Flylady Home Organization

Basement Makeover

This project has been a long time coming, and it may not take off, but I'm gonna try. The basement if filled with stuff that's basically been there since we moved here, 7 years ago. It's been covered with plaster dust from when half of the basement was finished. It's a mess, it's filthy, and most of it is stuff we don't need. Time to get that stuff out of there, clean it up, and fill it with stuff we want to keep, just not in the living area. First, some photos of how it looks now, to help inspire me to make good on the plan!

 To the right, as you first walk through the door.

 To the right, other corner.

 To the left......









<------ See that blue bin? That's where I'll start.

 I've got my work cut out for me!

 The floor.

 So much good space to do actual organizing with!

This is looking back from the far wall.

There's that blue bin. I took a peek, and saw this frame... one of my long-time vows has been to find frames and put photos up! Good place to start, though also an easy way to get distracted from the task at hand.... =) Can you see the dust on the bin? It is everywhere downstairs. YUK.









June 20. Oh dear. I seem to be moving in the wrong direction. My son and I just moved everything from the finished part of the basement and put it in the unfinished part - the part that I'm trying to clean out. Well, sometimes it is necessary to step backward a bit to move strongly forward, I think. Anyhow.... it struck me once again how toxic the air is down there. I mean, yes, the plaster dust sits on everything, as I mentioned. But after less than 10 minutes of being down there I knew it was time to get some fresh air. Seems as if it's going to take some real work before it will be ready to be a play room. I can't have the little ones breathing that junk in. It makes me feel angry, as I so often do, at the guy who "finished" the basement. He left a real mess down there. 

Project 7: The Main Floor Bathroom

Hubby and I have wanted to finish this bathroom forever. It is on the main floor, and is the one that guests use. It still has it's original white paint, and the walls are scratched and dirty. It's a small space that is frequented by two young kids, and it's grubby.

The bathroom came with a chrome towel bar that quickly became a hanging bar to the kids. Of course, it eventually pulled right out of the wall. I decided it would look better and work better if we patched the wall and put in a towel ring instead. Here's what it looks like now... Ugly

I saw this and had to have it. It's a temporary towel hanger than hangs right from the vanity drawer. Finally, I am finding the towel ON the rod after the kids have been in there, instead of on the floor. The other rod was much higher, and hard for the kids to use. I love how this rod is small and takes up very little space, and is very accessible to the kids. It will have to go once the towel ring finds its way in here, but I will definitely use it elsewhere in the house! It was under $10.00 bucks, too.

Here's the vanity. I have hated it from the start. They guy who showed us the house told us that there was a buyer before us who made all kinds of changes while the house was being built, then reneged. One of the changes was putting these UGLY vanities in instead of pedestal sinks. Although the drawers are nice to have, I think I would have preferred the look of the pedestal, especially in here. Unfortunately this will be staying, at least for the time being. But the faucet will be replaced. Hubby says he hates the mirror.... we'll see what that translates into! I'm hoping the new paint color will make the vanity look less cheap.

The light fixture. Because we have chosen a towel ring and toilet paper hanger that are dark in color, hubby says that all the chrome has to go. (Good riddance) As he will be working on this while I take the kids away for the weekend, he will be choosing what goes up in its place. I am ok with that. I put in my two cents regarding the faucet: I like the kind that rises up, bends toward you and comes down again. More elegant.






So that's it. I so look forward to the changes, and I will post "after" pictures when it's all done. Can't wait!

Here are a couple of in progress shots.

Old faucet out...

Changing the faucet meant new pipes and doohickeys under here...

Oyoyoy.

The new wall color! I love it! What a difference a little color makes!! Because we had decided to change the chrome stuff to dark colors, hubby decided that the toilet seat had to change, too. He was right on.

This looks great. The old one looked kind of big and clunky. The lid and seat wouldn't stay up by themselves, which was not so good for the guys. This one has the small child seat, which fits inside the regular seat, just like the old one. This one just fits and looks better.

Tucked in child seat.

I asked hubby to look for a looping faucet, and this is what he found. Awesome! Love it.

New flusher, which replaced the standard chrome one. The kids tested it, and announced that though this one is easier to push down, it sounds the same as the old one. ;)

New light fixture. I love it. The glass is frosted.

Towel ring.

What a fantastic transformation! It's inspiring!

