it was always my plan to make a board like this for all the rooms/areas of our house as we started to do some updates and decorate. it’s funny how when we moved in in august i had a laundry list of things in the house that i didn’t think i’d be able to live with for long…two-prong outlets, the funky room divider between the kitchen and dining area, unfinished hardwood floors. fast forward five months and the divider remains, we still haven’t finished the floors, and we just last week replaced the first set of outlets (without getting shocked! #winning!). and surprisingly, it’s totally okay. i mean, of course they’re still on the list and i’m looking forward to having them done someday, but it’s funny how we unintentionally moved away from all the doing and just started living.

we’re starting to feel more settled and i think are at that phase where we’ve lived in our space long enough to know a few things that we’d like to focus on changing/improving. the basement has been at the top of the list pretty much since day one, but since it’s such a massive undertaking, it’s been constantly moved to the back burner while we tackle other smaller projects. i’m totally the person who in the middle of scraping up our tile floor in the basement decides that they need open shelving in the kitchen right now. so little projects like that have come and gone and now our unfinished basement and our basically brand new sectional purchased for the sole purpose of comfortably binge-watching netflix shows are staring us in the face like, hey, remember us?

clockwise from top center: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

so, even though the original goal was to be done with the basement by thanksgiving, the new goal is to be done by valentine’s day. yes, for the sole purpose of being able to binge-watch the new season of house of cards on said comfy sectional. here’s a basic run down of what needs to happen:

• finish scraping up old tile (finally done!)
• find a way to dispose of tile pieces and carpet sections
• paint floor with floor paint to prep for new floor
• paint over wood paneling on the walls
• lay new vinyl flooring
• move furniture back
• decorate!
• buy ourselves an expensive bottle of liquor to celebrate

anyway, although we’re still a few weeks out from the decorating phase, i’m finding lots of inspiration from the photos on this board. the walls will be a white/light grey, but i definitely foresee incorporating a chalkboard somewhere, maybe by the bar area. and although we’ll stick mostly to neutral colors and a minimalist look, i can’t resist a few pops of color. (although it sadly probably won’t come in the form of hot pink bar stools). oh! and lighting. we’re thinking about some kind of pendant light over the bar area, but i’d love to have string lights somewhere, too. i’ve seen lots of simple DIYs for marquee lights, and i think an arrow pointing towards the bar would be an awesome touch. and the kraft paper roll, well, not sure how that fits in, but i’ve always liked that idea…maybe for a drink menu! stay tuned!