In the Home Stretch...I think?

Pin It

For the past ~~few~~ several months we have been slowly renovating our 80s basement. Several years I go I did a tiny upgrade (mostly by painting, adding pictures, area rugs, etc.) but have lived with the acoustic white drop ceiling panels for waaay too long.

I had wanted to tackle this basement for the longest time but knew it would be a big project. So I waited. Why? Because I knew that if it were to be done right it would mean pulling down that awful ceiling. That. was. expensive. More than that? It would be time consuming.

But one day, to my surprise, my husband started yanking down the ceiling tiles and metal framing. Well there was no turning back at the point. That said, we lived with no ceiling, exposed ductwork and drooping insulation for more months than I want to count. Mainly because we just didn't know what to do.

But finally we had a plan. Well sort of a plan. At least we had a plan for the ceiling. We decided to use 6" pine car siding for the ceiling leaving the ductwork exposed. Sort of going for the industrial look.

It was still expensive and it was slow. But in the end, my husband did a fabulous job! Since this was the main part of the project I feel like we are in the home stretch. But then there's the flooring...sigh.

Up close look at the bolt/washer combo that my hubby added.

Exposed duct work with the plank ceiling. We actually did nothing to the ductwork, leaving it 'vintage' and original! Well that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

New light fixtures are a welcome replacement to the fluorescent tube lighting from before!

We left the planking natural. No poly, no stain. Nothing and we love it.

It is amazing how taking out the drop ceiling and putting in the planking added about 3" of height which makes the basement so so much bigger and more open.

Now on to the flooring and stairs.

Linking up this week to:

Grace at Home
Feathered Nest Friday
Pretty Pintastic Party

Comments

When your plan really isn't your plan after all.

I don't know about you but before I start a project, I start the vision for the project. Sometimes way before the project starts! But often, that vision changes multiple times before the project is finished. Heck sometimes I don't really even have a plan I just start painting or tearing out stuff and sometimes I just change my mind. But most times, it is because what I really want to do, for one reason or another, I can't. Take our basement bathroom for example. In this case I had a basic plan and everything that could go wrong, went wrong. As I was thinking about the bathroom I realized I hated it in the furnace room to begin with. I also hated the sauna and shower the previous owners had installed at the other end of the basement (which we never use). So I put plans in motion to get rid of the sauna. This would free up a big chunk of space and my plan was to make it a full bath at that end of the basement as it already had a shower. Several months later, and multiple fail...

DIY Kitchen Counter Beadboard Treatment

We have lived in our house for six years this month and every month of every year I have hated the back of this bar area! It is sooo blah and sooo oak and sooo country looking. So, started researching what I wanted to do with it. First I tried to add the decorative wood corner pieces along with a decorative wood scrolly thing (real technical name, huh?) for the center. Did a cool paint treatment and really loved it, just threw some wood glue on and glued them up there. They lasted about six months. Every month or so another decorative piece would fall off until all I had left was one corner piece and the middle thing. I then tried a paper bag wallpaper treatment that really worked well and, of course, was real cheap. After applying the paper bag wallpaper I mixed some brown paint with water and antiqued it. Then, let that dry and antiqued it with a black glaze. Looked absolutely fantastic but as it started to dry the paper bags started lifting off the wall. So, I finally r...

A Quicker and Easier Way to Stepping Stones

Pin It This post came up in my memories feed from 2013 and as I was cleaning my yard up for Spring, I realized just how great these stepping stones still look six years later! So, yes I can still say: " However, my best project yet? Stepping stones. Now you might be wondering why this is such a big deal? I have wanted to put a stepping stone pathway from the gate to the backyard and back towards the patio/pool area for eight years. Eight looooong years. You wouldn't think this would be such hard thing to do now would you? But it was either the money (means about 15-20 stones which can get quite pricey), needing a truck or trailer to haul them, needing help to lift the suckers, or just life that got in the way." Recently I read some articles about quick and easy stepping stones and it got me thinking that I could make that project quicker and easier by cutting a few corners. You won't believe how easy this was! 1. Buy a bag of Quikrete or regular ...

the Decorating Chica

Search This Blog