{Basement} Paint

So our basement is ugly. U-G-L-Y ugly. I'm sorry. Give me time. 

I mentioned I wanted to clean up and makeover our basement to a craft room. I'm thinking a mix between Meg Duerksen's and Classy Clutter's (check those babies out!) plus a bunch that are on Instagram that I love. 

We do NOT have any cuteness going on here.. I apologize. Give me time and cross your fingers, send me good vibes, pray for me - whatever your choice - I need it! 

The rest of the house is looking up and if we haven't updated it, it's just a matter of time and money (kitchen - I'm looking at you!). Some things just needed love and attention, others needed a full on gut job like our bathroom. This is a combination of both, I guess.

Cinder block walls, three broken lights (that have since been removed and donated), and a concrete floor. I guess you can say that it can only improve from here because it was just that bad.

Was. 

Here are some before - all taken with my cell phone so forgive me. I'll take better photos once we get to the pretty stuff and the sun shines again. 

Oh the ugliness - leaky something from the outside and some mold/mildew issues. Most of what you see here is actually paint I chipped off for paint prep. But yeah, there's gross stuff too. 

And here it is with primer. Let's sigh a relief on this one and think about the potential. 

And here's the other side of the basement. Two interior walls that the previous homeowner covered with brown paper bags. It's in good shape but it, with the dingy white ceilings (and other walls) and the red stained floor make it dark. And let's not forget the broken lights. 

In the phone below you can see where the trim stops… that's a closet. I may have plans for it. Maybe. 

And it's already brighter with one coat! 

Oh the ceiling. I thought it was white and then I painted it white. The old white (on the right) looks so dingy. So it'll be nice that I freshened it up. But let's not talk about cutting in for awhile, ok? The entire ceiling is covered in 45 (yes, I counted) rectangles, all surrounded with the trim. I will need a chiropractor soon (as if I didn't need to go see one already). 

And a little before and after comparison I put on Instagram. Follow me at thebrickbungalow

The plans still are: 

1. Paint - I'll say I'm 1/3 of the way - maybe. 

2. Storage

3. Tables and workspace

4. Lighting

5. A studio name

I hope to have more updates soon. I got farther along than what I've shown here, but ran through one gallon of paint already (plus the primer), so I'll show more later. I needed to stop to do everyone's favorite activity - taxes! So now that those are done with, I'll go back to painting tomorrow. And then cleaning the rest of the house. I'm on Spring Break and well, it's now halfway over but I have so much to do! 

What have you been working on? 

Some day our weather will stay constant and the sun will come out and I'll do an early garden tour. I need to stay on top of those this summer so I can show the wild growth that happens in Lily's Garden.