Basement Overhaul

"Before"

I can tell you with absolute certainty that I'm not pregnant.  But for some reason, I have this incredible urge to "nest" and clean up this mess once and for all.  This intense feeling is reminiscent of my pregnancy days.  As most of you know, we have 4 kids.  I would do the serious house cleaning thing before each of the kids were born. 

When our oldest was about 20 months old, I was nearly due with kid number two.  It was well past the Christmas holiday season but every night, cute little baby Stuart was thrilled to turn on the Christmas tree lights - the Charlie Brown look-alike plastic Christmas tree that was still standing in our living room. 

I finally couldn't take it any more an insisted that we put away Christmas, no matter how great it was every night to turn on the tree lights.  I had another baby due soon and I couldn't imagine cleaning up "christmas" with a new born and a 22 month old.  Poor Stuart cried and tried to put the pieces of the tree together as fast as I was taking it all down. 

Looking back, how bad would it have been to let the tree and lights stay up until June, when things were calmer and I had a bit of free time.  But the urge to get things in order was overwhelming.  But any who...so much for memory lane.

We've been in this house for 6 years and we've not done a thing with this space other than dump stuff.  My plan is a major do-over.  

We will donate most of the odd bits of furniture and toys that the kids have outgrown to our local school district thrift store, replace the carpet, repaint the walls, have a door installed in the arch leading to another room, and buy some nice furniture so that this space will become an inviting gathering space for our our kids and their friends.  Not some bone yard of cast-offs. 

Today we sort...next installement

Astrid