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

My Mudroom - Drop it & Shut the Door!

It's the first snow day of the year and it made me realize how much I love my mudroom.  Muddy boots, wet coats, soggy socks - they're no match for me anymore!  Just drop them all behind in the mudroom and shut the pocket door!

When we bought the house, there was no mudroom.  We bumped the house out a bit and added this small room in the back.  It's worth it's weight in gold!

Instead of open shelving, I opted for built in cabinets with 3 closets for hiding the clutter of coats.  I love white woodwork and trim but went darker in here. The color looks rich and helps hide the scuffs from the kids flinging their shoes around.  I painted the trim and door the same color to blend in this small space.  

A vinyl decal (found at Target) adds a little fun.

A double pole in the middle closet can hold 2 rows of kids coats.  Inside one closet, I hung sweater and shoe organizers.  In winter, the compartments hold gloves and hats but in summer the beach towels move in.  

A heavy iron coat rack from Pottery Barn hangs on the wall making it simple (no excuses) for the kids to hang up their coats - no more nagging from mom (about coats anyway)!

A bit of open shelving helps break up the expanse of dark cabinetry and is a place to show off old wooden buoys and a basket which holds more "stuff"! 

Love the Martha Stewart mercury glass light! 

Keys hang from an antique doorknob backplate attached to an old piece of wood found at a flea market years ago.

An old metal milk can holds our stash of umbrellas.  

Metal bins found at a Target after Christmas sale hold stinky shoes.

Loved the color but not the square shape of the ceramic floor tiles so I had my tile guy cut them in half and lay them in a herringbone pattern.  

Found these great knobs at Anthropologie.

Next room is my favorite - the kitchen is coming soon!

I've got lots more rooms to reveal and thrift shops to conquer!  Follow me so you don't miss any of the action onFacebook, email, or RSS feed on the right sidebar.

Only one more week for the blog hop link party on Jan 31.  Stop by and link up your "Impossible" project or just browse through all the great inspiration.  Click here for the deets!

Linking here:

Mod Vintage Life - Mod Mix Monday
Get Outta My Head Please - Show It Off Link Party
Home Stories A to Z - Tutorial and Tips
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Tuesdays Treasures
Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Not Just a Housewife - Show Me What Ya Got
Very Merry Vintage Style - Share the Love Link Party
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
A Bowl Full of Lemons - One Project at a Time
Beach Cottage Decorating - Blog Hop Linky Party
The Shady Porch - Rock 'n Share
Blue Cricket Design - Show and Tell
Chatty Chics - Wild Wednesday
Junk in their Trunk - Link it up Wednesday
52 Mantels - Link Party
It's Overflowing - Overflowing with Creativity
Mrs. Hines Class - Show and Tell
From My Front Porch to Yours - Treasure Hunt Thursday
Fireflies and Jellybeans - Show Off Your Stuff
No Minimalist Here - Open House Party
Faded Charm Cottage - White Wednesday
House of Hepworths - Hookin Up with HoH
Momnivore's Dilemma - Creative Juice
Passionately Perfect - Coffee and Conversation
Laurie Anna's Vintage Home - Farmhouse Friday
The Charm of Home - Home Sweet Home Party
Common Ground - Vintage Inspiration Friday
At the Picket Fence - Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday
Vintage Gwen - Show and Share
The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday
Delightful Order - Delightfully Inspiring Thursday
The 36th Avenue - Show Me Extraordinary
Miss Mustard Seed - Furniture Feature Friday
I Gotta Create - Kiss and Tell
Addicted 2 Decorating - Not So Anonymous Link Party
Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party
Funky Junk Interiors - Sat Night Special
Too Much Time on my Hands - Get Schooled Saturday
Homemaker In Heels - Weeked Craft Soiree
Debbiedoo's - Newbie Party
Homemaker on a Dime - Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop
Everything Under the Moon - Bedazzle Me Monday
Under the Table and Dreaming - Sunday Showcase
Evolution of Style Link Party
The Delectable Home - Show and Tell Monday
Between You and Me - Crazy Cute Link Party
2805 - Potpourri Friday
Stuff and Nonsense - Fridays Unfolded
Redoux - Friday Link Up 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!