That there is a PODS. It was just delivered. The boy declared this the “best day EVER” more than once of 52 times that it was the “biggest truck he had ever seen in his whole entire life” which considering he’s just about four, I’d say that’s something.

The vast expanse of undoneness that is our basement has been well documented on my old blog so I don’t need to go into detail about how pleased I am to finally be starting this project. But for the purpose of life documentation, here are a few before pictures.

School Room Corner

Toy Corner

View towards the stairs and laundry area

Stair Wall

Over the years we have rearranged the basement a million times.  Always purging, sorting, organizing.  I think we finally have it set up in such a way as to use the space to its fullest (undone) potential.  However, it’s still an unfinished basement.  When we were approached about getting it finished, we jumped on the opportunity. We had long ago drawn up plans and we’ve know for years exactly how we wanted the final product to look like.  So this is the plan…

The Music Man, of course, has a fancy, schmancy 3D mock up with paint, carpet, and finishing touches.  Personally I like my white board version better.  It’s not to scale. (Shocker, I know.) You get the gist at any rate.

• In the upper left hand corner is the laundry/utility/storage room.  This will remain unfinished for the most part.  A few outlets and a light switch on the new walls will cover it.  There will be loads of shelving to accommodate storage.  I’ll have space for an overflow pantry and most importantly, I’ll finally be able to have a chest freezer! Yay! No more overflowing freezer upstairs.  I’ll be able to stock up on staples when the sales are great.
• The red room to the left will be a play room.  Shelves and all manner of organizational goodies will cover the walls. Glass french doors will close this room in to allow plenty of light into this interior room. Again lots of outlets and overhead lighting will finish it off.
• The main room on the right will be a school/family room.  Sliding doors under a deck provide the only natural light for this space so it’s important to me to have plenty of overhead lighting. In addition to overhead lighting, we’re putting in two ceiling fans.  Our house is built on a steep incline and the height is in the basement.  We have 13-14′ ceilings now and they will be finished to 9-10′. We don’t want to lose any of that height–it was the main selling point of this house for us and also opens the room up so much. But with ceilings so high, it’s hard to get a cozy temperature down there in the winter. The fans will help to push the air down and keep the room warm.
• Finally, the stair wall will be opened up for the last 6-8′ with a half wall.  The hallway itself will be wider than a typical hallway to add to the open feel we want to keep.
• Under the stairs will remain a storage space but an added door will allow us access to the closet which also houses our sump pump.

I have a Pinterest basement board with a collection of finishing touches that are swimming around in my head.  If you’re so inclined you can pop over there to get an idea of where I’m headed with decor. (And ya know, if you’re gifted  in the interior design and want to help me pull ball of those pins into some sort of actual plan, I’d much appreciate it. Oh and my budget is somewhere between nothing and a little.)

I do have some time to pull my ideas together, but for now I have to focus on packing up everything to be moved to the PODS tomorrow.  The furniture will go to The Music Man’s office for now.  Thankfully, he has a large office. I have to move our school things upstairs as we have just a few weeks left until our summer break.  Hopefully, we’ll have room in the PODS for all the toys, but longterm storage and odds and ends things will go in first.

If you think about it, pray for me through this whole process.  My house will be turned upside down and inside out.  If you’ve ever lived through a remodel, you know what I’m in for.  I have never done this before, so the anxiety of the unknown can be overwhelming at times.  I’ve been warned enough to know that I have to just go with the flow.  That’s harder for me to do than it used to be.  Something about the addition of three kids to my life has made me dependent on structure and order.