Project 6: Contain The Pieces -Complete-

I swear to goodness, every single day of my life I am picking up the tiny, endless pieces that go to the many puzzles, games and who knows what that we have in our house. My 2-year-old lately thinks it great fun to open boxes and dump the contents on the floor. I pick it up, he does it again. Repeat. It is beyond frustrating. And then my husband comes home and comments on the mess in the house. I would like to know how people maintain these lovely homes with children. I am finding it quite difficult. So this project is about finding a way to contain and lock up these mountain making, spreading, frustration causing bits and pieces.

It has taken me several days to settle on this cabinet. I wanted a larger space for all of the games, puzzles, play dough, and other stuff that seems to end up everywhere but in their respective boxes or containers. The larger spaces we have are not easy to lock, which is the whole point. So after much deliberating I have decided to make this space work, as is is lockable with one of these doohickeys --

These are pretty good. By the time the kids can get this off, I am hopeful they will be responsible enough with the stuff that we'll keep in here. (hopeful......)

This looks neat and tiny now....but I know there's ton more stuff that qualifies for this cabinet! We'll see what we can fit. Maybe having a couple of things out at a time is the way to go..... Anyhow, I pleased to have this done. =)

Project 5: Medicine Safe - Complete!

This is something I've wanted to do for a while. This is a cabinet filled with medicines, vitamins, supplements, essential oils and related items. The kids don't hesitate to climb up and help themselves to Bandaids and whatever else they can get their hands on. Time to lock them up.

Consulting with hubby, we both like the idea of finding a small, locking something-or-other that will fit right into the cabinet. Let's see what I can find.

I am feeling so good about myself! I went online and started to look at locking safes, locking cabinets and locking medicine cabinets. I found many, but few that looked close to what I was looking for. None that were perfect. I told hubby that I thought we'd need to go shopping and actually look at what was available, to be sure we got what we liked. Then I said that perhaps with the huge quantity of stuff we have in our house there might be something we could use. I headed down to the basement. (with 2-year-old in tow =)  ) I found this! A picnic case, complete with plates, silverware and napkins. The case has a double zip on it, which means I can lock the zipper pulls together! Perfect! I am very pleased with my ability to rethink and reuse!! And it saves me a trip to the store, which is really a pain with the kids. So here goes....the transfer of the meds.

Transfer complete! I know I'm going to have to pull half of this stuff out every time I want something, but it's worth the peace of mind knowing that my kids won't get into something they shouldn't.


I love my essential oils! =)

This project was like the shower head project. Once I started, it was done very quickly. It's one of those that makes me wonder what took me so long to get started on it. (grin)

Project 4: The Art Wall -In Progress-

I love my children's drawings and art. I do! But I think this could be neatened up a bit. My immediate thought was to cover it in cork board. Wow, the stuff is expensive! To cover the wooden area next to my fridge, it would have cost just under $40.00. Yeeks! So instead I went to ebay, and found a 2'x4' roll for $17.00. Still way too much, but whatever. So I bought it, it'll be on its way soon.

Well, the roll of cork board arrived. I didn't count on it being so very thin! It is simply not possible that a regular thumb tack would go into and stay there. I don't get it. How does one use this stuff? I'm still pondering ways to make this work. Maybe I should use it to create something else. But that doesn't solve this problem. Back to the drawing board....

Project 3: Random Pile of Stuff -Complete!-

Although project 1 is yet to be completed, I am moving steadily along. This is because I can only sew when the kids are otherwise occupied, which means I get very little sewing time per day. Project 1 is moving along, just slowly. SO....on to project 3, which I can work on while I'm with the kids.

This is just what it looks like. A random collection of who knows what. And to be totally honest, it's been there for a long time. A long time. Hi, my name is Dais, and I'm a clutter-a-holic! How embarrassing.

Ok, maybe I shouldn't share this, but the very first thing I found in this pile of stuff was a bill. That I had paid. And sealed in the envelope. And put my return address on. And stamped. In 2008. Told you it's been there for a while!!

Plugging along...plugging along..... The majority of this stuff has been going right to the recycle bin or trash. Sighs.

Taking progress shots of this project seems sort of pathetic, but it keeps me moving on it. This kind of thing is really hard for me. I am finding cards we received in 2007. What is wrong with me? (sheepish grin)

Done!!! Three years in the making, three days in the unmaking! Phew!