Work continued on the basement to make it warmer and more livable. Here's what we had to start with on the floor, a cheap (according to one of the guys who installed it) creamy tile. The gaps that you can see in the third photo are where the walls were for the little room that the first owner carved out of this roughly 600 square foot space.
We also had this dust problem left over from all the drywall and plaster work done to the walls and ceiling.
Step one was to get rid of what was there. So our crew took out their assortment of hammers, chisels, and crowbars to get up the old tile.
When last we met we had narrowed our choice down to four tiles from Home Depot and Lowe's. Here's what the winner looks like in a variety of sizes...one tile, two tiles, and one ton of tiles (34 boxes each about 70 pounds).
In the first day of installation the guys have already improved the basement immensely.
Elsewhere in the basement we'll complete the overhaul of the doors in the house by replacing the last old one with a nice wood/glass option from Lowe's.
Finally, we painted the new drywall in the laundry room and installed moulding. Once we get a nice new sink we'll be able to declare the room "done". The makeshift Tyvek door is to keep the dust down from the tile demolition.
Continuing our series of complete before-after makeovers, here's how we transformed the master bedroom. For those with poor long-term memories or no ability to look at earlier entries in this journal, here's a reminder of what we started with. Despite the lovely lavender walls, we bought the place anyway. The cheesy mirrored closet doors, however, were almost a deal-breaker.
This room got: 2 new windows (one of which was lengthened) and blinds, new paint, a new light fixture, new closet and room doors, and a refinished floor. Once you add in all of the personal touches the room is warmer, much more livable, and immeasurably better looking.
One piece that we didn't expect to have in the bedroom was the tall cabinet/armoire in the corner. It had originally been intended as a pantry in the kitchen before we reconfigured that room to give us more light, elbow room, and counter space.
Here's where the former pantry was going until we decided otherwise.
Finally, here's the pantry in a couple of earlier incarnations. We much prefer it standing up. It's a little too sarcophagal in the prone position.
Not too much new to report because we took the holiday weekend off. The crew finished their part of the basement bathroom. In addition to the extra space we gained a second light fixture and can take better advantage of the light from the window. We have to paint, do the trim, and figure out some decorative touches but otherwise the hard parts of this project are done.
Elsewhere in the basement--with the tile in the main area: 1) ugly and 2) broken up in several places where there used to be 2x4s nailed into the cement floor--we're exploring options for new floor tile. We hit Home Depot, Lowe's, and a specialty tile store. The best selection for inexpensive yet attractive tile was at Lowe's. Here are the finalists:
And here are some that got voted off the island.
