Home Plans : Basement

After a bit of a blogging hiatus and lots of house work, we're back to the "before" home tour!  We're almost out of rooms, but today we have a really exciting one...the BASEMENT.

One thing that I really wanted when we were looking at houses was a finished basement.  When we were touring this house, I liked all of the rooms and the location.  Then, our realtor took us down to the basement...and I was completely sold.  Half-finished, separate (unfinished) area with all of the utilities, and an attached garage?  SOLD!

Today I'll be sharing some plans I have for this space, along with pictures and inspiration!

Before

 This door leads to the unfinished area (and all of our utilities/washer/dryer!)

 Hey- another fireplace!  This one is just decorative though.

Note the weird cubby on the left..we'll be talking about this below!

Projects

- Add a (half) bath.  The house currently only has one bathroom, so I think even adding a small half bathroom in the basement would be a huge improvement.  I'm hoping to also add a standing shower if we're able!  I do want to make it a little room where our utilities are, and definitely do NOT just want a Pittsburgh toilet.

-  Add a bar area.  We have a decorative fireplace that takes up one corner of the room, and Dan came up with the idea of building a bar in that area.  I have an image in my mind of what I want this to look like, so I'm hoping that I can really make it happen because it's going to be AWESOME.

-  Make a workout corner.  There's a weird corner of the room that would be perfect to add some shelves and organization for all of my workout gear (the cubby pictured above!).  Right now, I have everything thrown in that corner, so I need to do something to make it look neater and keep everything organized!

- Add some COLOR!  As you can tell from the picture, this is a very brown room.  Brown carpet, brown walls, brown fireplace.  I want to add some color so it doesn't look so dead and monotone!

Inspiration

source

I think this would look perfect for our workout area!  I love the bright cabinets and open shelving, so I can store some items and display others. 

source

I like the layout of this bar, and think this could work with what we have.  I would change up how the bar looks, but I love the stone mixed with wood!



Thanks for stopping by!  One more room to come, then we can start getting into projects and more fun!

Most Used Tools (so far)

Hi everyone!  As anyone who's moved to a new place (particularly a home) knows, you have to buy a lot of stuff.  The first week of moving in to our house consisted mostly of running back and forth from Lowe's to Home Depot, spending every bit of our paycheck just to pick up the "necessities".  It was so overwhelming!

Today I wanted to share the products that got the most use in our first month of home ownership.  I hope that seeing what I used most will help any one else who feels overwhelmed by the cost of moving!

Tool Kit

Of course, having a good tool kit is absolutely essential!  I got a small kit a few years ago from my dad, and it consists of all of the staples.  Having a hammer, pliers, screw drivers and tape measure on hand is really important when moving!  While you can always buy specialized or higher-quality tools later and build up a connection, having a small set to start out with is a good idea. Here is a good starter kit for under $40!

Step Ladder

I thought that having a step ladder was a waste of money, but I'm so glad that we picked one up!  We use this for just about everything - reaching the top of the wall when we painted, installing smoke detectors,  cleaning kitchen cabinets, trimming trees.  I really like this particular model because it has a huge top step which makes me feel safe (I get a little scared on ladders!)  Here is a similar ladder that looks sturdy!

Lawn Mower

When we first moved in, my parents gave us some advice- buy a lawn mower right away.  The last thing you want to do is let your lawn get overgrown and have your neighbors get a bad first impression!  While mowing the lawn is not a fun task, it's one of the main features of a house that people will notice when they drive by.  Nothing looks worse than an over grown lawn!  

Keyless Entry

While this isn't really a "tool", Dan and I have used our keyless entry more than anything else in the house.  I love how convenient it is, whether I'm juggling bags of groceries or go out for a run.  Not having to carry keys around is such a time saver!  Plus, you can give the code to family members so that they can stop by when you're not around.  If you haven't tried one out before, I highly recommend giving it a go!

Cordless Drill

This was definitely the tool that I was most excited to get.  For some reason, this always symbolized a home owner for me.  In apartments you don't have any use for a power drill, so I always told myself that once I owned a house this would be the first tool that I bought.  While it wasn't the first, I did buy one eventually!  I've already used this for a few projects around the house, and I love it!  I have this one and it works really well (at least so far!)

What are your most used products?

What do you think every homeowner needs to have?

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