The never ending basement project

[Danielle9608]

Since everyone is making home journals I wanted to join in the fun and make a basement journal to share our progress. We didn't just move into our house but we have spent the last 4 months finishing our basement into a family room/office. It's not done yet but we hope to be completely done by the end of the summer. Since we are doing most of the work on our own it's going a little slow. Anyways on to the photos.


Some before photos. I had just swept the floor before I took these so that is why it looks so cloudy. There is a lot of dust down there!

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0933-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0934-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0935-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0952.jpg

[Danielle9608]

after some framing:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0953.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0954.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0956-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0957-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0958-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0960-1.jpg

[Danielle9608]

The ceiling goes up:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0967-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0968-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0969-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0970-1.jpg

[Danielle9608]

The walls go up:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0971-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0972-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0973-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0974-1.jpg

[Danielle9608]

Starting some taping and mudding:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0984.jpg

The stairs going to to the basement. We are going to replace the treads with thicker ones and stain and polyurethane them and texture the walls.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0985.jpg

We still have to put up drywall on this wall. It took us so long because we have to round out the edges of the last two stairs before we put drywall over them because they are custom built to the house we can't replace them so we are just going to stain them.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0986.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0987.jpg
We are going to cover that pole with a wooden lolly cover so it doesn't look so ugly.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0988.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0989.jpg

[Danielle9608]

This weekend I hope to have all the drywall up and the first coat of tape and mud on all of the drywall. I would say it's a pretty realistic goal since more the half of the room has the first layer of tape on mud on it.

[mitch]

Looking great. You've done well in the time spent. I'm so jealous. I would die for a Basement.
I always said if i ever had the money to build My own house. I would build a basement. Somewhere for the Washer and Drier.

Then get a massive Drum-Kit and a 50's Jukebox. Inbetween laundry i can go down there and make lots of noise. :winktongue:

BTW Your Basement is bigger than My entire House. :bbeek:

[Danielle9608]

:) Thanks Mitch

[NOTKT]

Looks great! How did the weekend go? :)

[savepaws]

Looking good! It looks like its coming along nicely! I wish I could send FH over to help ya (he does that for a living). :) He just got done helping the neighbors do the same thing in their basement.

[FFC]

Looks like you're making a lot of progress! Great job!

[WBandMe]

wow, it's looking great! What a difference some drywall makes--I can't wait to see it all done!!

[Danielle9608]

So for those of you that don't know what happened to my basement you can read about it here (http://forums.onewed.com/showthread.php?t=26983). The pipe still isn't fixed because the Condo association doesn't have blue prints of the sewer system and neither does the town or the builder. I keep bugging the management company for updates and I get "they are working on it." So until the pipe is fixed I really can't go any further with the basement. Also I still haven't heard any from either insurance company about if we are covered or not. I am getting impatient :irked:

So in light of this whole problem Jon wanted to rethink so decisions we made about the basement. Unfortunately our house is just too small not to finish the basement. We only have 2 bedrooms so once we have a child I NEED an office since I will be working from home one day a week starting in another 3 months. Also with the market the way it is selling is not an option right now.

We *were* going to put down laminate flooring. To match what we have upstairs in the living room/dinning room.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN0817.jpg
But if this problem were ever to happen again (and hopefully it doesn't we are taking steps to prevent it) the floor would be completely ruined. Right now we just have a cement floor down there and I got the idea of refinishing it with an acid wash.

Pros:
Reality inexpensive to finish
Modern (which is our style)
Will not be a big deal if we were to get water again

Cons:
Cold and hard
This was always meant to be a playroom/office so concerns with safety of children playing on cement.

So then I looked into different carpet options to put on the floor. Jon didn't want to spend a lot on a carpet because if the kids spill juice or something then we have to throw away and expensive carpet. But I didn't want to do a "cheap" carpet because I was worried about the padding aspect plus the durability of kids playing on it. Then I found this modular carpet tiles that make up an area rug. They are not cheap but if one gets ruined you can replace that one square instead of the whole rug. PERFECT :)

So I am a little bored at work today and put together a inspiration board. The couch we already own. It's actually upstairs in our living room now. We plan to move it to the basement and buy something new for upstairs.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/basementboard.jpg

[mitch]

Carpet tiles are great for durability and keeping clean. In the UK they have some that go in the washing machine.
If one or two get damaged you can swap them around and put the "yucky" ones under furniture. :winktongue: Or just pay out for a few replacements and not the whole lot.

