Exceptionally Eclectic - So Stylish It's Hard to Believe It's a Basement!

She designs her own furniture  (that fabulous banquette), builds (well, her hubs does), makes her own stencils,
sews up a frenzy - what can't Amanda from Dixie Delights do?

Her skills are on display in her fabulous basement - which definitely does not look like underground living!

Amanda designed and her hubs built this fabulous banquette.

The chevron pattern over the bar is fun - and can you believe Amanda made her own stencil by piecing together poster board!  Click here to see how she made it.

Board and batten on the walls was easier to install than drywall and the ceiling tiles
 (necessary with old house plumbing!) are a nice modern touch.

I love the way she hung the curtains to the floor - it really helps disguise the small window size.

Open shelving over three unfinished cabinets that were painted make great counter space.

Go check out the scary before of the basement bathroom to truly appreciate how they transformed it in only one weekend!

Not only does Amanda have a stylish basement, the rest of her house is equally amazing.

She's a plate wall loving girl like me and from the looks of this numbered staircase, she really gets my number!

What are you waiting for?  Head on over to Dixie Delights and say hi to Amanda!

Conquering My "Impossible" - Basement Reveal!

Cue the choir music - yes, I hear angels singing!

It's judgement day!  The day of reckoning where I put before you pictures of my basement cleanup.

Our Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge motivated me to finally get cracking on 16 years worth of "stuff" that's accumulated in my basement - now onto the big reveal!
Here's the skinny:

6 packed to the gills trips to the dump
6 trips to the thrift shop
(a bit of bickering between The Hubs and I while suffocating on basement dust bunnies)!
2 1/2 loads to the consignment store
1 carload to a friend
1 barter for an elliptical machine
(a little bit more bickering)!
2 batches of toys for some cute kids
more than a few bottles of wine consumed!

This is a 100+ year old unfinished basement.  It ain't pretty - but I am happy to say it's now clutter free!

The Agony

The Ectasy (kind of!) - Sorted by Season!

Before - "Gym"

Using the term home gym very loosely here!  Not conducive to peace and tranquility (let me use that as my excuse for never coming down here)!

After - Gym

Thanks to a barter with a friend (my giant birdhouse for her elliptical), the gym will be expanding!

Before - Clutter

Donated 3 pieces of luggage and put the rest in big green garbage bags to product from dust.
The piano was The Hubs when he was a kid - we don't play piano - this will be going soon.

After - Decluttered

The cardboard boxes have framed pics ready for hanging on my gallery wall upstairs.  Plastic bins hold my girls school work from over the years.

Before - Whining about Wine Storage

After - Wine and The Hubs!

The Hubs portrait in 70's attire watches over his beloved bottles (what, you think I'm gonna hang that thing upstairs)?!

Before - Disorganized Shelves

After - Shelving Organized & Easy to Reach

Before - This is Where we Hide the Bodies!

After - Let there be Light!

This is what a 100+ year old foundation looks like!  It's aggregate which is a mixture of rocks and concrete.  Not pretty!

Before - Sorting and Purging

After - Good Riddance to the "Stuff"!

Whew, glad that's over (time to raid the wine)!  Next step is painting the floors and walls to eliminate the dreaded dust that keeps appearing.

Link Your Impossible at Our Link Party on January 31

When:  Tuesday, Jan. 31 - 7am est through Friday, Feb 3
Link up your impossible ... even works in progress ... even if it didn't turn out exactly like you planned.  This is a learning process after all!
There are six blogs hosting the party - and each of us will feature our favorites on Feb 7!

If you've accepted the challenge, go on and show off by grabbing the button below.

 

My blog posse met some amazing challenges too so head on over and pay them a visit.

Linda - It All Started with Paint

Andrea - The Cottage Market

Karianne - Thistlewood Farm

Karah - The Space Between

Stacey - A Sort of Fairytale

Link Your Impossible at Our Link Party Here!
Linking here:
Get Outta My Head Please - Show It Off
Home Stories A to Z - Tutorials and Tips Party
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
The Delectable Home - Show and Tell Monday
Junk in Their Trunk - Link it Up Wednesday
Addicted 2 Decorating - Not So Anonymous Link Party
Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party
Funky Junk Interiors - Sat Nite Special
Thrifty Decor Chick - February Before and After Party

Going to a Better Place - Operation Basement Reorg Continues!

