our little condo has a full basement, and 2 floors. I have never been a fan of the basement but we only have about 650 sq. ft. on each level so the basement space is valuable. And half of it was finished. So it was our Winter project. Three years ago when we moved in we put up shelves in this space and filled them with boxes. Boxes of things that had been in a storage unit for over a year. Things we had not touched in that long. We put the stuff there and turned out the light. Year 2 we chipped away at the boxes and unearthed the furniture and set up a room and the reward was the big TV. We enjoyed this room so much that it seemed like time to actually finish it. So that is what we did this year.

The only natural light we have is what filters down from the circular staircase that is in front of the limey yellow wall. I wanted to go with some big color because of the lack of light. Unfortunately with the lack of light it is hard to capture these colors. The light bounces off the yellowy wall and it feels welcoming. But I really LOVE the peacock colored wall which is deeper and richer than in these photos, it feels very cozy.

I matched this envelope at Paper Source for the paint color.

If you look carefully under the TV there is a narrow half wall. This was a 'lovely' gray barn board wall. It was very knotty, and rough and an eyesore. Although some people would comment on how much they loved it. I think they were just being kind. After years of discussing that wall, my husband with the help of a neighbor, figured out how to run electrical and audio on the front of the wall and then dry wall over the whole thing. So now there are no cords hanging down from the TV. Previous to this there was a rats nest of cords there. And those are the things my eye always goes to. Almost forgot to mention that there was a matching barn board built in bar storage thing where the glass table sits. Also bad, cheap bookshelves that were bowed where the new shelves sit.

We got two big IKEA shelving units and painted the wall behind so there is some nice color showing through the shelves. These shelves give us a place for lots of stuff. On the bottom is a whole row of plexi boxes that John keeps his files and office supplies in. Because on the other end of this living area is his home office.

I would like to say we are done but we still have John's office area to work on. But now it is Summer and we use this space less and there is plenty to work on outside. So once again the basement is back on hold until next Winter when we will hopefully finish it.