Love your dining table. I can't wait till we move house next month. I'm so looking forward to getting a dining room back. And seeing the photo of yours just made me want to move house tomorrow.

[Danielle9608]

Carpet tiles are great for durability and keeping clean. In the UK they have some that go in the washing machine.
If one or two get damaged you can swap them around and put the "yucky" ones under furniture. :winktongue: Or just pay out for a few replacements and not the whole lot.

Love your dining table. I can't wait till we move house next month. I'm so looking forward to getting a dining room back. And seeing the photo of yours just made me want to move house tomorrow.

Aww thanks Mitch! I can't wait to see pictures of your new house ... I mean old house ... I mean new old house ... :)

[mitch]

Aww thanks Mitch! I can't wait to see pictures of your new house ... I mean old house ... I mean new old house ... :)

LOL. I can't wait to get in there to take photos. Last time i went round the tenants were out. But it looks like we are moving in a few days earlier than first thought.
I was wondering if i should start a house thread. Just to tell OW the daft things i get up to. I've been finding some weird and wonderful stuff when packing. :huh: Plus it's gonna get hectic here soon because DH's girls are visiting in August. They go home the week before we move.

[Danielle9608]

LOL. I can't wait to get in there to take photos. Last time i went round the tenants were out. But it looks like we are moving in a few days earlier than first thought.
I was wondering if i should start a house thread. Just to tell OW the daft things i get up to. I've been finding some weird and wonderful stuff when packing. :huh: Plus it's gonna get hectic here soon because DH's girls are visiting in August. They go home the week before we move.

You defiantly should start a journal. It's fun to get opinions on stuff plus it helps you from going crazy :)

[starsthrumysoul]

Wow, Danielle.. you have a lot more courage than I do! When we were house hunting, I found it really hard to imagine an unfinished basement finished. Luckily for me, we ended up getting a house that already had a finished basement. I'd like to think that that didn't sway my decision, but it probably did :purplex:

[SerendipityCrafts]

Looking good Danielle! You should both be very proud of yourselves!

Our basement is large & functional but there are elements of it that need a total redo (1950's bathroom, bulkheads at various heights, pipes and stuff not concealed by a bulkhead, missing ceiling tiles, peeling wallpaper, holes in walls, unfinished walls, fugly carpeting, doorless entries). With that said, we don't have the energy, the time, or the money to do it right now so we are going to hold off .........

unless of course, you and hubby want to come (MA isn't all that far from QC) and do it for us (you seem to know what you are doing :))

[mitch]

Our basement is large & functional but there are elements of it that need a total redo (1950's bathroom, bulkheads at various heights, pipes and stuff not concealed by a bulkhead, missing ceiling tiles, peeling wallpaper, holes in walls, unfinished walls, fugly carpeting, doorless entries).

That sounds like a good Saturday night in the house we are moving back into. :rofl:

We had some good times there. Thankfully even better neighbours. :winktongue:

[Docsgirl]

I used to work in a place that had the acid washed cement floors. It looks awesome, and it's really not that cold if the room is well heated.(Yes, I was allowed to walk around barefoot. ;))

[Danielle9608]

So I finally got some good news on Friday about the sewer problem. They found the problem. I guess a clean out pipe cover, it's about half the size of a man hole cover got stuck in the pipe. I have no idea how that could have happened or even how long it's been there. But Dig safe is coming to the house today and they should be giving the okay to dig up the street so they can fix the pipe. Once the pipe is fixed and we have it in writing that the pipe is fixed we can start putting the walls back together. YAY! Also on the subject of good news, I got a quote from a company that does concrete acid staining and they will do it for $800. So we can afford to have someone do it which is great news!

Now if I could only hear back from the Master insurance company to hear if they are going to be covering any of the damage that would make things so much better!

[FFC]

Awsome that they found the issue!!!! I can't wait to see what you end up finishing it with :)

Hoping the insurance company pays up big time for you.

[mitch]

Wow that's an excellent price for the floor.
If that's in US $, change that to UK £ and put the 800 in and it might buy you a 6 foot square of concrete in the UK. :bbeek:
And now they know the problem. Things can move in the right direction. :)

[Brian's Bride]

That's good news about the sewer! Hopefully everything can get back on track. I've never seen an acid washed concrete floor, but your inspiration pics make it look awesome!

