Before and After-ish

So a ways back I wrote about how we were getting ready to remodel our basement to turn it into a playroom. Well, in case you were wondering, it's DONE!! As I mentioned in the earlier post, this is Phase 1 of the project. The idea here was to turn this dark, unwelcoming basement into a bright, inviting, usable room, and I think we've succeeded pretty nicely. This past Saturday we finally put down the foam flooring and I was able to get some After pictures that show what the completed (for now) project looks like.

Phase 2 will eventually consist of finishing off the long wall that the closets are on and building some shelves and closets to store toys, games, videos, etc. etc. But I think you'll agree it's already quite a transformation!


I forgot to take true Before pictures, so this one is from Day 2 of the project, after the guys removed the doors, took down the ceiling, and ripped up the floor tiles. Here Rob is in the process of installing one of the six recessed light fixtures that were added to brighten the room up (we did keep the existing single-bulb fixture at the bottom of the stairs, and the recessed lighting is on a separate dimmer switch).


Here's a view from the opposite end of the room, looking toward the stairs. This was taken before the yucky single-pane basement windows were replaced with glass block.


Ta-da!!! A light, bright, colorful, cushioned space for the kids to play, make noise (within reason) and generally hang out. That's a futon to the left there, and on the cabinet that now encloses the sump pump and water meter, we have a TV, VCR, and DVD player.


Here's that second angle looking toward the stairs again (with a little moppet on the stairs!). Rob and his crew painted pretty much EVERYTHING--walls, doors, ceiling, ventilation ducts. The room seems so clean. It's too bad this was taken after dark so you can't really see how great the glass block windows look. That's a post for another time I guess. By the way, we are planning to get new doors for the closet at the bottom of the stairs...it just hasn't happened yet.