Weekend Update

For having no plans, it sure has been a busy weekend.

Going green
Goodbye purple:

Hello green:

While Brent is still sad to see the purple go, the green looks so much better with the brown sectional.

The basement has been o constant project since we moved into this house almost 2 years ago. While it's still not 100% complete, I'm so happy to finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The hole
Brent has been sick, but is finally feeling better today – so I harassed him with a project he's said he was going to do for the past 3 months.

Remember the unfortunate incident that happened when moving the sectional to the basement?

After 3 months, it's FINALLY being addressed:

Well, I'm less than thrilled to have to redo any part of that wall...no longer having a futon in the basement does make it worth it.

Because I have issues saying no
I agreed to do the Westie Rescue of Missouri calendar again the day before I found out I was pregnant. While, I'm sure I could have canceled that obligation once I learned the news, well, I'm just not that sort of girl.

So, in addition to early bedtimes and feeling pukey – I've been busy with this:

Thankfully, it's much more organized this year. And I'm hoping my part of the project will be wrapping up soon.

Because I really have issues saying no
The calendar isn't the only project I have going on. Aside from that, I'm also helping co-organize a neighborhood block party for our street. Thankfully, my neighborhood is awesome and we have lots of volunteers wanting to help out – so my plate won't be too heavy.

So many choices

Brent and I may have gone a little crazy with our paint swatches options for the man cave.


But we narrowed it down rather quickly.


And while we narrowed it down it yet another cool color, I'm just proud of us for even entertaining the thought of something in the spice family.

WTH is R.O.C. 2

When I discovered even some friends had no idea where in my house R.O.C. 2 (room of crap) was, I figured it was time for a basement floor plan.

The basement is more than a man cave – it also houses our guest bedroom and R.O.C. 2.


One day when the 2 bedrooms upstairs are kids' rooms, the office will be moved into R.O.C. 2. As for now, it stores crap. I thought it'd be fun to turn it into a wine cellar, but Brent quickly vetoed that idea. Such a fun killer.

Anywho, I hope that clears up some visual questions. :)

A Tale of 5 Sofas

The 6-week journey of 5 sofas for the man cave is now over.

It was a long, brutal process, but it's over now. The issue was the landing going down into the basement – nothing would fit in the space.

Our sectional arrived the day of the wine-party (nothing like cutting it close), and it took 45 minutes (and one hole in the wall) to make it fit. The hole was Brent's doing. The delivery guys said it wouldn't fit, but Brent was determined and pushed the sofa into the wall. My houndstooth wall.


Sigh. Looks like somebody gets to learn how to patch walls in the near future. But it was totally worth it, because the futon is gone!

Before:

After:

Yep, the man cave has definitely come a long way in the past year:

The only issue now is the wall color. I've never been a fan of it, but Brent's loved it. Thankfully, that love is quickly fading with the brown sectional. I think a celery color would be rather amazing and lighten things up.

The other side

I love the built-ins Brent and I did for the man cave. But it was looking a little sad on the other side of the stairs.


So, during our "rush week," Brent and I added that task to the list and had this project finished in no time.


Our biggest obstacle was the vent, since we didn't want to block it. The solution: just letting the vent be.


The "end" result:

I still need to find something for the bottom. I was thinking some sort of basket for storage. As for the top, Brent's wanting to get a second TV.

Peacock fabulousness

My cousin is getting married(!!!), and I'm thrilled. She's doing the peacock theme, and wanted her bridal shower to reflect that as well. No problem here – it's giving me 2 opportunities to embrace this ever-so-popular peacock trend.

I haven't battled the wedding invite yet, but I'm loving the shower invite:

In home news: We start the other built-ins tomorrow night!

Rush week

With my new job starting on Monday, reality of how few house projects (and how many TV series) were accomplished. So, I've decided to work my tail off the rest of the week and see what happens.

Projects include: finish picking up all the dead leaves in the landscape, the retaining wall top, the man cave ceiling and the built-ins on the other side of the stairs. Even thinking about it makes me want to take a nap, but it will be worth it.

Brent even kicked off the party with some built-in prepping:

It's going to look so good! I can't wait.

For the questions about cutting retaining wall stones, I will tackle that topic when I discuss the topper situation. So hopefully very soon. :)

Sofa shopping has begun

After the CL drama (and finding no other acceptable man cave sitting on there), Brent and I decided to hit up some furniture stores today.

We actually found 2 that we liked – a microfiber sectional and a leather sofa set. Originally, we were dead set on the sofa set, but with 2 sofas (who needs a loveseat), but when we came back and did some measuring, we discovered that we literally did need a loveseat. Ugh.

So now it's looking like a sectional is the best solution for the narrow space.

This is the current winner:


(Try not to be too distracted by the terrible coffee table).