[Danielle9608]

Well I haven't said anything about this project in a loooooong time and there is a reason for that. But first lets back up to when we first began the project back in January. :yesnod:

I called the town to find out what permits I needed to pull. They work very strange hours there. 9-11 1-3 and when you call during the office hours you go straight to voice mail. :urgh: I called 4 times (no lie) before getting a person. The building inspector was very UNFRIENDLY and unhelpful. He didn't really take the time to explain what I need to do to get the permits. Admittedly the next thing I did was dumb. :velo:PLEASE learn from me.

I decided we are going to do this without permits because it's a below grade basement and by MA law, it can never been considered or sold as livable space. So we went on our marry way. And then the poop flood came. BTW I realized I never showed pictures. I didn't want to until the insurance claims had been settled. I will only share two because they are gross.

Here you can see how far the water rose. BTW what you see floating, yes that is what you think it is.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1028.jpg

Here you can see where the water came in. It did this non stop for 3 hours and then on and off whenever anyone in the neighborhood flushed for another hour.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1030.jpg

[Danielle9608]

Anyways, so like I said this happened and the health inspector came to check it out. It was all cleaned up by a cleaning crew designed to deal with this kind of stuff and our house was deemed healthy again. The insurance worked it self out. In the end we didn't get everything paid for, but I made my peace with the situation.

So we began to build again. After almost having the walls put back together again (BTW did I mention 1 1/2 feet of wall needed to be cut out cause of the damage?) I get a call from the building inspector. Well apparently the health inspector told the building inspector we were building without permits. And then we got a cease building order. :doh: So then we had to go through the permit process, no biggie right? :no_mention:WRONG! They have to inspect the electrical and framing which is behind drywall! So now what? Take down the walls again? Thankfully 2 of the 4 walls were only dummy walls so you could see everything from the other side. And I took LOTS of photos during the process.

The electrical inspection happened first and went off without a hitch, no walls need to come down! YAY. :ura1: But the building inspection was next and this guy was a meany last time I talked to him. :realmad:

We had the inspection yesterday and turns out we only need to take down half a wall to get some fire retardant insulation in, move a smoke detector and add another. And the best part is we only need to take photos for him and then we can move right along. YAY!! Finally some good news.

So now we are going to get our work on. I want to have this done by the end of 2009.

[Danielle9608]

So the moral of my story is ALWAYS get permits, even if you think it's dumb and not needed.

[gwenshack]

Oh I forgot about the flood! :( I actually forgot about the whole project, it's been so long!

Glad everything got straightened up in the end, but the whole process must have been super frustrating! Now, onward march with the project! And no more crazy disasters!

[FFC]

Dang... you've been through a pestering ordeal. I'm glad it's finally getting settled!

[WebLady]

You sure have been through a lot with this project; glad things are back on track now.

[MrsDM]

May I just saw..."ew" at those poop pictures? I can only imagine how devestating and gross it was for you guys to deal with all of that! Looking forward to the project starting up again!

[Danielle9608]

We just got the floor done today and Jon sent me a photo since he is home right now. I can't wait to see it in person though!

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/photo-2.jpg

[WebLady]

The floor looks good :)

[FFC]

Wow Danielle that looks great!!!

[gwenshack]

Looking good! Hope the whole project gets done soon!

[NOTKT]

Sweet! Can't wait to see more pictures!

[KMS]

Nice! It's coming along well, Danielle.

[Mrs.Johnson111111]

Yea, It's coming along really well... i can't wait to see the finished product pictures. I'm sure it will look great:yesnod:

[melissa1031]

The floor looks good.I can't wait to see the poles after you've covered them.

[Danielle9608]

Here is two more photos - these are more true to the color. Also with my camera phone. I just re-imaged my computer and was too lazy to download drivers for my camera.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/photo3.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/photo2.jpg

It came out more brown then black then I was hoping but I knew going into it that the floor determines what it's going to look like and you really don't have much control. But I still like it.

[Danielle9608]

Now I am trying to figure out a wall color. I am having a really hard time picking.

What do you think? Also keep in mind we have all black leather furniture going down here.

1. light yellow:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/yellow.jpg
2. golden:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/golden.jpg
3. light gray:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/gray.jpg
4. darker beige gray:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/beige.jpg
5. blue gray:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/blue_gray.jpg
6. bluer gray:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/blue_gray1.jpg
7. Robin's Egg:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/robinegg.jpg

[FFC]

I'm a huge fan of the Gray Danielle.... 'specially with black leather furniture!!!

