Grand Little Place

When we finally finished our basement I realized I’d learned several lessons along the way.  We knew when we bought this house that we’d be doing a lot of work to it, and we knew that we’d start with the basement. I didn’t expect the mental challenge completing the basement would bring and so today I’m going to share with you my top DIY renovation tips and tricks learned from redoing our basement:

It’s ok for plans to change: When we first moved in I declared that the back wall of our basement needed floor to ceiling built ins.  Chris and I held on to that for the first 2(?) years we lived here.  Once we began our ceiling we ended up making the back wall an accent wall and decided not to install built ins down there.  We lived with the accent wall for a year before deciding we did need to give that side a function and adding the built in desk.  Would it have been great to have a huge built in on that wall?  You bet!  Would that wall have looked awesome as a stand alone accent wall?  Absolutely!  But we allowed ourselves to be open to ideas and in the end we’ve ended up with a functional and beautiful statement wall in our basement that feels exactly right.  If we had went with either of the first 2 ideas we would still be without an area that worked as our home office base. (Do you guys have a designated spot for paying bills and filing things?  Chris has always insisted on a place for these activities.  Click here to see how we simplified our bill paying area in our old house.)

Always assume it’s going to take longer than you think:  When we bought the house we knew we’d need to lay carpet, paint and decorate.  We didn’t anticipate the ceiling needing overhauled or all of the foundation work that we’d need to do.  I didn’t give credit to the fact that it would take years for me to figure out the best layout or that we’d need time to see how we actually use the space.  Yes the ceiling took several months to complete because it was a DIY in our extra time, but honestly in the scheme of things that is just a blip in how long it actually took us to pull the space together.

Great homes take time:  See notes above about assuming it’s going to take longer than you think.  Homes evolve over time, and quite frankly that’s what you want.  Sure you can move in and go buy all new furniture and call it done, but in 10 years all of your stuff is going to look like it was bought 10 years ago in the last trend.  When you let your home evolve it has a much longer shelf life and will end up being something you LOVE.  It’s ok to live in a house that isn’t perfect and that still needs work here and there.

The last 5% is what makes a room beautiful:  My dad is an extremely talented carpenter and builder but he always says that every project needs ‘the woman’s touch’.  What he means is that no space ever looks complete without those last finishing details.  We had poured so much time and money into getting our basement right but in the end every time I picked up the camera to photograph it, it still looked flat. (The camera is a GREAT  litmus test to determining if a room is just right.  Often a simple phone photo will reveal blind spots to me that still need work.) In the end I realized it was because I hadn’t spent the time or money to finish it off.  I spent $74 and about a weeks worth of time adding a few thoughtful accents (I added a few additional accent colors and brought them in through throw pillows, tassels on the curtains, and added depth to the frames with gold Rub N Buff.  I then went through all of the vignettes and displays to pull in the  accent colors).  Once I did that suddenly the room was complete.  $74 was all that stood between me having a basement that wasn’t ‘quite there’ and a basement that was ‘done’.  $74!  I kick myself that we lived with the room 95% done for years because I was afraid to pull the trigger on that last 5%.

Not everything has to be perfect:  If you’ve followed me for any amount of time this point shouldn’t be surprising.  Nothing in my house is perfect and I’m ok with it.  I’m ok with a house that is perfectly imperfect.  I even wrote a blog post about how imperfection is a gift I give myself.  Are there things in the basement that in a perfect world I’d change?  Of course.  But do I LOVE the space we’ve created just as it is?  Absolutely.  If I got hung up on every piece that wasn’t perfect or every flaw here and there I’d never be content.  When you accept imperfection you are also giving yourself the gift of contentedness, and isn’t that something we could all stand to have a little more of?

Form & function can co-exist:  In my opinion good design should flow out of  solving functional problems.  That is why I will hardly ever be content with rooms or systems that look shoddy but ‘have’ to be a certain way because of a functional issue.  If something looks bad then there IS a creative solution to make it look better.  The great news is that form and functional CAN co-exist, and in my mind, SHOULD co-exist.  Our basement has many functions and it truly serves each member of our family.

Patience is a virtue:  Yep, that’s pretty much how I have to finish up this list.  And this one is a hard pill for me to swallow because I increasingly am not a patient woman.  However if there is one thing I could say that would sum up everything I’ve said in the above points it is that if you have patience in the end your home will be a reflection of you and your people.  It will be a space that serves you well and that you love to be in.

Whether you are just beginning your renovation or are knee deep in dust I hope these tips give you hope that the end will come eventually.  Happy renovations friends!

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