We finished finishing our basement!!!

We're done!

What started as a wild idea to finish an "unfinishable" basement turned into an amazing space for our whole family to hang out. 

Here is a little glimpse into what it looked like before. Dark, junk-filled, maybe even a little creepy?

The house was built in 1987, and though people learned by then to make the ceiling height higher than 6 feet (unlike our old house), basements weren't really designed to be finished. They're designed to hold all of the mechanicals of your home, hide all of the pipes, and serve as a place to store your crap.

But not anymore!

Here it is today!

The most incredible part about this transformation is that my husband did it completely on his own. Well, obviously the carpet folks installed the carpet, and the countertop man installed the countertop, and I painted, but seriously. The framing, the drywall, the electrical, the plumbing, the trim, the baseboards, the railing, the insets, the wood wall, the cabinets, the door - I mean, honestly??? Who can do all that (and do it REALLY well) unless they actually work as a general contractor? Well, apparently Jon can, and I can't stop telling him how amazed I am. He's done some pretty incredible things to the houses we've owned, but this is the most extensive project we've taken on from start to finish, and I can't get over how gorgeous it turned out.


A place for all of the toys! This has been life changing. 

Jon's new office space. Yep, I've relegated him to the basement. Sorry honey!

I cannot get over how well this wet bar turned out. This spot was where our washer & dryer and utility sink were when we moved in. And now it's a gorgeous place to store all of our glasses, and it helps separate the adult space from the kid space. 

I am obsessed with this backsplash. I now want to re-tile our kitchen backsplash, but I'm going to give Jon a break... for now ;-)

It was Jon's idea to build these inset things. It was alot of extra work and effort, but I love the character it brings to the basement. We stained the back walls to match the beam that runs through the middle of the room.

For Jon's birthday, I found a giant (but sadly empty) bottle of Silver Oak (one of our favorite wineries in Napa) and it came in this awesome case.

Back in March, this area:

Looked like this:

Big upgrade. Big. Huge.

My favorite! A wine crate coffee table (DIY instructions found here) that costs less than $50? Sold!

I want to fill this handy little cubby with corks from every time we drink a bottle of wine together. Every cork a memory, right? Looks like we have some work to do! ;-)

I love this little TV nook for the girls. They sit/lay down next to each other and cuddle up watching movies, and my heart melts.

Every day when we get home, Anna wants to immediately "Go Dow Sares" to have her "Cup" at the table. <3

Ruler: Hobby Lobby; Kid's Table: Amazon

I half-joked with Holly that I should start renting Jon out for side projects. As I mentioned in my 2014 recap post, I am amazed that Jon was able to do all of this with the schedules that we have. Sure, it may have taken us 11 months (a lifetime according to HGTV standards), but we got the basement finished for a fraction of what a contractor would have charged. Plus, we got to design everything, and make our own choices. 

I know it was incredibly difficult for Jon to get home from a long day of work and go down to the basement to work on this project, but it was so worth it. I couldn't be more grateful for his expertise, and now that it's all said and done, I keep telling him it was kind of fun. Right??? RIGHT??

Now, on to the next project! ;-)