A Room of One's Own - Fun For the Whole Family

If you have a finished basement, I am extremely envious. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful that I have a basement at all. I realize many people in the world don't even have a basement. Or a home. Yes, I'm thankful I have a roof over my head.

Having said that, I hate our unfinished basement. It's damp and dank and dark and dusty. Right now, we're renovating our kitchen, so our dining room (which is more of an office) also has a refrigerator in it and assorted kitchen goods. To top it off, I brought home numerous things from my classroom. I reached the breaking point with the lack of space this week. If you want to know what I'm talking about, watch the clip from Amelie. Note the mother's meltdown at about 1:17. That's me. If you've seen Amelie, you know what happened next to her mother. (I'm staying away from cathedrals!)

Anyway, I've decided to convert this oh-so slightly finished part of our dungeon, into a delightful work space to keep all my teacher supplies and sundry vintage items in. I will document the progress on this blog. I've been decluttering and today, I ripped out the stinky brown carpet that someone had hastily installed to "freshen up" the basement before the house went on the market. I'd call Colin and Justin for a Home Heist, but they'd make me replace all of my vintage treasures with tasteful decor from Home Sense. I'll do my best.

I've already gotten rid of a lot of junk. Goodwill is being very fussy these days about what they'll take. We dumped a pile of stuff off at Value Village yesterday and none of the guys working at the back even gave our stash a second look. We even dropped off a lectern my father had bought on a whim (at a yard sale, natch) and hoped I would use some day when giving a lecture (?!).

Hideous carpet has been banished. This room is raised on a platform, so it's slightly less damp. I'm debating whether to stain or paint the subfloor. Oh Grunge Queen...

Here's the hand rail that our next-door-neighbours off-loaded on us many years ago. I'm not sure why I accepted it. It's free to anyone who will take it. I just ran out to move it so my husband can get the car in, but I'll run it out again later. Where are those scrap metal scavengers when you need them?