The Simple Things

All of its glory...

So the basement is done. Well, let me rephrase that. I ran out of decorating money so it's mostly done. This post is going to be a here's what we have and here's what i want post.
 
so i know that this is super hard to see, but lighting is weird down here and I don't know anything about cameras to off-set it.
 
Here's the sactional. The ottoman can be added to the couch to expand it's length, but I needed the room for the treadmill. It is super comfy and is so versatile. We love it.
 
Above the couch I have...a photo wall. I'll be honest, I can't get enough of my cute girls.
 
You can get a glimpse of the LoveSac next to the couch. Really, the picture does not do its size justice. Also note the girls' fort under the stairs.
 
So eventually I want to wall mount the TV. But if that doesn't ever happen, I want to put up a mirror. Still trying to find the perfect one. Here's some that I'm liking:
 
The traditional
 
Not traditional...but would add fun to the room
 
This would be fun...would also break up a very linear basement.
or i might get crazy and put a vintage pull down world map:
 
What do you think?

Moving on to the nook under the stairs...
 

 
 It now has a chandelier
 
and a flat beanbag.
But it will soon have:
 
This Frame wallpaper. It comes blank and the kids can create their own masterpieces. So that will be on the big wall with a bucket of crayons.
In the back, by the beanbag I am going to put two shelves up for books.
and then fluff the beanbag with more filling. A perfect little nook for my girls!
 
In the hallway I have visions of toy storage. So I'm moving this down from our family room:
 
And filling it up with bins of toys.
Over it, I'm ordering some of these prints from etsy:
 
iowa
 
new york

I want to do all the states that Ben and i have lived in since we've been married. The cool thing about the shop is that you can customize the colors to fit your decor. Yes please. These will go over the bookcase.

And finally...the guest bedroom.
 
Okay, please excuse Zhu Zhu nation which has taken over this room. So the wallpaper. I found it at Sherwin Williams and fell in love. I wanted to do something different in this room...and that fit the bill. My mother is a wallpaper hanging extroidinarre, so while she was here in October, we hung it. It was awful...I don't know why it was so popular in the 70s/80s. Thank goodness she was here. It wouldn't have ended pretty if I had tried to do it myself!
I found the brown sofa sleeper for a great deal. It folds out into a Queen Size bed. Top that with a memory foam mattress topper and you've got yourself a snuggly guest bed! (now taking reservations!)
On the other side of the room I have this gem that I found on craigslist for $20.
 
So, once the weather warms up and I can paint in my garage, it's going to get a coat of that turquoise paint and a black glaze.  kind of like this:
 
It will be to die for. I hope!
I also need to do some frame collage on the wall and am in the process of gathering cool frames to put up there.

So there you go friends! Who's coming to visit???

Finally...the Quest for the Couch

So, if you remember right, I was on a massive quest to find the PERFECT couch for the basement.
I had several requirements:
1.) Must be comfortable above all else
2.) Prefer to have a smoky grey/charcoal in color. might settle for chocolate if desperate.
3.) Needs to be stain proof or easily cleanable. After all it is in the basement.
4.) It has to be within Ben's budget. (buzzkill)
I thought I had found the perfect one...a sectional from a local furniture store.
 

Chocolate brown brushed velvety/microfiberish with decorative stitching. It was SO comfy. I bought it on the spot.
Then I went home and measured. It wasn't good. The couch was TOO BIG! And not just a little long. The long part of the sectional was 2 feet longer than I wanted and the short part stopped RIGHT before the bathroom door. I was devestated. I had to go BACK to the store and cancel everything.
By then I had sat on every couch in the store. The perfect couch was not there.

The next day I went to the Mall and ventured in to Pottery Barn. As I walked through the door, a choir of heavenly angels sang and directed me to this couch:
 
It was perfect! My backside has never sat in such comfort. I loved it. Unfortunately, the price tag indicated that it violated requirement #4. It was out of my budget.
But, since I'm resourceful and don't give up, I marched myself over to Pottery Barn Kids and promptly got a job...purely for the discount. I was estatic. Until I discovered that the discount was only good at PBK. I had to wait until AFTER the holidays until I could use it at Pottery Barn.
I was devestated but wanted the couch so bad I was sure I could gut it out.
I couldn't.
Between everything else in my life, driving 38 minutes each way, 3 times a week for a 4-hour shift at $8.00/hour...it just wasn't worth it.
In fact I came home one night and Ben said, "I will buy you your couch tomorrow if you call and quit."
I called the next day and quit. Unfortunately, it was the day before Black Friday.
I now can NEVER go into Pottery Barn Kids. Ever. In fact, when I'm at the mall and am passing by I walk to the FAR side of the courtyard and look the other way. Always.
The phone call was that bad. I was great...told them that it wasn't them, it was me. I still wanted to be friends, etc. She was IRATE. I seriously have never seen anything like it. But that's a post for another day.