[ikkin510]

I love how the floor turned out! Personally like the light yellow cool for the walls. Can't wait to hear what you decide.

[NOTKT]

I love the blue gray. It gives it a little color but coordinates with everything.

[kgvettegirl]

I like the dark gold color.

[WebLady]

I like the gray or the beige :)

[uptowngirl]

I like the blues - especially the blue gray. :)

The floor turned out so cool - someday Dh wants to do cast concrete counters in our kitchen with some funky staining like that. I love how the stain makes the floor look so soft and warm - not what I would expect from concrete!

[Danielle9608]

So I narrowed my choices down to three. I picked up those small sample sizes to try it out. I am still torn. I like the gray but I'm afraid that it will be too monochromatic with the floor and black furniture.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1160.jpg

Dark gray:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1161.jpg

Light Gray:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1162.jpg

Blue gray:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1163.jpg

And here is the floor one more time:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1156.jpg

I am going to go make some lunch and then start on the ceiling. That is white so at least that's easy. :)

[Dani]

At first I really liked the golden color...but after seeing the light grey that would be my choice!

[WebLady]

Out of the three you choose; I like the light gray :)

[NOTKT]

Yup, I'm still a fan of the blue. With all the non-colors in there, it will be prominent but so subtle. Plus it looks more like a room than a basement. Good luck with the choice, I do think either of the colors will look great. They all mesh with the floor very well.

[Goin2thechapel]

blue!!! Really pretty!!!

[Danielle9608]

It's been a long day of painting, but I am finally done. And the color I picked:










Gray blue

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/photo2-1.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/photo-3.jpg

[Danielle9608]

So all we have left to do now is:

Put the light cover on
Install sconce in hallway
rebuild stairs
drywall hallway
mud and tape hallway
paint hallway
paint and polyurethane stairs
hand doors
put up trim
put up window sill
cover lally column
hook up electrical
install smoke detectors
install heaters


Okay that looks like a lot now that I wrote it all out. But, I still think we will be done before Christmas. I hope ...

[FFC]

It looks great Danielle! Good work!

[Docsgirl]

The floor and wall color look great together! Way to go! :D

[MrsDM]

Wow Danielle! Everything is really starting to take shape! Love the color and the floor together!

[uptowngirl]

That looks great Danielle! I love this stage of a project where all the work actually changes the way that the room looks and feels - somehow it feels like you are making more progress that way!

[NOTKT]

It looks great!

[Nekochanpurr]

Wow!! It looks really good so far!! :D

[Danielle9608]

Anyone want to see more photos?? Okay, I knew you would :)

In the hallway we just have to sand, prime and paint the walls. Put the new stairs in, paint them and put the trim up.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1175.jpg

Here we just have to paint the doors white and put the trim up.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1176.jpg

Here we have to paint the trim on the pole, finished the trim on the pole, baseboard trim, door trim and paint the door.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1177.jpg

And more trim and another door to paint.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1178.jpg

So think weekend we are going to really buckle down and try to finish all this. We have new furniture coming Dec 19th, for upstairs which is really coming along nice. And then that furniture will come down here.

[Danielle9608]

In case you are wondering what we did upstairs it's mainly just redecorating. Here is what is used to look like. That big TV is coming downstairs.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1152.jpg


And here it is now.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1174.jpg

[Goin2thechapel]

I LOVE IT DANIELLE!!!!!

Beautiful color!!! And stairs SUCK to install and make pretty...Luckily Jon's father helped him out. It was sooo annoying!

Anyways, you can SOOO get it done! Plus, you'll need the extra entertaining space for YOUR FIRST CHRISTMAS HOSTING DINNER!!!!!!

[brendalin]

Everything is coming along so nicely! I LOVE those black and white chairs!!! SO CUTE!!!

[FFC]

I love what you did upstairs - it's so much brighter and it's so classy! Great job! Can't wait to see downstairs done!

[MrsDM]

Oh I love everything you guys had did!!! The upstairs looks AWESOME and so inviting!! I can't wait to see the finished product of downstairs!!!

[Nekochanpurr]

Daniellle, that looks sooooooo awesome!! :D I love what you did with the upstairs!!

[NOTKT]

Wow! That looks great!

