In case you don’t follow me on twitter (what?! you don’t??? *gasp* Aw, it’s okay. I never tweet anything worth reading.)… we are remodeling the basement.
Calling it a “remodel” instead of just a “model” is laughable, because it currently looks like this:
Try to look around the cuteness that is those boybarians if you can. See behind it? That is my photo studio!
And by “my”, I mean MINE. Got that, HandyMan?
Current problem?
Big couch. Little door.
And before you all email me about not saving that couch, I’m going to spare you the stories of the bodily fluids – both animal and human – that have baptized that couch. Add to the fact that cheap leather + Thomas the Tank Engine toys + tons of legos does not = happy couch. Trust me, that couch is happy to be put out of its oversized misery.
My baby spent most of the day with that piece of wood. Boys love big sticks, don’t they?
Big couch, little door = no longer a problem.
Now I need inexpensive flooring ideas! It needs to be durable, withstand boybaric traffic, make a good photo backdrop and not make me have to sell one of those cute boybarians to afford it. What are your favorite flooring tips?
ps – HandyMan wore that outfit to the grocery store. He so did. And I sooo laughed at him.
pss – Would you all pretty please go love on my friend Heather? She needs you.
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
The goggles and hat perched like that totally make the outfit. I almost choked on my coffee. Your Handyman is fun-ny.
Ruthanne´s last blog ..Eclectic Whatnot {and then some}
ps – I’m diggin’ Einstein’s flip flops. That’s a guy after my own heart right there.
Ruthanne´s last blog ..Eclectic Whatnot {and then some}
My boys are a piece of work, aren’t they? Einstein wore flip flops and a bike helmet most of the day. The other boys wore cowboy boots. And Handyman? I have no explanation for my HandyMan.
But, I think that shirt involves JCrew and the year 1998.
Well, ya know ~ 1998 was a good year.
Ruthanne´s last blog ..Eclectic Whatnot {and then some}
I’m wondering how it got in there in the first place!
Molytail´s last blog ..Settling into the new place…
Ha! Good question! I don’t even remember how they got it in the house. But maybe it was before the door frames were on???
Ha! We’re about to start just such a project on a VERY tight budget. I’m dreading the arguements to come!
Flooring ideas:
Stained concrete….cheap
Tile
Laminate floors
BUT, if there’s a water leak, the laminates would probably be ruined. Something I saw a while back on HGTV was vinyl floors that look hardwood. Sounds ugly but Candice Olsen used them several times and she never has an ugly room! lol…
True that about Candice Olsen. Maybe I can convince her to come down to the US from the arctic tundra and build me a photo studio?
Water leaks – although not likely where I am – are a possibility. I would be weary of anything that would need to be replaced if it got wet.
Carrie – I’m expecting photos of your progress, esp if we’re doing about the same thing at the same time!
I would consider a high gloss epoxy paint in white/light color for the concrete floor. Maintenance might be more, but the cost is almost nothin’.
I agree that there are vinyl floors you can peel and stick in planks that make a pretty good substitute. Someone remind Darcy who has the great tutorial for that on her blog?
I remember when you painted your daughter’s room last spring. I never would have believed it, but the floors looked great. How are they holding up?
Oooo… Your very own photo studio?!
I so hope my HandyMan reads that comment. “My very own.”
He seems to have other ideas.
Looks fun!!!!!!
Samantha´s last blog ..So I Changed It Back…
When dh and I were first married we got an entertainment center stuck in the stairwell of our Chicago apartment and we had to cut the top third off. The difference was that we still used it for a few years after that — just stuck some spider plants on top to cover the saw marks, lol!
We just started a basement project as well. I’m even blogging about it, sort of ( Basement Blues). We’re a long way from picking out flooring, so I have no advice there.
ps – I think we had the same couch in our basement, ours was the hunter green version. It’s now being used by a church youth group, but my dh probably would have preferred to cut it in half too. : )
Kellie´s last blog ..A little bird told me…
Two suggestions:
Cheap – stain the concrete.
More expensive – FLOR tiles. They are so cool and versatile. Plus you can pull one up and clean or replace it in case of more bodily fluid issues. You don’t have to replace the whole floor.
http://www.flor.com/
Digging the outfit. Digging it.
Amy loves Bud´s last blog ..Oh how I don’t want to post this…Goals
Okay, I have seen worse grocery store outfits… unless he wore the goggles. In which case he is the winner!
Marsha´s last blog ..Surrender
Your own studio? And an intern? I am in awe of you.
