Therapy has been a part of Max's life since he was a month old and Early Intervention started. Usually, the therapists and Max hang out in our basement. It's important for him to be someplacer quiet, so he can focus.
But the basement's never been an ideal area for therapy, mainly because of the open shelving filled with toys that distract him. There's also no dedicated place to keep therapy stuff, like this giant plastic ball he uses and other stuff, and no wide open area for him to do more physical stuff during therapy. Also: After the basement got flooded during Irene last year, we had to tear out the bottom part of the sheetrock—not the most attractive look.
And so, we've been faithfully contributing to our Basement Renovation Fund and finally saved up enough to get the work done. Some companies are contributing stuff, which is rather awesome, including IKEA, Pottery Barn Kids, Lowe's, Whirlpool and Sherwin Williams.
First up: get rid of the column smack in the middle of the basement that you can see up above. It's called a lally (I am getting to be quite the construction expert). We used LallyGone, a company that specializes in lally removal from basements and garages. It's run by George Nader, a structural engineer, and his super-nice wife Elizabeth.
Basically, the crew removed the sheetrock around the colun, screwed in gigantic pieces of metal on both sides of the beam for support, then removed the lally.
Max supervised the project for me. (Am I going to get in trouble with a union for that?)
Buh-bye, lally!
After! See something missing here?
It took maybe a few hours, and suddenly, we had this great big open space. Then we paid someone to rip out all the sheetrock (it wasn't in great shape), the shelving and the tile floor. And voila:
Back to a before.
Now we basically have a raw space that needs to be sheetrocked again, a floor that needs covering, walls that will need painting and lots of ideas. I've started a Pinterest board with potential paint colors, furniture, cabinetry and flooring.
The flooring, I'm sure of: I want a dark-ish brown one, and I found a beautiful kind by Mannington (you'll see it's on Pinterest—looks like wood, actually vinyl). I'm also definitely getting the simple-yet-stylish IKEA Besta cabinetry; you can design your own. A few panels will have glass, and the rest will be an out-of-sight-out-of-mind place for toys and therapy equipment.
Right now, I'm stuck on a couple of things:
• We're going with yellow paint, something warm from Sherwin Williams' new Emerald line, which is zero VOC. So! Many! Great! Yellows! I loaded my faves onto Pinterest.
I'm leaning towards Solaria (bold and rich) or Friendly Yellow (lighter yet still warm); Lantern Light is too lemony for me. But then I was concerned I'd get tired of a yellow so bright. I asked Max's opinion and he suggested "Cars 2"—as in, decorate the room with Lightning McQueen and Mater (I was surprised he didn't ask for purple, but his Cars movie obsession is going strong and the purple one seems to be dwindling). Sabrina and a friend over for a playdate examined the colors, declared "Polka dots!" and cracked up. Dave's non-answer: "Well, I usually go for bolder colors so maybe Solaria but then I can see why you like the lighter one. The right answer is whatever you like!"
SO... I'm stuck. Do I own the yellow and go bold? The lower half of the wall will have wainscoting, so it won't be all yellow. Or do I play it safe with the lighter shade?
The flooring, I'm sure of: I want a dark-ish brown one, and I found a beautiful kind by Mannington (you'll see it's on Pinterest—looks like wood, actually vinyl). I'm also definitely getting the simple-yet-stylish IKEA Besta cabinetry; you can design your own. A few panels will have glass, and the rest will be an out-of-sight-out-of-mind place for toys and therapy equipment.
Right now, I'm stuck on a couple of things:
• We're going with yellow paint, something warm from Sherwin Williams' new Emerald line, which is zero VOC. So! Many! Great! Yellows! I loaded my faves onto Pinterest.
Then I got mini cans of paint and dabbed them onto sample boards I bought at the store
Then I painted my three favorites on the part of the wall that still has sheetrock. From left: Sherwin-Williams Solaria (6688), Friendly Yellow (6680) and Lantern Light (6687).
I'm leaning towards Solaria (bold and rich) or Friendly Yellow (lighter yet still warm); Lantern Light is too lemony for me. But then I was concerned I'd get tired of a yellow so bright. I asked Max's opinion and he suggested "Cars 2"—as in, decorate the room with Lightning McQueen and Mater (I was surprised he didn't ask for purple, but his Cars movie obsession is going strong and the purple one seems to be dwindling). Sabrina and a friend over for a playdate examined the colors, declared "Polka dots!" and cracked up. Dave's non-answer: "Well, I usually go for bolder colors so maybe Solaria but then I can see why you like the lighter one. The right answer is whatever you like!"
SO... I'm stuck. Do I own the yellow and go bold? The lower half of the wall will have wainscoting, so it won't be all yellow. Or do I play it safe with the lighter shade?
• Seating: I'm gong with IKEA's Ektorp Love Seat and Sofa. Do I get the blue pinstripe (the fabric seems much more practical with kids), or go neutral with beige or white? The white Ektrop sofa (I Googled around, people seem to love it) has a machine-washable slipcover; a new one runs $99, so it's not that expensive to replace. The other covers are dry-clean only.
SO... What to choose?
SO... What to choose?
Advice/thoughts on paint and sofa colors welcome!
