Help me decide: basement windows

I need some help.

I ordered bamboo roman blinds from Overstock.com. $17.99 each for 48" width blinds!

They may or may not have sat around in the entryway for a couple of days before I got around to hanging them. They were pretty easy to hang (I actually did it myself). I just pre-drilled some holes in the wooden window frame so it would be easier to mount the brackets. Once the brackets were up, I simply attached the actual shades to the brackets. Here's what I ended up with:

I really like the color and the natural look! Now here's the issue:

That is in the fully retracted position. See how much of the window is still covered up? I'm worried that they cover up too much of the window, which is something I really want to avoid doing in a basement. (Obviously less cave-like is desirable.)

So while I really do not like the idea of shipping these back, I'm thinking of returning them (though I really do like the look...) Can you tell I'm conflicted?

I've come up with a couple of other options, either going with plain white mini-blinds, like these from Home Depot:

Or white roll-ups, like these from Ikea:

So, what do you think? Any other ideas I haven't considered? You can add your answer to the poll below and leave a comment if you have other ideas. Thanks for the input!

We've got CARPET

Well the moment I've been waiting for is finally here - the carpet has arrived! I love it! It looks great and is super soft to boot. After the installer guy left, I was literally just sitting/laying down there on the new carpet, working on my laptop. Remember what the rooms looked like when we moved in? Here's a refresher.

Family room before:

Family room during:

Family room after:

Bedroom before (unfortunately I only have the realtor's pic):

Bedroom during:

Bedroom after:

BAM!! I just love love love the transformation. Thanks so much dad for all your help on this. Seriously.

Gizmo had to check out the new carpet too...

He literally walked all around the perimeter of rooms with very careful placement of each paw, like he was walking across gravel or something sharp.

I think he'll like it after he gets used to it. I on the other hand, am enjoying it quite a lot already. We moved the computer desks down there already (which means that my dining room can now really function as a dining room - score!!). 

I'll leave you with one more before and after comparison.

Before (realtor's shot):

After:

Not bad, huh? Now for some furniture.  :)

Everything but the Floor

There has been a lot of work on the basement going on this weekend... in preparation for carpet installation Monday morning! I am sooo sooooooo sooooooooo excited to get the carpet installed!!!

So, I'll give you a peek of all the little details we have been working on lately.

Probably the most important item was adding a door to the bedroom.

Ha! If only it were that easy. It actually took a fair amount of shimming to get it lined up properly.

We also added all the little details, like electrical outlets, covers for the outlets and light switches, register covers for the heating vents, and trim pieces around the recessed lights. It was pretty amazing just how much more finished the room looked after adding each little piece of the puzzle. Just look at the difference after adding the trim to the lights:

Before:

After:

The baseboard was one of my favorite parts. It looks great! Here's a peek at the transformation in the bedroom (don't worry, we'll be painting the closet door handles white to match the doors).

Before:

After:

Isn't it amazing how finished it looks? Now we just need the carpet... well and a few other minor details... like adding a door knob on the door into the bedroom, filling in the nail holes in the baseboard, hanging blinds and painting the window trim white. Who needs things like doorknobs, blinds, and painted trim anyway?

Wish me luck with the carpet installation tomorrow.

Let There Be COLOR

I'm so excited to share our painting progress in the basement! I really couldn't wait to get that first splash of color on the walls!! I started out in the family room with the cork color on the wall adjoining the bedroom. But the really exciting step was the morocco RED!  BAM!!

I actually convinced Eric to help out too!! (Told you he does all home renovation work in his scrubs...)
The cork color has just the right blend of being unique but still comfortable and warm.

I really like how the bright red wall makes the fireplace pop. The cork color is actually quite similar to the brick color, so I think it would have just blended in without the accent wall.

I actually really didn't like the brick color before the red paint. I always thought it looked pink/peach-ish (definitely not my thing), and now looks much more earthy in color.

We even got our friend Steve to paint the trim pieces for us. Just look at that intense concentration. Eeeekkkk.... don't hit the freshly painted walls !! 

Speaking of trim, I convinced Eric we decided to go with a chunky white baseboard (love love love)!! So much nicer than the small dark wood baseboards we have throughout the rest of the house. Eventually we plan to replace all of those with the big white ones (obviously a project for another day). 

The carpet is being installed in a little over a week. We picked one from Home Depot with a fairly long fiber and pretty dense weave, so it should be nice and soft (and warm)! Here is a sample, just to give you an idea of what it will look like when it is all installed. 

Oh, I almost forgot to show you the grass cloth color on the bedroom walls. I had to use a flash because this room doesn't get a lot of sunlight, so the color isn't exactly like in the photo, but I really like how it turned out.

