Prudent and Practical

The last week has been full of projects (and shopping)!  We’ve accomplished three projects and have more to come this week.

1 – After a few late nights and a lot of touch ups, we have the basement painted!  We have ivory on the top and red on the bottom.  Both are Pittsburgh Paint’s colors.  We left a white strip in the middle to see what it would look like.  We love it but think it needs a little oomph so we’re heading to our fave home improvement store to pick up some molding that we will paint white.

A tip for those who haven’t painted a dark color on a light wall:  take into account that you’ll need to paint 2-3 times.  The first layer of paint looks very splotchy and uneven.  The second layer covers up any light spots and the third painting is for touch ups. (I think the same could be said about painting a light color over a dark wall.)

Every house has their weird and quirky things (I could write a whole post about this ) and the basement has been no different from the upstairs.  The most recent thing is the installation of the 2x4s.  My understanding is that the 2×4 has a 4-inch depth.  The 2x4s in our basement are turned so that it’s a 2-inch depth.  D speculated that it added square footage – 6 square feet to be exact!  The studs are not on 16″ or 24″ centers and seem to be randomly scattered throughout the walls.  This has caused a slight problem with where the projector will sit.  We’re trying to figure out what to do.

2 – We have a super retro little side table that has had faux maple wood grain – yuck!  I think the modular-ness of the table will look great in the room, so I have painted it black.  It looks like it belongs in the basement now!

3 – D and I built a frame for around the projector screen.  This is helping to keep the projector on the wall.  It will also hold black curtains and a valance.

We are so impressed and excited with the progress so far – recessed lighting, paint, screen frame, and a table.  It’s made a huge difference!  The room now feels warmer and much more up to date.

The quest is on for finding some decent used cabinets.  Every once in a while something pops up on Craigslist, but we let it slide because we don’t have a hauling vehicle (aka: truck or van) and everybody wants you to haul it.  I’ve also checked for carpet and tile on Craigslist.  The carpets are remnants (we need 12′x30′) and the tile is ugly so far.

While D was at the game on Saturday, I ran around shopping.  I have all the materials for a Christmas gift for the dogs (more on this in the next couple days!), bought six large frames for movie posters, and black imperial velvet to make movie screen curtains.  The best part about about it was that most of the stuff was on sale.  It’s going to be a busy week!

I’m happy to share this post with:

• Three or More Tuesday @ The Gypsy’s Corner