Redoing the basement

If there is one thing about me that has not changed since childhood is my inability to be happy with the way things are organized in my house. When I was younger, my father actually made me a scaled version of my room out of IBM Punch Cards that were tossed out as the university no longer used them. I absolutely loved being able to rearrange my room and know that things would just "work."

Since moving into the townhome, it has been a constant battle to figure out the best way to use the space. Maybe part of it is because there is so much more space. However, part of it is also because we try something and it just does not seem to work the way we have envisioned it to. I think that's been the biggest thing with the latest remodel.


We wanted to have everyone eat at the table together, but we couldn't find enough space to do that upstairs with the living room where it was designed to be. The layout really wasn't designed for a family of six, so we have to adjust. Thankfully, we have a HUGE basement area. Peanut was given a section of the basement for her stuff and some time alone. Then we moved the living room downstairs to open up a large space upstairs for our kitchen table. The final section of the living room was where I was to work out and the girls to play a bit.

This did not go as planned at all. We hated having the couch sticking out, as it caused a choke point in the basement. We also started to struggle with my daughter's OCD because she didn't want people anywhere near her space. Then the girl's stuff went everywhere and I was terrible about working out. I abhored going into the laundry area because it was just a mess. Something had to change.

It isn't easy envisioning something and then trying to make it work while you are also finishing up your school semester. Therefore, this project has been super slow. Which of course is hell on MY OCD and perfectionist issues. Not to mention that I have to keep sweeping the floor because I like to be barefoot and there are sand particles still floating around.

HOWEVER, we are making progress. I decided the laundry area would be my first place. It was already fairly clean and just needed to be organized a bit. It didn't hurt that we had found a new (to us) washer and dryer. We gave our other units to family members who were in need of them and then I got everything set up. After getting the washer and dryer area, I decided to go through our pantry and actually donate the food that we will never get around to eating. We have been blessed with donations over time, so anything that is still good and we won't eat is going to Harvester's.

I am fairly happy with the progress. It still has some work to be done, but it is a good stopping point where I can tinker on other areas.

2 of our shelves, the one on the left will be bulk items that
we need and the one on the right will be pantry.

Then we found a GREAT corner desk on Craigslist for $30 and I decided I needed to move my school and work area away from the kitchen table. While it is great to be up there watching the girls play, I sprawl when I'm working. This prevented anyone else from being able to just come home and use the table. In addition, I didn't have anyway to set up my multi-monitor plan or get myself to workout.

So, in the corner of the basement where the sandbox used to be, we decided to put down a nice rug and the computer desk. The girls absolutely love being by my side and soon, I will have their big play area finished. This is a MASSIVE work in progress and the picture below only shows where things stand at the moment.

Now ... bear with me. I'm about to show you part of what I have left to do. What happens when you are rearranging, you make a mess in the process. Unfortunately, Peanut had a really hard time with sharing of the basement and due to this, we were forced to completely change plans. She now has a LARGE closet for all of her belongings and then she is being allowed to hang out in her room or on the couch for her free time. Anyone who has tweens or teens understands the battle with entitlement. This is our battle. I have a feeling that this battle will be a day to day fight until she eventually moves out of the house. I just keep repeating to myself that she really can be an angel when she wants to be and she's unbelievably talented. She's just almost 13. *whew*

*the third shelf that needs trimmed and will be where
our storage will be kept off the floor*

So, let me walk you through the space. Where the couch is right now will actually be a LARGE open area with a carpet/rug thing on the floor. There will be a small table under the fuse box on the wall, and there will be toys in an organized fashion. This will be where the girls get to play. I am SO excited because this will take the toys OUT of the current dining room and put them in a place where the girls can really play and create. They can also have their small blue table down there. We are going to have bins for cars, Legos, animals, My Little Ponies, and Barbies ... at least. I also am hoping to have a small bookshelf built for them to put their books away.

The area that is all the way in the back is going to be our "living room" space. We are going to slide the couch all the way down and where Peanut's current dresser and desk is will be where the TV will go.

I am SUPER excited about everything and we have had wonderful friends and family that have donated items to help with the renovations (including light switch covers, rugs, drapes, and lamps).

What are your thoughts? I am sure I will be hitting Pinterest pretty hard to figure out how I want to organize the space. Let me know some thoughts you have in the comments below ... or if you have ideas on battling with the entitlement fight.