It feels great to finally have color on the walls. We are soooooo close to having our basement back!

Basement Progress

I know it has been a while since I posted about the basement. But - we are getting really close to completion folks!

Last time I left you, we had just finished adding drywall to the ceiling and walls. You can see particularly on the ceiling that there were some serious seams between the drywall pieces.

Well, since then, a whole lot of mudding and taping occurred (thanks dad)! That involved a lot of time on my dad's part, much of it up on stilts, like this (he's actually putting up tape in the photo, not mud):

And you should know, ladies and gentlemen, that this is NOT easy. I gave it a try and ended up with taping compound all over the floor (and all over me too). Thankfully, my dad is basically a pro at this, so we ended up with smooth smooth walls!

The next step was adding the knock-down texture on the ceiling. The trickiest part was actually the prep. We taped off the ceiling with paper and painter's tape (you can see it in the above photo). We used a fun little gadget to apply the tape and paper at the same time:

Then we added thin plastic to cover the walls and thicker plastic to cover the floor. My mom helped out a lot with this part too.

Gizmo thought the plastic was great fun. He kept running around between the wall and the plastic!

Adding the texture was fairly simple. We used a texture sprayer with an air compressor and added in the taping compound. The spray was applied slowly and evenly, and after waiting for it to dry for about 20 minutes, we used a knockdown knife to flatten out the bumps (of course I forgot to take any photos of this part). Next we had to put 2-3 coats of primer on the ceiling and 1 coat on the walls. Here I'm adding primer to the wall and ceiling corner. The ceiling texture is there, but hard to see at this point (especially with all the drywall dust on the camera lens).

We thought (and argued) a LOT about what colors to paint the walls in the family room and bedroom. The final decision was to paint the family room the cork color from Behr and have a morocco red accent wall along the fire place. We wanted something coordinating, but not too matchy for the bedroom, and ended up going with grass cloth. We are thisclose to finishing the painting. I'll update again soon to show you how our color choices actually look on the walls. For now, this will give you an idea.

A Fully Functional Kitchen!

Whew! It has been a busy couple of weeks for me. Last week I was in Chicago prepping for an interview that I had earlier this week. The good news is that it went pretty well, but I won't hear back for a couple of months...

So, there has not been a ton of progress on house-related projects, but I do have a few updates to share. The basement renovation is also getting really close to completion. We're in the process of painting and just scheduled someone to come and measure for carpet. I'll share more deets on that soon in another post. What I am really excited to tell you about is how our kitchen is now fully functional for the first time!!!!

Mounting the microwave was actually the easiest install of all the appliances (but again we had help from dear ol' dad!). Using the template provided in the box, we attached the mounting plate to the wall and drilled holes in the upper cupboards:

Yup, that's me holding a flashlight. Remember how little light we have in our kitchen? Just one bulb above the sink. So the flashlight was necessary. Luckily the microwave also has a light, so we have now doubled the light in our kitchen!

If you ignore the horribly ugly back splash (or lack-there-of), it's looking pretty awesome! And wow is it nice how microwaves can re-heat leftovers!!! So much faster and more convenient than the stove top. Here is that side of the kitchen before:

During:

And after:

Much better (and more functional)! Hopefully we'll start to look into cabinet options in the next couple of months and maybe figure out some way to disguise that back splash in the mean time.

Gotta love a winter clearance!

I've just got to share my recent steals with you - FYI, if you are in the market for any Christmas decorations, now is the time to buy! XMas stuff at Pier 1 is 90% off right now!!!

For under $15, I got the following (okay, I agree it doesn't look that impressive all spread out on the table, but it sure felt that way when everything was bulging out of shopping bags):

My favorite by far is the tree on the left. It has a metal structure and is filled with pine cones, green moss, and twigs. I found it at Pier 1 and since it was 90% off the normal $40 price, I got it for $4. LOVE it!! Is it Christmas yet? So sad to pack it away  :(

I also stopped at Bed Bath and Beyond, where they have a pretty good clearance section as well. One of the first things I saw when I walked in was the clearance blinds. Since I am crazy, I keep a list of all our window sizes on a notepad in my purse (just in case, you know...). Anyway, they turned out to be the right sizes, and are very pretty (wood/bamboo natural colors, which is exactly what I have been envisioning). I ended up getting 6 natural woven blinds for under $60. (At the regular price, they would have set me back $320). WOW!

 
We're planning to use 3 in the master bedroom and the remaining 3 for the windows in the other two main floor bedrooms. Can't wait to tear down those vertical blinds. I'll definitely post details and before and after pics when we tackle that project.

Speaking of projects, Eric has mandated that we finish some project before buying more materials for new projects. Oops, just added another project. I guess it is time to get busy!