REALLY done!

Before my trip to Seattle, I got kind of jumped the gun and posted some before/after pictures of a carpet-less basement. I couldn't help it! The anticipation was killing me!

Lucky for all of you (who I know are dying to see it), there was brand new carpet (and new carpet smell!) awaiting me when I got home from my trip! It's still weird to be able to run downstairs without putting on my "basement shoes." (Definitely need to take a picture and devote a post entirely to those poor shoes.)

This carpet is much thicker than our upstairs carpet and I kiiiiind of forgot to change the setting on the vacuum before I swept it for the first time. Talk about an arm workout. I was sweating by the time it was all over. Lesson learned. (I'd just like to take this opportunity to say that just because it's thicker, doesn't mean it's "better" than our upstairs carpet. We purposely got less soft but more durable carpet for our main living area - it'll see much more use and abuse!)

And now...our completely finished basement. When I look at it, the reward for all of our hard work is enough. But then I think, "Dang! We just gained a CRAP TON of equity!" Ah...the even sweeter reward :)

I cracked open the door before turning on the light and inhaled the new carpet! (I know, I know...those fumes aren't really good for me.)

Desk nook. Although we're done "finishing" the basement, there will be much more "furnishing" in the months to come...but now we're just letting ourselves rest. So eventually I'll post pictures of the built-in desk here :)

Main room. JUST LOOK AT IT!!!!!

My dad was asking me lots of questions about our sump pump and where it is...so these were taken mostly for his information (and I was too lazy to take them out of this batch). Sooo...this is the door to our sump pump closet.

And this is inside our sump pump closet :)

There's this one magic place where you can stand and see all the colors of the walls. Sadly, this isn't it. (I know, I'm such a tease.) But you CAN see Nantucket Gray, Shaker Beige and Davenport Tan. Lovely!

So odd to see this closet finished off and with things in it :)

Nothing changed about this picture - I just couldn't make my "real" before/after post without including it. Again.

We do have stuff in the shower now, but nothing too exciting. Puffs, body wash, shampoo. You know...basic human hygiene items.

This "after" photo is a bit close. But while I was in Seattle, Dan built this nice ladder shelf. The bathroom is so small that we kind of had to custom create some storage. More towels and decorative nonsense will find its way to the shelves. But for now...it's fine.

Music room. You can already see Dan's making himself at home, as seen by the pedal board :)

Drums are FINALLY out of the upstairs closet! Woo hoo! No more acrobatics to get to the backpacks and suitcases! :)

The next project is to hang all of Dan's music posters on the wall behind his drums. I'm going to work on laying it out tonight to get a template for it. Thank goodness for 3M velcro strips that allow for mistakes...without butchering the walls :)

So the big stuff is done! Now to furnish. But hey, before getting ahead of myself, I'm allowing myself the simple luxury of walking downstairs barefoot for a few week :)