Every morning (well, not every), I wake up and happily (ok - grumpily) trek down into my dark, dreary basement to get moving on the cleanup.  Hours later, I emerge into the light with dry, gritty eyes and my contacts covered in dust!  It's a dirty job but since nobody else is going to do it - that leaves me!

Status Report:  I am happy to announce that not only do I have one decluttered corner, but I have donated 4 carloads to the thrift shop, taken 5 trips to the dump and some goodies have found new homes with friends!

I also traded this huge birdhouse and two roosters (tried to get her to take more but that's all she had room for) to my pal Eebie who blogs on EV (click here), for her unwanted elliptical!  I'll have the hottest bootie in town and she'll have the best housed birdies!

My friend Renee took home a carload of goodies for her pad makeover that we've been working on.  There's even a table stuffed back there and that basket is loaded!

This huge mirror was in the house when we bought it and we rescued it from the demo and stored it down in the basement.  It's been languishing down here, turned backwards and forgotten.  Gonna clean it up and lug it upstairs to my bedroom!  

This is just wrong - the contents of a junk drawer has been moved from house, to house!  It was like opening the sarcophagus of an Egyptian mummy.  The fun (sensing my sarcasm?) part was sifting through everything.  Yippie, so much change at the bottom until I realized they were mostly Chuck E Cheese coins!  

The best thing about going through all those long forgotten boxes is finding some blasts from the past like this picture we had taken in Vegas before we were married.  Please note, that is not our hair (although The Hubs does look a bit like Pauly D)!

Update:  See the big basement reveal here!

Be sure to check in with my party peeps and see how they are faring on their challenges:

Karianne at Thistlewood Farm - will her yeast rise?
Linda at It All Started with Paint - will she tumble from the soaring heights of that huge ladder?
Andrea at The Cottage Market  - will she go crazy sorting buttons and baubles?
Karah at The Space Between - will she be screwed with only one screw?
Stacey at A Sort of Fairytale - will her purse hold her stash without tearing?

It's almost Jan 31 - mark your calendars and make sure to stop by to see what everyone has accomplished at our multi blog link party!  We will be featuring your accomplishments the following week too!  Click here for the deets.

Linking here:Funky Junk Interiors - Sat Night Special

Kelly vs. Goliath (Conquering the Basement)

Creek went the door as I slowly opened it and looked into the dark abyss.  What awaited me down there scared the living bejeebers out of me!  Could I do it, would I dare?

Wow - I should consider writing horror flicks!  That's exactly what my basement is - a horror.  Filled with overflowing boxes and bins, it was hard to know where to start.

So I just threw myself in and started digging.  I am thrilled to announce that progress is being made.  First, we piled garbage into one pile and donations into another.  Then we hauled each pile into the car to either the dump or the thrift shop and some things were given to friends (the girls Barbie castle is now happily being played with by a little cutie-pie).  

Two trips to the dump and two to the thrift shop (where I admit, I did buy one thing - baby steps)!

Now we have one clear corner - yippie (oh happy day, oh happy day)!  Hey, it's the little things in life that make me happy.  It's just one corner of the basement, but it's a start!

Look what I found buried in the rubble - The Hubs and I were dating when we had these photo booth pics taken down the shore (that's Jersey speak for the beach)!  Can't wait to see what else I uncover - unpacking all those boxes feels like Christmas morn!

Please don't make me suffer, oops, I mean enjoy this experience alone.  What's your "Impossible"?  It doesn't have to relate to decorating and organization - anything will do.  Always wanted to learn to sew, swim, fly, learn Swahili?  Whatever it is, give it a go with us.  

 

Update:  See the big basement reveal here!

Don't make me beg - but I would love for you to follow me!  Either through Facebook (where we party like it's 1999) or Google Friend Connect, a reader or email (check the right sidebar).  I promise it won't hurt!