House Update: Basement Family Room

Five Vs are currently allowing their heart rates to return to normal. Tonight was a big night: The Cleaning of the Fish Tank. Mike and Dec got most of the way through the process, started the new water nitrogenizing, and came down for dinner. About 20 minutes later, Mike ran up to check the water and came down looking concerned. "We're missing a fish!" WHAT?!?! So off five Vs ran to search for Ron. Somehow I spotted him on the floor next to Mike's foot (we will never know how he did not get stepped on), Mike scooped Ron and dumped him back in the water, and he righted himself and started swimming along. Whew! During the next Cleaning of the Tank, there will be a deeper bowl. Or a cover. Or both. Oh Ron!

So, now that Ron is safely returned to the tank, join us for a small tour of the family room area in the basement. Come on down!

Right at the bottom of the stairs (and 90 degrees to the left), we have a little hallway bar area. It's a fantastic overflow storage for our barware, bakeware, paper products, and giant roasting pan. There's a fridge, a microwave, and our keurig (for when the grandparents come to visit). It will be the perfect prep area when we host a party in the backyard - and is also great for movie nights. My favorite thing is that our shot glass shelf and collection are back on the wall!

The end of the mini hallway opens up to the main family room area. If you look to the left, you see my office area. When we moved, we got rid of the old (very small) desk that I still had from college and got both Mike and me new grown up desks. Mine can even convert to a standing desk, which I love during long conference calls. I work from home 2-3 days each week, so having a functional, dedicated workspace is awesome. [Graduating from using the camping table as my desk is also very awesome!] Mike is currently storing his outdoor speakers on top of the bookcase (he's clearly an interior decorator at heart). And you can see just a peek of the slider curtains on the right side of the photo. I have fantastic natural light pouring in during the day and love it. 

[The guest room is on the other side of this wall and that's where Mike's desk is. I will show that room another time as I am hoping to paint it first. Stay tuned.]

Continuing to circle, the slider is in the middle of the family room. It opens out onto our patio and gives us a great view of the back yard.

Another view of the back yard from the slider. On days the kids are home, I can almost always hear giggles from the trampoline while I work (you can see a corner of it on the left). That rounded area of the patio is the perfect location for a fire pit - and we finally invested in one last week. Fall and winter fires are our favorite!

If you walk out the mini hallway and turn to the right, you are in the family room. Our sectional fits beautifully down here and the art shelf as been repurposed as a bookcase and photo display. Behind the sectional is an entertainment center that is no longer needed and we hope to sell - but the plan is to put our sofa table (still in storage) here. So we were using the entertainment center to get a feel for furniture in this spot. 

And finally, the new piano lives down here too. All three kids are taking lessons, so the piano is a popular place. Last weekend, Mike dug out the laser level and we hung up the kids' artwork along the wall and created the expansion plan for future masterpieces. With the weird school years and lack of art class, we only have one piece of art up from Kinder Dec. We are very much looking forward to adding a few more of the Dude's masterpieces over the coming years!

The door at the end of the room leads into the toy storage closet and the basement bathroom - which will also be shown a different time. The bathroom is on the short list for things that will be painted very soon!

Thanks for joining the mini basement tour. As with any house, things will continue to change and evolve. But we are very happy with how it is coming together and how inviting it feels.