The obstacle now is making sure we can actually get it into the basement. Brent took all the door and hallway measurements tonight, and hopefully on Monday we'll find out good news about the furniture guys being able to make it work.

In other news: Brent got to experience US Toy for the first time today. In a store full of little kid party favors, leave it to him to find the mini toilet toy with a smiling piece of poo in it (that can squirt water at you when you open the lid). I'm still shocked he didn't try to sneak it into the cart. Maybe this is a sign of maturity?

Looking up...literally

There's nothing wrong with the beige ceiling in the man cave (aside from the 1-coat job someone did), but I figure since I have the time – why not go white.

The non-whiteness of the ceiling became especially apparent once the shelves were built:


I'm only a quarter of the way done, it's looking a lot better:


And since I'm on the subject of the ceiling, I figured I'd answer a reader's question about what type of lighting is on the man cave ceiling. We have 3 rows of track lighting (with plans on adding a 4th row above the bar).


But the lighting I love the most is the rope lighting going around the room:


Painting the ceiling is definitely going to be a time-consuming project, but it's going to be worth it.

My March Madness

I had no idea lacking a job would be so exhausting.

It's been almost 3 weeks and time has flown by. Of course, March Madness is definitely helping. Brent and I even brought down the TV from the master to help with our basketball fever.


Brent had a friend in town, so we hosted an impromptu watch party last night. We got 2 pony kegs and took advantage of the kegerator for the second time (which were polished off at an alarming rate). It was so much fun. These were the type of gatherings I always wanted to host, and it makes me happy to finally get to.

Other than that, we finished off the side of the built ins. So, thanks to some bead board, it went from this:

To this:

Much better.

I can't wait to start the built-ins on the other side of the stairs (for the evenness and the additional DVD storage). Brent's decided to put a power and cable outlet over there as well, so he can acquire another TV. Such a guy, but I know next March Madness I'll be praising his TV hoarding.

Basically done!

I'm excited to say that the built-in shelves are basically done (well, kind of), but since I now have some free time, I figured why not.

Here are the progress pictures up until now:

Here's the "final":


Granted, the shelf decor isn't done (Brent has more sports memorabilia to dig out of storage), but you get the idea.

The unfinished part on the shelf is actually the side you see when going down the stairs (which I'll post about at a later date). The other thing left is putting the baseboard back up.

But, because Brent and I aren't that simple – the built-in project isn't done. There's more building left to do. See the other side of the stairs:


That, of course, needs a matching built-in with more DVD storage. :)

Progress report

So close to done...


All that's left is the trim. Hopefully that's a task for this weekend.

Tuesday

I'm excited to say that the building part of the shelves is done. Spackling, painting and adding trim is still on the agenda though.

Today's progress pictures:
And of course, the night I have energy to keep on going, I run out of paint. My goal for tomorrow evening is to have the painting done.

Monday

Brent is still going strong (he took tomorrow off as well), but unlike some people, I have to work tomorrow and my bedtime is near – so I'm calling it quits on Monday. And judging from the choice words coming from the garage, I think Brent's about spent himself.

Since we are doing the built-in in 2 different pieces (bottom and top), we've started repeating Saturday and Sunday's steps. I am loving this repetition because it means there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

While I was at work, Brent attached all the bottom shelving to the base:

And did all the wiring (pre-spackle photo):

Then it was back to Home Depot to have the cuts made for the top:
And while Brent is currently building those shelves, I've started painting the shelf backs:
Definitely a productive day. I'm trying not to read too much into the fact that the day things get done is the day I'm not there.

Sunday

Sunday consisted of a lot of painting and a very late night.


It was an awkward kind of day though, because when either Brent or myself was working, the other was at a standstill. Even though, I regretted it at work today, I'm happy I stayed up to get my painting done. Since Brent had today off, it gave him a good head start.

Saturday

Even with 2 mishaps (both in the mis-measuring department), more progress was made on the built-ins than I expected.

The before:
The blank canvas:

The "demo":

The purchase:
There are some things we just aren't comfortable DIYing, like things that require straight lines. We had Home Depot cut all the shelving. The first 2 cuts are free, and everything after is $.50 a cut. $17 is a small price to pay for straight lines. We dropped off our "order" Saturday morning and it was ready 40 minutes later. Totally worth it.

The base (not sure what's going on with the spots):

Saturday's progress pic:

The big blank area (which is DVD shelving) was done, but I'm mean and had Brent redo it this morning. The bottom shelf was too short (as in, you couldn't put a finger above the DVD to grab it out). He said we could make due, I gave him several mean looks and finally I got my way. While I still don't think he is happy with me, I'm sure he'll be thankful about it in the long run.

Aside from the shelves, we alo dogsat this little cutie: