Living in an older home the last 28 years, our basement has always been a bit of a pit. No uniform paint on the brick walls or cement floor. Unfinished yes, but also dirty, dingy, and poorly lit. Especially our ‘laundry room’, which was the worst, and yet where we spend most of our time when downstairs.

But no more! We finally pulled the trigger with new paint. But that was just the start, as my wife added new shelves, vinyl covering for our folding table, a new drying rack, new fluorescent lights, towel racks, laundry bins, wastepaper basket, rugs, and pails. I wish I would have taken more before and after pictures, but I only have the one.

And ARTWORK GALORE! There were several large holes in the walls, for reasons I do not know, that we covered with round wooden discs that have black and white family pictures pasted on them. The many picture frames (dollar stores are great for things like this) have family and friends on them.

And the masterpiece? We have a large window that went to a crawlspace that led under our driveway, for some reason. I peeked inside that window years ago, just to see where it went, and have never felt the need to go there again. Now you see the large 4’ X 4’ pour-art project my wife and daughter did. Which is way cool!

To follow through on a previous blog post, we also downsized. Many items were either given away to Hope Gospel or family, recycled, or thrown away.

Were any library resources used in this project? Nope! We were not doing any major remodeling or construction, so nothing was needed. I am just the painter, and my wife is the decorator and artistic genius. But certainly, our wonderful library has all sorts of books and DVDs on home repair, restoration, remodeling, and arts & crafts. The Reference Team is always happy to help. Give us a call at 715-839-5004, email reference@eauclaire.lib.wi.us, or use our online chat service.