Finally, a CLEAN basement!

I am officially embarrassed to say that this was the condition of the middle room of the basement. I cleaned it 18 months ago, but it’s an easy dumping spot for, well, just about everything. I know the intention was to “put it away later”, but things just kept accumulating.

After taking donating three carloads of “stuff”, the basement is MOSTLY clean. I clearly hadn’t done any life-stage cleaning over the last several years. The basement was filled with old toys, games, VHS videos, DVDs and CDs.

This center room used to be a play space for the children during the summer~~mostly because it is too hot here in Phoenix to play outside during the day (unless you are in the pool). It hasn’t been used for that for a very long time.

Here is the AFTER:

I found another set of sofa slipcovers so I replaced the red (which were stained) with the white. I also removed the rug underneath the sofa~~the backing had deteriorated. The nap of the carpeting was pressed down by the area rug so I’m hoping it will fluff up soon. If not, I will need to get the carpets cleaned.

Years ago, we installed these IKEA kitchen cabinets. Since the ceiling height is rather low in the basement, we couldn’t appropriately hang the upper cabinets. Instead, we rested them on a butcher block counter on top of the lower cabinets. This counter space gives me enough room to place items from the cabinet.

All my vases are stored in one cabinet. I have quite a few but you should have seen how many I donated!!!

The next two sets of cabinets, both upper and lower, house all my china and dishware as indicated by my last blog post (see here).

The final set of cabinets holds miscellaneous candles, fabric and disposable cups, plates and napkins.

Across from the sofa, is an old pine table that I use as my sewing area.

Behind the sofa, is a large blackboard. I am still hoping to learn calligraphy so I can write something profound on it. The blackboard has a piano hinge on one side and opens….

…to reveal the electrical panels for the house. I’ve never liked the look of those and hiding them is the perfect solution.

The basement has access to an outside staircase, which was very helpful when schlepping all the stuff to donate.

I still have a few things to do…get rid of the DVD shelves and re-purpose the armoire in the room. But for the most part, I am VERY happy this project is nearly completed. Let’s see how long it STAYS this way!