Inspirations

Over the weekend, Kyle and I decided to organize the basement. Although it was clean, it needed a little tidying up. We put the AC units in the cubby holes in the walls, threw out the broken-down boxes from when he moved in last year. Got rid of some of the previous owner's junk left behind, swept, vacuumed the floors, walls, and spider/cobb webs in the beams, hung a shelf over the sink, and fixed a drafty hole in the far corner of the larger cubby area.

This task took us an entire day, but we got it done and the results are great. A nice clean slate to start a future project! hehe. The basement is quite cozy. It's not damp (thanks to the dehumidifier), it's certainly not cold (Steam heat furnace, the pipes keep the basement decently warm), and it has it's own entrance to the outside and the kitchen! SCORE!

Kyle wants to make a section of the basement a video gaming area or something similar. He wants to bring the large TV to this area after we get the new flat screen for the living room, bring the gaming chairs down and get a futon and an area rug. I think it is a great idea! A MAN CAVE!

Being the creative genius that i am, i threw up the idea of a nautical themed area.. with blues, and reds and whites and sandy colors. One of the cubby doors i would make a SCUBA sign to hide it a bit, the second cubby door i would either put the blue and white diver down flag or a map of the Caribbean or something similar.

We decided to paint the walls as if you were under the Caribbean waters.. dark aqua at the bottom gradually lightening to the ceiling. Paint the floor a sandy color because the current slate grey color won't fit the theme and also it's dingy looking. I think a nice tan color will make it warmer and brighter. As much work as that is to do i can't WAIT to get started on it.

My mind has been going a mile a minute ever since we thought this up. What type of things can i decorate and accessorize with? For inspiration i turned to HGTV's Color Splash episode of the kids' underwater basement that David Bromstad so cleverly designed. Only this isn't for kids, it's for MEN kids. Also, that basement was HUGE, ours is tiny and very low so i have to use lighter colors.

I chose to instead look at the elements in his design.. colors, textures, things of that nature. Pillows will be my big texture element. I found, in my journey tonight, microfiber bath mats that could symbolize coral in a chartreusey looking sagey green.. indicative of underwater coral that i saw while snorkeling in Aruba. Although it is VERY expensive.. so i found on the lower end a similar looking product just not in micro fiber! less than 12 bucks and i can make 2 nice pillows out of it. I picked up glass votive holders and enamel paints to add an element of color as well.. i might just paint coral on them i have not decided yet.

I think also, instead of an area rug we will get carpet tiles. If someone spills something or if the cat vomits (sorry) on it we can clean them easily and if it's beyond cleaning we can replace 1 tile instead of the entire rug. Thanks for the idea HGTV! These tiles can be found on the Internet for nearly 1/2 the price as the big box stores and you get more product! I'm sold!

Here are some pictures of the basement after we cleaned it out.. The only thing we have left to do is move the workbench (the one the American Flag is hanging from, the other cabinet looking bench in the last photo will eventually be my computer desk) to the garage and I'm going to start painting the walls. The kitchen and the dining room are going to have to wait on this.. I'm too excited to think about them at this point! lol. I'll keep you updated with the progress as it happens.



~T