Our Basement {The Before}

Fixing up the main area of our basement is one of the projects that we’d really like to get accomplished before baby #2 arrives (in early November.) I’ve briefly mentioned our plans before, about how we want to make it into a playroom space for our kiddos and move my office down there. The hope is that we will be able to relocate the majority of the toys to the basement, and that with my workspace there, I might be able to do some work (and blog!) while supervising. But ultimately, we are just hoping to create a great space for hanging out as a family.

To show you what we have to work with, I put together a little video tour of the space as it is looking these days. We haven’t done a thing down there, besides fill it with extraneous furniture and things that didn’t work anywhere else in our home. So it’s pretty lacking in the functional department. And it’s certainly nothing to get excited about in the aesthetic department either. But enough talk—let me show you the space.

**I’ve never done one of these before, so let me know in the comments whether you like this format or or not.**

As you can see, our basement has a few issues. But overall it’s a pretty decent space to work with—especially with all the natural light coming in from the walkout end. Lucky for us, because a serious renovation project probably isn’t in the cards right now. Thus, our plans are limited to making some minor cosmetic alternations and bring in furnishings that will better meet our current needs.

I’m actually pretty excited to clear the space out and start fresh! Although, there will be a few pieces that I will be sad to say goodbye to, like this large wall unit of ours.

Love that piece! But it consumes too much space for the amount of storage it offers, and I know that I can bring in something that will be better suited for our books and toys. And storage for those things will be key to making this space function best for us, because as you may have been able to tell from the video, storage is a huge issue.

We have many books that have been stuck in boxes for over two years now. And toys have more of an area, than a true home. So we are excited to find some solutions that will meet our growing needs!

Additionally, the space could use some different seating options. I’m not exactly in love with the two ill-paired lounge chairs we currently have down there.

So I’m hoping to bring in a sofa or sectional, and maybe a smaller-scaled chair to create a nice, comfortable lounge area around the existing fireplace.

Love that there is a fireplace! Although we are not so keen about a wood-burning fireplace in a basement. So we are hoping to be able to convert it into gas—especially since our basement gets very cold in the Minnesota winters, and having a heat source at the flip of a switch would be a very welcomed luxury. But at the very least, this fireplace will be getting a little aesthetic love…

Speaking of being a luxury, but in need of a little love—it’s amazing to have a bathroom down on that level!

But the mold issue I showed you in the video, makes the bathroom kind of a big problem at the moment. Even more so with potty training in the near future for the little man and this likely being the closest bathroom for us much of the time. Thus, it’s pretty essential to me that it at least be usable. And, I’d really like to not be worrying about mold growing just feet away from where my kiddos and I will be spending a lot of time.

We’ve bleached it. But it’s obvious that we are going to have to do something more to get rid of that stubborn mold—but that more than likely will not be a full renovation. Unless of course, we don’t have a choice. (And you know that I will be quick to jump on that option, as I am dying to gut that space and make it all pretty and nice!) So everyone who loves that blue toilet, you can breathe easy and rejoice because it’s sticking around. At least for the time being…

Details for this basement project are still very up in the air, as I have yet to sit down and put together a comprehensive design plan. So things right now are just thoughts and ideas. But, we have begun working on clearing out and trying to sell what we absolutely know we don’t want to keep in the space. Of course, we have other projects on our list to accomplish first before we dive into this project. (But its so hard to stick to our priorities when we are excited about this space!) Then hopefully soon, we will be able to turn our attention to the basement and begin making it into a great family space.

Tell me, anyone else have a space that they have recently begun spending a ton of time in and are dreaming of redoing? And don’t forget to share your thoughts about the video tour in the comments!