Tackling The Basement: Chapter Six
We’re back with our weekly basement update (here’s where we left off) and this week we painted the dingy built-in cabinet, added some art, obscured the semi-sheer doors to our armoires and brought in a bevy of bins to organize everything we have on hand (and everything we’re sure we’ll acquire down the line- now there’s lots of room to grow). Here’s just a taste of the latest updates:
But before we get to all the dirty details we owe a huuuuuge thank you to the wonderful peeps at True Value who made a lot of this week’s undertakings possible thanks to their generous gift card (which we’ve been using left and right these days). True Value was the source of the paint for the built-in and a slew of storage bins that we picked up to maximize both armoires and the space under the little Ikea table that we already owned near the door. Our basement never looked so good. Seriously the spiders who used to live down there wouldn’t even recognize the place. Thanks True Value!
But back to this week’s latest projects. First we grabbed some crisp white semi-gloss paint to clean up the built-in wall cabinet that we inherited with the house (we have big plans for what we’ll store there so stay tuned). Here’s what we started with, just to refresh your memory:
And here’s how it looks with a few coats of white paint. It honestly looks as new as our recently purchased Ikea desk to the left of it. Yay paint!
You also may have noticed that we dealt with the semi-sheer panels on the two wardrobes we recently picked up. See, after we filled one with our giant Christmas tree bag and added a few bins up top…
… and used the other armoire to house eight variously sized bins (only two of which we’ve filled- so we still have a lot of available real estate)…
… we were left with colors coming through the fronts of the doors, which looked a bit chaotic and unbalanced thanks mostly to the big red tree bag on the right.
So we snagged two rolls of green and white wrapping paper from Target and cut them each down the middle of the roll to create four nearly perfectly sized panels of paper that we trimmed down a bit more and double-stick-taped to the inside of each door.
Presto, fun color and pattern that comes right through the semi-sheer door panes and adds some textured interest to the entire room. And the total project cost was just $6 (with some paper left over to wrap a few presents). Can’t beat that with a stick.
And you might notice the art hanging above the armoire (along with the large black and white framed print leaning above the table near the window). Well, the print near the window was one that we already had laying around – and it was as if it was meant for the basement (the black frame and moody art looks great with the black stripes in our rug). And the long framed piece above the armoire was actually a recent groomsman gift for John (it’s our last name spelled out in photographs of objects that resemble letters) and it also worked perfectly with the newly spruced basement color scheme.
But how did we hang the print above the armoire when our cinder block walls are so famously difficult to screw into (everything we’ve attempted to secure into the wall pulls out seconds later with a puff of dust)? Well, we grabbed some Command Picture Hanging Strips… and they did the trick! They’re super strong sticky strips that act sort of like extra-strength velcro to hold things in place.
You just remove the protective backing and stick one side to the back of the frame…
… and remove the other side’s protective backing and stick that side of the strip to the wall. Then you apply some decent pressure to the frame against the wall to get things to stick well for about a minute and then separate the pseudo-velcro strips so the pieces on the wall can “cure” for an hour or two without the weight of the frame pulling down on them. Then it’s time to reattach the velcro-ish pieces on the back of the frame to the two pieces that are then completely secure on the wall. Voila: your art is officially hung in a totally screw-free manner. It was so much less frustrating than fighting with our temperamental cinder block!
And because we visually revealed what we were using the bins in both armoires to store (some Halloween decor, an air mattress, some family quilts, etc) we might as well share what those two green bins under the table by the window are currently housing:
They’re storing all of our Christmas decor, which is super amazing since it used to be strewn about the house in various kitchen cabinets, bins under the bed, and boxes in my closet.
It’s so nice to have everything reunited in those cheerful oversized green bins. This stuff shouldn’t excite us that much but for some strange reason it just rocks our world.
So that’s where we are as of this week. Of course we’re still not finished (we have to add some privacy to those windows, create a screen to hide the ugly water heater and share our fun little storage project for the newly painted built-in cabinet) so stay tuned. And speaking of not being finished, do you guys have any projects that are half done? We’d love to know what you’ve started but have yet to finish. Because we of all people can totally relate to how that feels…
Psst- Want to look back on our big basement makeover from start to almost-finished? Here’s the first post, the second post, the third post, the forth post, and the fifth post. Ah memories.
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Comments
I love the paper you used on the doors- that looks great! The groomsmen picture is fantastic too. I’ve seen those before just can’t put my finger on where, but I love them!
Hi guys!
The basement is looking great!
I am curious about your little plants. What are they? Also, are they still in original pots or are they actually planted into the baskets??
B x
Hey Belinda,
They’re faux plants from Ikea! We grabbed them on a whim since we knew we wouldn’t go into the basement and water anything real with much regularity and we tossed them into some baskets that we already had laying around. We love the mixture of texture and greenery- and they actually look pretty convincing (on an Ikea budget no less). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
We’ve had our Aneboda wardrobes for so long, and I was never able to figure out what to do about the semi-transparent doors. This is why I love you guys :) I have some fabric that matches the wall art in our office that would be perfect for this purpose. We actually store clothes in our wardrobes, so I’m pretty sure paper would just get torn up by the hangers.
And leave it to the Petersiks to make plain green plastic bins look absolutely fabulous. A lot of days I wish our home were a blank slate so we could decorate it from scratch without all of our old stuff we have to work around :)
Sorry if you mentioned this previously, but where did you get your little plants and baskets? Are they real plants or faux? Thanks!
… Wow, it would help if I clicked to the last page of comments, wouldn’t it? Sorry about that, never mind, lol!
OMGosh – it just looks so amazing! I love the cohesiveness (as in everything you two do).
