where to cut the tiles.

Then we hooked up the wet saw, whipped up the cement and started putting down the tiles. You'll notice a bit of Kristin's inspiration in this photo... She decided to mix up a few smaller tiles with the big ones, and to use a color that would compliment our walls and make the floor "pop"! Boy, she sure knows what she's doing!

Next, we filled the spaces with grout, let it dry, and then set the toilet and vanity. Before any water accidents happened, we put in the PVC baseboards and caulked all the cracks to prevent any water (or anything else) from creeping out of reach.

Final touch - putting in the vanity light and the reading light over the toilet.

Kristin patched up that long-forgotten linen shower curtain (which, even though it was hidden away in storage, she somehow remembered that it would match the bathroom colors perfectly). She put the festive, neon-colored "fish under the sea" curtain (see picture #6 above) facing into the shower, and put this more serious and tasteful curtain facing out. As they sometimes say, 'Business in front, party's in the back!'

Want to see it all at once? J's your man.
He took this cool panorama-style photo with his new camera.

Stairway to... the Dungeon?

Old dungeon stairs

Sam cleaning old foam off the stairs (put in place after Mary tumbled down them last year)

Mary wondering why Sam's making the stairs so dangerous again!

Scraps of foam and glue at the bottom of the stairs

While the kids were getting the steps ready, I designed the railings.

Tackstrips in place

First pieces of foam and carpet going in...

Stairs going up...

And going down!!!

Less than five minutes after the stairs were complete, the kids were climbing around the railing and sliding down the steps in blankets... Wooohoooo!!!

Floors Are In!

Move over dirt, stone and straw -- ultra-modern laminate flooring is coming through!





Cool Story... while cutting out some curly maple thresholds, I learned from my neighbor the origin of the word "threshold" A long time ago, (can't remember where or when) people used to put thresh all over their stone floors (can you picture a dungeon in your mind?) during the rainy season to keep the ground from getting slippery. Near the doorways, they would lay down a plank of wood to hold the thresh down so it wouldn't blow away -- and that lead to the word "threshold"!

Next up... tile in the bathroom, baseboards, and trim around the windows!!

Splash of Color

The past few weeks, whenever I stopped by Home Depot or Lowe's, I'd grab a few of those glossy little paint-color books and toss them in my cart. Before too long, I had a big enough stack of 'em to keep a fire going in my dungeon all night long.

Kristin and I poured over the samples and photographs together, looking for lighter tones that would complement the earthy tones throughout our home. We ended up with a light peachish-tanish color for the family room, a deeper "Teepee" brown hue for the bathroom and stairway walls, and a oceany blue for the boys room and laundry.

They actually go together really well - they give a nice sense of change (not subtle, by any means, but not clashing either) as you move from one room to another. What do you think?

Prime Time

Taping?
Check.
Mudding?
Check.
Mudding again?
Check.
Mudding a third time, and possibly a fourth?
Check. Check.
Sand, sand and sand some more?
Yep, that too.

It's amazing that nearly every aspect of this project takes longer (sometimes much longer) than we ever anticipated. However, with all the messy mudding, taping and sanding out of the way, we were pleasantly surprised with our next job - priming the walls for paint.

Each wall transformed from a scuffed-up, white-streaked and polka-dotted light grey panel into a finished-looking wall in just a matter of minutes. Now that the dungeon is all primed, it's time to pick out some dazzling colors. Stay tuned.