[WebLady]

It has come a long way; looks great :)

[lilmsjess]

gawd. i definitely need to come here more often! you ladies are better than hgtv!!! ;)

i took my time reading everything, and really like the blue ;) myself and fh, we'd probably have done blue ourselves, or if just me, a dark cream with a black trim(black furniture, black/brown floor lol)...and i LOOOOOOOOVE:hearts: the upstairs tv console! where'd you get that!?? i'd love to have one!!! and i think it's looking really bright, and like 1 lady said, classy up there!!! can't wait to see the finished bottom! i like how you turned the pipe into a column :) and you know, legally you may not be able to consider that liveable space, but you and i BOTH know, that basement would sell that house!!! i kind of like the stairs, especially with the wall that close...i think it'd be neat to raise it to another of the steps, and make a true step down into the "living" area :winktongue:...i'm hoping we buy a home with high ceilings in the master and kitchen/dining, cos i'd LOVE to raise the bed up, and be able to "separate" the kitchen/dining area, and i've always thought steps do that...

you guys are doing great! that truely sucks about the poo poo! glad everything turned out! and you know, if it came down to it, i'd rather pay that $ for stained cement, than carpet...BUT, fh and i would definitely look into floor heating ;) lol it'd be great for kids!

[Danielle9608]

Thanks Jess. The tv console upstairs is made from 3 separate pieces of furniture. A electric fireplace that we got from Walmart. And 2 bookcases from Ikea.

The new stairs are in. The all the trim is up, the last thing left to do it finish painting, and some touch up work. I will be sure to get a photo this weekend after everything is done. I can't believe we are so close to finishing. I felt like this would never get done!

[Kfancii]

Wow! Danielle the basement looks great, but I really love what you did upstairs! Your house is going to feel like a brand new home! Beautiful!!

[Danielle9608]

Wow! Danielle the basement looks great, but I really love what you did upstairs! Your house is going to feel like a brand new home! Beautiful!!

Thanks Kelly!!

I finally found a picture of the sofa we are getting for upstairs. It's getting delivered on the 19th. I can't wait!
http://www.domesticsale.com/mainclass/photos/7/7/1250814413vpe.jpg

[MrsDM]

Love the sofa! I can't believe the entertainment unit wasn't sold all together!! Awesome!

[Danielle9608]

Love the sofa! I can't believe the entertainment unit wasn't sold all together!! Awesome!
Thank you! Seriously I must have gone to 100 stores looking for the perfect bookcases that was the right size for that wall. They were kinda pricey for what they are ($80 a piece) but in the end I was really happy.

[Nekochanpurr]

Thats a super cute couch!

[Docsgirl]

I love your living room! ;) I want it!

[Qtpie]

Danielle, I love what you have done with the upstairs, it looks amazing.

[Danielle9608]

So with 9 days left till Christmas and a bunch of family coming I am a bit stressed. I will feel so much better once the couch gets here. I am so worried something will go wrong and there wont be a place for people to sit. LOL this is our "couch" now.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1190.jpg

And we are still putting things together downstairs.


http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1191.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1192.jpg


I have a lot of organizing to do tonight! At least we passed all our inspections so we are legal now :)

[MrsDM]

Whoo hoo for passing inspection! Your basement is really starting to come together! Love your living room couch lol! Ditto looks adorable in that picture!! :)

[FFC]

Yay for being legal!!! When is your couch supposed to be in?

[Danielle9608]

Yay for being legal!!! When is your couch supposed to be in?

Saturday. I am mainly worried cause its a sectional that can be reversed and they lady ordering it kept going back and forth about the left or right side. I really hope she got it right. :crossfingers::crossfingers:

[FFC]

Saturday. I am mainly worried cause its a sectional that can be reversed and they lady ordering it kept going back and forth about the left or right side. I really hope she got it right. :crossfingers::crossfingers:

Gotchya. Well :cheers: Here's to the holidays and making the best of things if they do go wrong - but they're not going to go wrong for you because you deserve your holiday to be perfect :)

[Danielle9608]

Gotchya. Well :cheers: Here's to the holidays and making the best of things if they do go wrong - but they're not going to go wrong for you because you deserve your holiday to be perfect :)

Aww thank Justina. I really do hope we can catch a break after all we have been through this year.