For privacy, might I suggest window film as shown here (with all sorts of links): http://www.shelterrific.com/2009/04/23/more-fun-with-window-film/ (You can cut this out of my comment if you don’t want to promote another site. I understand.)
My husband (you’re going to start to think I’m such a shrew but I’m really not) came home from the hardware store with window film but it was this horrid amber color that you could see out through but not in. Anyway, do not get that! Anyway, we’ll be retackling the window film project ourselves one of these days.
Hey Tiffany S,
Thanks so much for the link! We love shelterrific.com and actually revealed a bunch of comments back that we will be using window film (!) so it’s like you’re reading our mind. Stay tuned for that project coming soon- along with our DIY screen to obscure the water heater.
xo,
s
Great makeover, btw, but one thing puzzles me. Why are you storing your bike rack and bikes in the basement instead of in the garage? I would think it would be much easier to get them out from the garage.
I wish my basement were concrete block instead of rock and mortar. I love the look of the foundation from the outside, but it’s rough and very hard to work with from the inside. I am going to try repointing and doing something along the lines of venitian plaster in the wine cellar as an experiment.
Good question! Our big double garage is unfortunately a bit of a haven for bugs and leaves so now that our basement is all finished and dry and bug free it really appeals to us for bike storage because they’re all clean and pristine (which definitely encourages us to ride them more). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This has my husband and I drooling. We’ve been trying to tackle our junk room to make a guest bedroom/media room and our garage has had us down. First we have to get our garage under control, though. Did you guys consider the Pax wardrobe series from IKEA, by chance? The sliding doors are appealing for our tight-on-space garage, and since we don’t have a basement, that is our biggest storage zone, which we’d also like to use to park cars one of these days! Was price a determining factor? Let me know.
I’ve really enjoyed your blog for over a year now, through some big-time house transformation and the birth of our first child. I hope you’re enjoying preparations for your own little one; babies are such a blessing, and you’ll appreciate having all that organization in place BEFORE the baby is born, as I’m sure you’re already aware!
Hey Renee,
We did consider going with Pax wardrobes (as mentioned in this space planning video we whipped up a few weeks ago) and actually have two of them in our bedroom (we love ‘em!) but they’re larger and therefore more expensive and we knew we could get by with the space in two Aneboda wardrobes instead of two Pax ones (a choice that saved us $100). If you need sliding doors though they’re definitely a better choice with more options and fittings- plus they’re more solid since they’re not up on little legs so they might just be the perfect choice for you. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Thanks, Sherry!
I knew I had seen all the options for the basement somewhere… I have to warn you that my OBGYN says that with each child you also give birth to half of your brain (I hope you miss out on that wonder of childbirth, but I definitely appreciate a “medical” excuse for my new-found forgetfulness!)
I appreciate the quick response! Take care,
Renee
i was searching for storage wardrobes today (for the millionth time) and ran across the aneboda wardrobes on ikea and recognized them from a certain blog i read. i’ve garage-saled and craigslisted and googled myself to death and can’t find a wardrobe that is both in my price range and aesthetically appealing. and i need storage in my guest room RIGHT NOW. i just can’t take it anymore. so. . . my q for you is, since there’s only one teeny shelf in there (and several shelves would really be ideal) can you think of a budget friendly way to shelf that thing up? or do you have any suggestions for a similar, more shelf-y wardrobe? thank you in advance for what i’m sure will be an inspired solution. :)
Hey Josie,
That’s a toughie. Ikea doesn’t sell extra shelves for the Aneboda wardrobe so you’d probably have to cut plywood to fit and create your own shelves. You could also go for a Pax wardrobe from Ikea which comes with unlimited fittings so you can grab as many shelves as you’d like (along with hanging bars, drawers, etc) so that’s a more flexible option that’s only a bit more expensive but also extremely adaptable (we have two in our bedroom and love them). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I love the basement! We will be tackling doing our basement in the next year or so. Thanks for some great and easy ideas!
One question – Can we get a close up of the picture above the tall cabinet?
Ashley
Hey Ashley,
Sure thing, you can see that framed art (which says our last name, Petersik) up close in this post: http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/11/tackling-the-basement-chapter-six/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hey guys, can you tell me where you got your Christmas tree bag? I want one like it but can’t find them anywhere!
Thanks!
Kelly
My hubby and I are just starting to think about a nursery. (Yay!)But unfortunately, the room we will be using doesn’t have a closet. I’ve been considering the Aneboda wardrobes and even went to my local Ikea to try to physically see and feel one but they didn’t have it set up in the show room at the time. Do you think it could stand up to the war zone that will be a kids room, or would the Pax system probably be my best bet?
Hmm, the only safe way to use either system in a nursery would be to anchor them to the wall (very securely) so they can’t fall over on a little one. Of course we’re sure you were planning that anyway. As for your question about sturdiness, the Aneboda might be a bit less solid just because it’s up on little legs (and the Pax would definitely be the more substantial option) but we wouldn’t completely rule out the Aneboda as long as you anchor it securely to the wall so it’s less rickety or unstable (this should provide some nice support for the whole piece). The best test would probably still be to try and see one in person though, just in case you don’t think the sheer-ish door panels (they’re made of a semi-clear plastic ribbed plane) will hold up to repeated beatings with trucks or magic wands. We tend to think most things in a nursery end up taking quite a beating and usually don’t look mint after a few years of kiddos anyway but maybe we just have crazy kids in our family!
xo,
s
Me too, i like that pattern behind the glass, never thought of that one for our piece. As for unfinished projects, we’re still not through with baby-proofing the whole house. I think we’ll never be done with it since our needs will change as our child and family grows.