Hi All! Question for you: Regardless of how long you've lived in your home, have you ever wondered if the way you've arranged a certain room or area is making the absolute most out of that space? Or maybe there's a space you are not in love with, but you live with it as-is because you can't see it any other way. I think we've all been there at some time or another.
This was our basement three weeks ago: At the time of this photo, I thought our basement was as good as it could be. I didn't love it, but I didn't see it any other way.
And around the corner, our guest 'nook'.
Our basement is an awesome space which we are SO grateful for. We've watched all three of our kids learn how to walk down there. We love hosting friends and family for board games, movies, and football games. There's a full bathroom, windows, a laundry / storage room, and lots of floor space.
And yet...
With the position of the sectional sofa, we were splicing the floor space in half. It was making the space really choppy, with no real open room for the kids to spread out and play. Our kids, now 4, 4, and 3, take up a bit more room than they did when they were babies, and the space was just feeling smaller and smaller for them to play.
But...
Because of the exposed brick you can see in the first picture,(the remnants of an old wood-burning stove that this home had years and years before we ever moved in), we didn't really see another option for our TV. The weird panel of brick seemed like an obvious focal point for the TV to go, but that left half of the sectional sofa floating in the middle of the room, and the other half was way too close to the TV.
So we moved some things around, you know, just to see...
We moved the TV across the room. And guess what?! Not a bad seat in the house now!
The guest nook looks just about the same, (more on that space and how I planked a wall with a Sharpie here). I'm considering adding curtains that could be anchored on either side so that when we do have overnight guests, they can have a tiny smidgen of privacy.
And there are the toys. Let's talk about toys for a sec. I know there are tremendously creative options for hidden toy storage out there and we've used a couple ideas in other areas of our home. But the truth is, I just don't mind seeing them. I'll miss them some day. I love the random arms of excavators sticking out, the inclined ladders atop the firetrucks, the rotors of helicopters, the fuzzy scarves for dress up - all those things that are really tricky to keep out of sight are okay with me in sight. We didn't have kids on accident, (well, not all of them - our third was a...pleasant surprise), so I don't try to pretend that their toys don't exist all over our home.
The sunburst mirror is the second DIY I can't wait to share from my paint stick hoard! (See the first here: The rustic wooden lampshade). I also painted the brick a very light aqua, which is way more fun down here than the previous poorly painted white.
This ottoman, which I found at Goodwill last year for $5, has seen 4 fabrics now. But this gorgeous rainbow tweed, (from JoAnns), is the tops. Here to stay. Matt even made new legs for it, (which he did for the sofa as well so that it could fit over the brick jutting out on the floor).
And this rug is my dream rug. I've wanted a black and white Swiss cross rug for a nice long time. This one cost nothing. Check out how I made it later this week!
I titled this post 'Basement Therapy' because ever since we changed the layout to what we have now, things have been different. We've hardly turned on the TV for the kids, I've heard far less arguing during their play, (which has grown even more imaginative), and the space just makes me feel peaceful and calm. I have sat down here almost every morning enjoying the early sun, listening to my children play with my Bible and journal in my lap. I don't know how else to describe it other than I am delighted by this space. Delighted by the moments that are happening because it's working far better for our family than it was before.
It took us over 4 years to try something different, but I'm so grateful for what it is now. A huge thanks to my husband for coming up with this idea and making it happen, (he worked his tech magic to reroute all the TVs cords).
Coming up, I'll be sharing some of the special DIYs that have gone into this space, as well as a couple more that are still up my sleeve. :)
Can anyone relate to today's post? Any spaces that have thrown you off a bit? I would love to hear your experience!
Thank you for stopping by!
~Chelsea
This post was published under Chelsea's Garage, now affectionately known as StyleMutt.