We bought our flooring at a discount place and had it installed by a small company. Much cheaper than the big stores and we were able to get really nice flooring. We actually told them to show us the crappiest-looking flooring they had because I happen to love the distressed look. But I also have a neat-freak husband, two kids, and a dog. So the already-distressed thing really works for us.
Angela @ Homegrown Mom´s last blog ..Do You Remember your Grandma?
BwaaaHaaaaa!! Hilarious! I shouldn’t get so revved up laughing this hard at midnight! Gah!– you’ve got a real steal there. Not many men can/will cut a couch in half for their missus.
Love your pictures. Always.
Wendy @Sun-Kissed Savages´s last blog ..Heart Homeschooling: the whys, hows, and daily living stuff
I second the idea of painting the concrete. I have seen the vinyl flooring that looks like wood in two different places and was fooled BOTH times. The nice thing about vinyl is that is more comfortable to stand on than the cheaper laminates (which is like standing on cardboard all day-yuck) and if you damage it, it’s relatively easy to replace small portions of them.
Looks like the guys had fun tearing stuff up!
we’ve taken our couch apart just like that. the funnest thing the boys ever did, and they were probably the same ages as your kids are now. good luck with the flooring. I’ll be taking notes.
Julia in WDM´s last blog ..Watercolor update
*singing and clapping* “Darcy’s getting a studio! Darcy’s getting a studio!”
Handyman and the boybarians are all adorable in those pics! I love how the boys are all so very intent on what their Daddy is doing in that last pic.
Yep, sometimes I get a giggle (sometimes a groan) out of what my Hubby willingly wears in public. *sigh*
Anna K.´s last blog ..Meal time giggles…in pictures.
At Home Depot (which I admit is the place I work) there is a vinyl flooring called Allure. It comes in both a wood look and a tile with grout look, many color choices. Since it is vinyl, it is basically waterproof, and it is much quieter than laminate. It applies like a tongue & groove hardwood or laminate. It is about $2.39 a square foot, and has a 25 year warranty.
We just finished out basement, and you wouldn’t believe the discussion time that went into our floor choice. I wanted all the same things you did – durable, can stand up to water, pretty, etc. In the end we chose to have a concrete contractor stain the floor. It was quite the project, and apparently we have the worst concrete floor he’s ever seen . . . but it is gorgeous now (if I do say so myself). He used about 3 different colors of stain and blended them all together, then used 3 coats of a sealant and 3 coats of wax. It looks like old leather now! Everyone who goes into the basement compliments the floor. We’ve dropped paint on it and stuck stickers to it (oops!) – no problem!
I did post with pics of the new basement. You can’t see the floor really well, but this will at least give you an idea.
http://learningpatience.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/the-end-result/
If you are really interested, I can take some pics of just the floor – not that my pics will do it justice!
Your basement looks so much like mine. Amazingly, our 18yos decided a few months ago that he wanted it for his own space, so he’s been living down there *without heat or AC* for several months now. He’s got a bedroom, sitting area, etc. He’ll leave for college in the fall. Hopefully we’ll get some remodeling started before then. I’ve got my future studio all mapped out, too. Unfortunately, the natural lighting isn’t exactly perfect. Oh, well. It’s a blessing to have room to expand, no?
Dawn @ My Home Sweet Home´s last blog ..Disney’s Mulan Live at the Alliance Theatre
Oh, Darcy, this post made me laugh. Right out loud. So funny.
Yes, boys love big sticks. And saws. And guns. And just about anything that makes a good “vroom, vroom” noise.
I’ve had good luck with laminate flooring. To tell the truth, though, I’ve also had good luck with vinyl flooring. The exercise room in my basement is floored with vinyl that looks a great deal like stone tiles. Seriously. Let me know if you’d like to see a photo. Vinyl is a much-maligned product, but I think it deserves real consideration for areas that are low-budget and high-traffic.
Good luck!
Richella´s last blog ..English teacher on trial
That’s one big basement you’ve got there! I miss basements. We only have garages in California. And they’re not for cars!
LOL!!! Love it. So love it.
Hey, how do I follow you on Twitter? I must follow you now!
Especially since you claim to not say anything worth reading. I bet that’s totally the opposite of the truth.
Rochelle´s last blog ..Oscar Night
Ha! You know those inane tweets like, “I like pie!” and “Going to Lowe’s now!” ??? That’s me. I tweet totally random inane stuff just to clog people’s twitter streams.
In case that didn’t change your mind, you can click on the word “twitter” in my navigation and it will go to my page.
But don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Cool, didn’t know it was so easy.
Totally random works great for me. The usual and expected is boring, lol!
Rochelle´s last blog ..Oscar Night
I totally did the jaw-drop thing @ that last photo. Muhahaha, your guys are sew cool!