Tag Archives: basement

Mancave – basement Flooring (Part 2)

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Last week I shared the beginnings of a basement makeover with major clean up, a wall removed, fresh new paint (Mancave in Progress – Part 1) and today…you guys! I’m so excited to show you the floor! Hurray! One step closer to completion!

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

My contacts from A&S Carpet are Jeff and Frank and Frank stopped by to check out the area and do some measurements and since it’s a basement space, gave us some product recommendations. 

basement // mancave makeover

After looking at TONS of samples, we fell in love with a hardwood called Maverick from Shaw Floors. We love the color, the rustic design, how it looked next to the slate tile on the stairs, the durability and the distressing. It would have been love at first sight for you too. Not too dark, not too light. Lots of character! 

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

Pretty detail!!!basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

And the professional hardwood floor team A&S sent over had it installed in just a few short hours! There’s something about watching professionals … they make it look so easy. basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

Tim has installed over a million square feet of flooring! basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

Maverick is a 7″ ply-core engineered Hickory with a pretty texture unlike any other product in the Shaw Hardwood Collection. It showcases a timeworn rustic distressed look with circular saw marks randomly peppered throughout the design. It gives the appearance of reclaimed old flooring in a wider width. 

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather

See that random light piece in the middle?basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather

I loved that light piece and anticipated random light pieces throughout the design. However, when that didn’t seem to be the case, I requested it be removed. Thankfully the glue hadn’t completely dried and the guys got it swapped out. basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather

We went with the color “leather”.

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather

Isn’t it pretty? Isn’t the distressing awesome?

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather

Since this will be a space for entertaining and play, it’s a great durable option!  What do you think? 

Do you have a finished basement? Is it a mancave type space? What type of flooring did you choose?

 

Mancave in Progress (Part 1)

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We have a mancave makeover in progress! Hurray!!! 

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

Well, to be precise…we’ve never had a mancave in our home so we’re doing a basement makeover and creating a mancave for Russ. When it comes to our home, my husband has pretty much given me free reign to DIY, design and decorate as I please. We call it my life sized doll house. As you know, it’s kind of my thing, what I love to do and it’s still a work in progress with lots to be done but last summer, we started cleaning out the basement and it was time to start planning a space just for him. 500+ square feet all dedicated to him, his hobbies and his likes. He’s a home brewer so the mancave will include a bar for entertaining and because he enjoys football season, a living room area with enormous television…I’d call that a mancave, right?

I want him to make the decisions on this space but I appreciate that he includes me in his decision making and asks my opinion. See my Pinterest Board of Mancave Inspiration here. 

 

Our basement is two parts. 1 part old 1927 below the original house with ceilings so low he has to duck his head and 1 part newer addition – we’re guessing sometime in the early 1990s. The overflowing storage of junk had reached our puke point. We had a yard sale last summer. He tore down a wall that separated the space. Here are some before photos when the wall was removed and the junk was heading out the door…

basement // mancave makeover basement // mancave makeover basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard Shaw Maverick Leather

We’ve been here going on 12 years and never really did anything with the space other than he ripped up some nasty carpet when we moved in and we did have a wood burner for a while before insulating our home and new windows. But mostly, it just sat collecting junk, dirt and dust. It often also served as a workshop for DIY projects upstairs so lots of sawdust too! 

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

The duct work that sits head-hitting low for his 6’3″ height will be encased in cabinetry. More details on why coming up later!

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboardbasement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

Once we got it empty, he patched, primed and painted walls.

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

He really liked the sage green walls we used to have in our kitchen and I really like gray so we decided on a gray-green. He used Benjamin Moore Aura paint color matched  – Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray.

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

Then we started the search for flooring. We had our local Shaw Floors dealer stop by to determine which floor covering suited our space best. Frank from our local Shaw dealer, A&S Carpet recommended engineered hardwood for our basement. 

basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard basement // mancave makeover #shawstyleboard

Stay tuned for Part 2 for what we chose and installation! 

 

First project of 2013

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You may be wondering what I’ve been up to. Where have I been? Besides cursing my camera for starting off 2013 with a non-working auto-focus which forces me to use my iphone camera.

Well, I’ve been right here at home. Working on some no pressure sorts of things at an easy pace. The first of the year had me packing up Christmas

Christmas ornaments

which led to organizing the basement…because I sort of messed it up digging out Christmas decorations and piled up empty boxes in a hurry to resume making the upstairs pretty for the holidays.

DIY Show Off Christmas Home Tour

All of the decorations are in hiding and the basement clean up is nearly wrapped up. Our scary OLD OLD OLD part of the basement will never be pretty but I do love the additional storage space it provides.  {never say never. I could win the lottery and then…possibilities!} Be warned. These pictures of a 90 year old basement are not for the faint of heart and do look as if they’re still-shots from “Hoarders” {hence, no watermarking. lol!}…not something you’re going to see in the next issue of House Beautiful:

basement mess

Of course it was one of those “make a bigger mess” before it looks better types of projects”.

  • Dig EVERYTHING out.
  • Unpack boxes and storage containers.
  • Purge.
  • Create a pile for donating.
  • Fill 3 garbage bags.
  • Have tissues on hand…dust can induce sneezing and a runny nose.
  • Wash dirty hands every 30 minutes.
  • Listen to happy upbeat music, sing, dance throughout the obstacle course you created.
  • Separate and organize things in to related piles.
  • Pack neatly and in an organized fashion.
  • Label boxes and containers.
  • Pile it all back up where it will fit.

This may take days. Family might send out a search party. You’ll need a shower with lots of scrubbing. Oh, and lotion for those extra dry hands.

You may wonder why the heck you’ve been hoarding 584 empty boxes of various sizes.

I organized some decorative accents I like having on hand. It’s like my own secret store for shopping from home.

shopping from home

Must have spray paint supply…

spray paint supply

I even managed to create a work space using an old farmhouse table. It’s not much of a “project” in the way of fun or pretty or a “oOoOohhh” reveal. But you know how much better it feels to get chaos under control, right?

And it feels sort of like nesting for adding a furbaby to our home in the near future. I want everything to be perfect…even the scary old spidery dusty basement that no one but me sees. Oh and well now, you‘ve had a glimpse too. I know you’re torn between feeling honored and horrified. Sorry about that.

And, all that lead to finding the chartreuse paint that I used on the apartment door…

apartment door

{Valspar Guilded Pesto}

because yes, the boxes of apartment renovation supplies have been sitting unpacked, haphazardly tossed in a corner from the car. For months. And cleaning/organizing the older part of the basement meant putting those things away too. Finally.

And where am I going with this? Organizing the basement, finding the left over paint? Well that lead to an unplanned mini-project upstairs which I’ll share with you tomorrow.

wink

What have you been up to? Don’t forget to share your latest DIY at the party.

DIY Show Off