The Basement Spin Off Project Post

This month I tackled The Organization Junkie's 29 Day Organizational Challenge. The space I organized, as most of you know, was the basement. In my Reveal post yesterday, I said this is the place stuff goes to die--or to be rehabilitated--or to simply wait for a decision. One of the reasons I wanted to tackle it was precisely this: there were projects that needed to be done just piling up down there.

Here are a few of them.

1) The downstairs bathroom ceiling.

I took photos of the before, trust me. I lost them though in the Great Computer Crash of January '12.

The ceiling is dropped--in two places. Over the tub, it's dropped because our stairs turn and climb over the back of the tub. This area is drywalled and plastered. (But it's not drywall and plaster but whatever it is they used back in the late forties to smooth finish a ceiling. Whatever.)

The ceiling is also dropped over the sink and toilet area --but because of the bath fan. This was a DIY project by whoever put up the horizontal pine planks in the basement--cause that's what s/he used for the ceiling.

I had to go back a long way--back to when I first painted the area over the tub blue (Oct 2007!) to show you what was what.

and this one shows just how silly it was:

Here's an "in progress" shot from last month, showing just how "dropped" the "ceiling" is--and the direction I was going:

(Yes, I am flat on my back, head wedged down by the toilet.)

After one coat of primer and two of paint, those planks made it back up stairs and onto the ceiling.



Ugh. I have to put up the bath fan cover. I forgot. Also, it seems as though the planks don't fit properly. Maybe they never did. And the part over the bath tub needs another coat--but I ran out. But the curved shower rod? Best. Thing. Ever. Honest.

But still, better?

Let's see, what else?

My husband was home last week and did all of these projects for me. I just have to finish them.

2) The media "cabinet" got an extra shelf. He cut it from pine, bevelled the edge and installed it.

Seems like it's a stage for an Alien vs Predator battle.

I need to stain it.

3) My living room now has abundant seating. All through January, while we watched two entire seasons of CSI on DVD together, my teenage son took the IKEA chair and my daughter, my husband, me and the dog (!) piled into the couch. It's not that big. Trust me.

A motley collection, to be sure, but the dog's happier.

We brought up a chair from the basement with chewed uphostery from the dog's puppy days and threw a blanket over it: I need to slipcover it. My husband repaired the rocking chair: I need to recover that pillow.

4) We got a "new" footstool, too. This has been waiting for repair for years. Deadalus cut and shaped a new leg. He'd never done anything like it before.

(Getting the living room ready for her beauty shot. It's also shedding season.)

I think he did well. I don't know whether to stain it (it won't ever "match") or to paint them all? I also need to tighten that cover, which I like, or recover it.

5) A new toy.
A dresser found in the alley. My husband glued a broken drawer.



So, there we have it. Five projects got done as a result of cleaning out that basement this month. That's intentional enough to count as William Morissing my home, I think. Looking forward to next month and crossing more off that list.

Linking to the ever-wonderful Pancakes and French Fries.