Basement Redo

Don't expect any before and after pictures for a LONG time. We don't even have time to consider anything until at least June. *Sigh*
To say the least, our basement is a flashback to the 70's. (I think my mom said that. I wasn't exactly alive then to confirm this). Let's just say, it could really use some updating. See for yourself:

Here's the pile of giveaway or get rid of. 

 Don't ask why we have a bed in our basement. I don't even know myself!

 Oooh. Fancy fridge right there. 

 Random unused room divider next to our HUGE cabinet and a bin of Legos. 

 We got a new TV hence the need to get rid of a bunch of stuff since it doesn't fit into the old cabinet! 

 My mom's "office." 

 More stuff that needs to be sorted.

 Look at all these old records! I'd LOVE to display them somehow.

 This HUGE cupboard is FULL of games and puzzles.

 Just admire the picture wall. Pretty huh? No. The frames are all different colors that don't go together. Most of them are crooked anyway. 

We're going to sell this old TV cabinet on Craigslist. I absolutely HATE it. 

 We've got two of these which we're also going to sell. Yay!

I had wanted to paint the walls grey instead of the beige color that happens to be in our living room, bathroom, laundry room, basement, and I think even our kitchen. C'mon people! Let's get a little more creative! Since we're taking the carpet out, we'll have to deal with the flooring underneath which happens to be a less paint splattered version of this: 

Grrreat. My mom is voting for green but I don't know. Both our craft room and mine and my sister's bedroom are green. The craft room is a mint green and our room is more of a lime. Hmmm. 

I'm voting for a lot of white furniture. I think that game storage thing would look great white. Apparently my dad loves natural wood and hates painted wood. It's pretty obvious to see by looking at any room in my house.

Fall Days.

Don't you just love those cool fall days?
Cleaning out rooms.
Getting rid of old furniture.
Buying fresh paint.
Sugarland.
Pulled Pork Sandwiches.
Giant pickup trucks.
Riding backwards down huge hills in giant pickup trucks.
French braiding.
Haunted Forests.
Definitely a good weekend.
We're re-doing the "teen" room in our church. It used to be the nursery until the nursery was moved right outside the sanctuary. The room was divided up by a crappy wall and filled with old, smelly furniture and used as the junior high sunday school room. Our youth group has decided to officially take it over, starting today. We knocked down the wall, pulled out all the furniture, and are painting it next weekend. So excited! The colors (will share pictures eventually) are a bright blue, a grey chalkboard wall, and a white board wall. Sounds ugly... but it's not. So excited!

Bye Bye Bathroom!

Our bathroom isn't going away. We're just redoing it and I need tips. I'm actually kind of embarrassed to share pictures... but here.... Please ignore the awkward angles. I was using the webcam on my computer because my camera is lost, my dad's camera is dead, and did I mention I had two sets of rechargeable batteries in my camera bag along with my camera? FML. Anyway...

The shower curtain has unicorns on it.

Please ignore the mess caused by two teenage girls sharing a bathroom.

Isn't she just so helpful?

What a lovely loon. 

Great wallpaper, huh?

What great reversed web cam pictures.

I seriously am currently loving brown and blue together.

I just don't know what I should paint what color. You know, like brown with a blue stripe or reverse. I would actually LOVE to do like a stenciled wall. I think blue walls with brown accents like towels and curtains would be nice.... but the stenciling is just so intriguing! 

I'd love to do something like this but possibly with brown instead of white. I really like this blue color. 

via

At the check out at some store, we found a gorgeous painting of a blue and brown bathroom. We almost bought it. I'm totally kicking myself for not doing so but we weren't totally sure about redoing the bathroom then. Although, from the crappy pictures above, you can totally tell it needs it!

Any thoughts? We're planning on getting paint samples this week so I need to have a plan all worked out. Anyone ever used wall stencils before? How did it turn out?