[Danielle9608]

Here is two pictures of the hallway with the new stairs in. We still have to put the chair rail up and I have to touch up spots that we nicked moving furniture down.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1193.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1194.jpg

[MrsDM]

Oh I love how the stairs are two-toned!

[Danielle9608]

Oh I love how the stairs are two-toned!

Thank you! That was my idea. Jon didn't think it would look good but he is happy how it turned out.

[Danielle9608]

There is this one spot you can see in the photo that has the old carpet tack on the stairs at the very top. I tried my hardest to get that sucker out and it just wouldn't budge. Jon said to stop being a perfectionist and that it's a basement and I would be the only one to notice it.

[FFC]

Oh I'm with you on that Danielle - iIt would bug me if that were my stairwell too! But it looks FANTASTIC!!!!!!! You guys have done an awesome job!

[savepaws]

I am just now catching up with this whole thread. First of all, the poopy flood sounds (& looks) like it was horrible! So sorry you had to go through that!! Is it a job requirement for inspectors to be jerks? The building inspector in our town is a total butthead too!

But after everything, it has turned out wonderful!! I love the colors you chose for the basement. I love the green on your walls in the pic with Ditto. I hate painting but it makes me want to paint the walls in our house - we won't be doing it until we re-drywall everything and put up new ceiling. The stairs turned out really neat too, I love the 2 different colors. :)

You did an awesome job with the tv console too! You have good decorating sense...something I'm really lacking in!!

[melissa1031]

I LOVE that couch!!!!

[NOTKT]

Everything will come together, I have faith! I also love the stairs, that was a great idea!

[Danielle9608]

Thank you so much for all the nice comments ladies. I did a bit more organizing downstairs last night, But I have to run out today and pick up some of those felt pads for under the furniture so we don't scratch the floors. My dad is coming over the weekend to help up hook up the cable, and hopefully Jon will get the chair rail up tonight.

My back really hurts from sitting on the upstairs "couch" I can't wait till Saturday!

[brendalin]

YAH! So glad to hear that you passed your inspection! What a sigh of relief that must have been!

Everything is really coming together! I am in love with the steps.... I hate you a little bit now because I am now going to add this to our GROWING list of projects!;)

Can't awit to see how the couch looks in the basement. Looks so comfty!

[WebLady]

Everything has come together great so far! Hope you get your couch on time and can enjoy your new room :)

[NOTKT]

Did your couch get delivered?

[Danielle9608]

I did and I suck cause I haven't taken any pictures yet because my house is a MESS. I was baking all weekend. But tomorrow I am doing a big clean because I have people coming over for Christmas and then I will take pictures. The couch came the correct way but there actually was one problem. The couch has legs and the legs screw into a metal piece and one of them was missing. The guys wanted to bring the whole couch back but they were also certain I wasn't going to get another till Christmas. Then I (nicely) explained how I had people coming over for Christmas and their would be no place for them to sit. So the guy went out to the truck and got a bolt to attach to the back of the leg. Which works great. But I am still going to call the store and see if they can send me the missing part.

[savepaws]

I'm so glad the couch arrived! That's too bad about the missing part but at least they were able to fix it temporarily without taking the whole couch back!!

[Danielle9608]

Okay I promised I would show the final photos so here they are.

Here is downstairs. We still need to put some art on the walls and get some throw pillows. Oh and don't mind the pile of laundry.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1201.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1202.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1204.jpg

And upstairs all done.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1205.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1206.jpg

This one is a little dark but I wanted to show off the new curtains.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff190/danielle9608/DSCN1207.jpg

[WebLady]

Everything looks great Danielle :)

[Ninedays9]

It looks very nice! I like the couch upstairs; it looks really comfy.

[NOTKT]

I love everything, you did an amazing job!

[FFC]

Danielle it looks fantastic! And I LOVE that couch (upstairs). I've looked at that almost exact couch before but Matt keeps saying no cuz the dogs and kid will mess it up too quick :doh:

[Danielle9608]

Danielle it looks fantastic! And I LOVE that couch (upstairs). I've looked at that almost exact couch before but Matt keeps saying no cuz the dogs and kid will mess it up too quick :doh:

Yea that is actually why we put the leather downstairs. We want to make that the kid zone. If juice get spilled on the leather you just wipe it off with a damp rag. We are hoping to keep upstairs as adult zone for the most part.

[savepaws]

It looks awesome Danielle! Good job!! I bet you are so glad to be done! I just love how the basement floor looks.