Finished Basement Pics!!

Ok...finally! The basement is finished. Well, not totally...but enough for now. The first picture is the playroom. Thanks, Shirley for the corner nook! It fits perfectly in this corner! I see it being used for coloring and crafts (not food yet...maybe when they're older). The closet in the playroom doesn't have the doors on it yet, but I thought it was perfect to show you the 9 cubes we put together and stacked. We'll have shelving to the left for the bigger toys that won't fit in a cube. I think I'll bring Abby's dollhouse down, too, and put it in the playroom.

The next picture is the computer area from the family room. There is a decent amount of space between the couches and the computer area that we hope to use for some kind of game...air hockey? Any recommendations? Eventually, I'd like a pool table when the kids are older...but I could see pool balls being thrown everywhere and knocking out lights. Not good for now. Theresa, I have fond memories of your pool table growing up. Your parents really knew how to make your house fun, with the inground pool, the video game (I still remember how in awe I was that you had your very own arcade game in your basement!!!), the juke box and the pool table. Endless fun. *sigh*.

The last picture is the family room. The furniture is left over from our last basement in our old house, except for the entertainment center, which was good ole assembly from Target. Gotta love cheap furniture for areas like this.

The kids LOVE the basement. I've seen Sam and Abby go down by themselves...Sam did his homework down there last night and at one point, Abby was by herself watching TV. Amazing. I know the excitement is from the newness, and some of it will wear off, but we're enjoying their delight. Ben and Mary have played down there quite a few times while I worked on the entertainment center, or dragged more furniture in here and there. I see this space as a great for the kids to play when we have other families over or just a couple of friends. Abby will have somewhere to play when Mary takes a nap!

I can't wait to put things on the walls. Mary, my neighbor, said that Gordmann's has great "floating picture frames" that she uses for the kids artwork. I've seen them in her basement and it looks great! I want to try them for ours. I'll do that on the playroom side. On the family room side I'd like to frame scenery shots from camping. Ted took a great one of a boardwalk at Gulf Shores that I can't wait to frame. I have tons of portraits and action shots on our main level. Downstairs will be artwork and scenery. I like expressing different parts of myself in different areas of the house.

The last place I need to figure out is a blank wall that you see as soon as you go downstairs. It needs something. I could see a sofa table, but I think a sideboard type piece....low and long would fill the space better because it's a big wall. I could see maybe a chair on each side for extra seating when needed and then either shelving or pictures above it. I'll keep you posted. I might deal with it last because I want space out the purchases. I'll post more pictures as the basement evolves...and as Blogger allows! I've been trying to post pictures and it didn't let me! I'll do another post of the ones I tried to do before.