So, armed with this golden ticket, I went back to the mall. On the way to PB I saw a LoveSac store. Intrigued, I went in.
And promptly furnished my basement.
Are you in shock? I still kind of am.
It was just SOOOOO comfortable. And they would have it for me by the end of the week. I had company coming for Christmas and needed stuff down there, so time was really of the essence.
And it was grey.
Have I mentioned how comfortable it is???
Here's what I ended up with:
a LoveSac Sactional.
 
Friends...these things are ah-maz-ing. They are indestructible. They have a DOUBLE lifetime warranty on the frame/cushions. They are slipcovered...all parts. So if someone broke the rules and actually ATE on the couch, spilled something, I wouldn't freak. I would calmly take it upstairs, wash it and put it back on! They are also totally modular. You can buy them by the piece...so i can add to my sectional at any time! In fact...we're about to add another piece to make it a little longer.
It's fabulous.
Then, as I was walking out, I made the mistake of sitting in this:
 
Yes. That is the world's biggest love sac. It holds all 5 of us. Easily. With room to spare. It's HUGE. It's also the best thing ever. Same with the Sactional...it's totally indestructible. The kids launch themselves from the couch to the LoveSac.
Normal Lola would have an absolute FIT! But the new LoveSac-Lola just smiles and winks at them.
It's brilliant.

So why the change of heart from the Pottery Barn Couch of my Dreams to the LoveSac Basement?
It's simple really. When I thought of the girls, Ben...anyone sitting on my PB couch, I started breathing a little more rapidly wondering how long it would take Grace to get my couch dirty. There would be no wrestling...no eating...no anything on the PB couch.

And that's not what the basement is for.
Basements are for snuggling. And to lock the kids in while you're looking for peace and quiet. I mean, Family movie nights.

Best money ever spent. Happy Ben. Happy Kids...Happy Lola.

Tomorrow I will finally post pictures of the furnished basement!

The Basement Phase 2

Here is the basement with paint and carpet:
 
The stairs down and a peek of the family room
 
View of family room from stairs
 
more of the family room from the hallway
 
from the window...girls' secret place, hallway to other room
 
the guestroom - doors shut
 
and doors open

My awesome wallpaper wall.

So tomorrow (after my Bach post) I'll have the furnishings/decor up!!! I bet you're so excited! :)

The Basement Part 1

The basement has been the most anticipated post here on the blog. So, I thought i would break it up into stages!
I've been hesitant to post because it's not fully decorated yet and I want you to see this beautiful, perfect basement. But then I realized that I've lived here for 3 years and STILL have nothing on my Master Bedroom walls. It could be a while. 

The basement was already insulated and had a full bath. But, it was a big area that was weird shaped. You know those tetris pieces that can either be a z or an italicized i?
 
It looked like that. The bathroom was off the end by the pointer finger.

So, we bid out and had a contracter come and do the work. Den Farlow is not handy and while I am pretty skilled, I knew that this was outside my scope. And I knew that if we tried to do it ourselves two things would happen.
1. We would move out of the house before it was ever done.
and
2. Den Farlow and I would probably break up. Things like that are NEVER good on your marriage.

So being the wise couple that we are, we hired someone.
Best choice ever.
We wanted this basement to accomplish three things.
1.) Family TV Room
2.) Room for my mom when she comes
3.) Storage
4.) Special Kids play area

I wanted this to be a functional basement. A place that I could send the kids down to and they could go crazy and I wouldn't be worried.
So here are the befores:

Top of tetris piece. Bathroom off the top right. Looking down from stairs
 
Standing by the window looking back to the stairs and to the other end of the tetris piece. Framing up around furnace room, food storage pantry (yay!) and other room and storage room.
 
Here's the storage room (far) and the space that is the guest bedroom. hard to tell.

The transformation was supposed to take about 6 weeks and took about 9. I didn't care...as long as I didn't have to do anything I was happy!

So there you have it! Phase 1!!
Phase 2 - paint/carpet to come ASAP!