Life Underground

It has been over a year since our work on finishing the basement was completed. I haven't been blogging as much in the past year, and I never apologize or feel bad for that. (Sometimes I am in the mood, others I am not. And that is that!) But this is one thing I think I'd just better document. It was a huge, nine-month-long project that kept Jonny busy whenever he could spare a few minutes. And now we are one big family room, three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a few closets the better for it. Heavenly!

At this moment I feel I have license to brag a little and thank Jonny for all his research and hard work down there. The built-in shelves I designed are exactly as I pictured - no - better. And it is amazing to think of all the work Jonny put in behind those walls. We hired out the drywall and carpet installation. But other than that Jonny did it all  - with some help with the electric, plumbing, tile, and baseboards from some awesome neighbors and a brother-in-law. (And I guess I did help down there too: water/Gatorade/sunflower seed girl, main spackler, paint assistant, head of design, general consultant, and decider of shelf-height measurements. That was no easy task. Several sheets of graph paper were used in the process!)

And of course I am responsible for the green walls. (You can't get a very good idea of the color from the pictures, but the sample name was "Celery Sprig." Sounds refreshing, right?) At first I thought they were horrid. I was nervous to tell Jonny that we'd better just paint them tan and have it done with. But after a few months, the green really grew on me. It is a little more creamy than I had envisioned, but it is cheerful and bright and not dungeon-like at all. And that is exactly what I was going for.

So here is a photo tour. You'd think by now I would have gotten around to wall decor, but, well, I haven't. It's all in my plan though to have some cool photo ledges and mirrors and a big magnet board and whatnot. Maybe one of these days I will get around to those, and covering up the big utility hole above the piano with a neat poster print. (That one my have to be attended to pronto. I have put it off too long. IKEA, here I come!)

Toy Shelves

 Totally need some fun framed art hanging here - maybe some original Julia and Gabe masterpieces...

 Who doesn't want an under-stairs playhouse?

 I call this the "drive-up window"

 Sometimes I wonder why I even put the toys in baskets. The kids often dump everything out to play with the baskets themselves! Maybe Santa will bring just them a stack of assorted laundry baskets for Christmas. They probably wouldn't be disappointed.

 I love my shelves. I only wish they were overflowing with books. I love books. I am slowly working on my collection. My new Kindle may have slowed me down a bit though...

 Here we have Julia and friend Naomi playing with play-dough in the preschool classroom.

 I usually leave the classroom locked when preschool is not in session. Gabe was excited to see it open and have free reign.

 The bathroom, with the beloved hanging tapestry made by my creative Grandma Julie. It has been a main fixture somewhere in every home/apartment we have lived in.

 I can't really remember why Gabe was crying here. But man, does he look sad!

 Hallways:

 This is what the toy shelf corner looks like on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I teach my little class.

 Looks like Gabe cheered up and began playing with his favorite toys. He is crazy about dinosaurs. Last week he gave me a birthday card with lots of colorful scribbles. He explained, "This is a green-o-saurus, this is a red-o-saurus..."

 And there you have it. There are still a few things to do when we feel like getting around to it (bathroom hardware is still in boxes, closet shelves need to be built, bedroom blinds yet to be installed), but for the most part the basement is done and done. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jonny! We love our green basement.