The Cellar Optimization Initiative
An update on the housing front. We’ve gotten through the housing inspection and negotiation phase. We have a signed purchase and sale agreement with a closing date. That pretty much means that they have to sell us the house right? That’s the the assumption I’m operating under and it’s full speed ahead with brainstorming about projects and decorating. Don’t rain on my parade.
Enter the Boost Your Roost Contest. $20,000 to renovate part of your home if you successfully sell your project in 300 words or less? Yes please. While the upstairs of the house is in great shape, the cellar really needs some work to make it a functional. Conor needs a place to store his tools, I want a place for my own projects, and the laundry and storage areas need major overhauls to reduce the creep factor. Observe:
Currently a playroom, I’d love a large work surface for sewing, wrapping gifts, and arranging flowers. You know, because I’m Martha like that. I’ve been cramming my craft supplies into various boxes and bags in our apartment and it would be great to have some designated storage. More on that at the end.
While it’s great that there’s a work bench down there already, we’d like to reconfigure this space so it’s not so crammed in the corner. We’d expand the work space, build some deeper shelves for tool storage, and add cabinets so everything isn’t so out in the open. I like to hide my disorganization as much as possible.
Do you want to do laundry down there? I don’t. Not even if there is a place to keep my surfboard. I want the laundry area to be a place that doesn’t give me the creeps. I need a place to sort and fold clothes, a drying rack, storage for cleaning supplies, and a functional laundry sink.
There isn’t much storage space upstairs so I want to adapt those existing closets into a cedar closet for seasonal clothes and a butler’s pantry type space for extra serving pieces and decorative items. Why is it that some people ( myself included) think that it will be dinner parties 24/7 once they own a home? I’m rolling with it until reality catches up with me.
Ah, the ubiquitous inspiration board. While I’ve been pinning inspiration rooms here and there, I wanted to boil down some of them in one place. I like the contrast of white storage units with butcher block counters to keep everything light and natural. I’m also really attracted to the galvanized metal of that utility sink and garden supplies.
Granted, it would be fantastic to actually be in the running for this contest but, I still think we’ll try to implement some of these ideas no matter what. How about you guys? Any home projects your mulling over at the minute?
love this! your cellar is going to be great! also, I think cellar might be a new england term? I always say i’m going “down cellar” and dan has no idea what i’m talking about!
but also, i too am of the mindframe of owning a home =24/7 dinner parties and even though i’ve been living here for 3 months now and have thrown exactly 1 dinner party, i’m still believing it. ignorance is bliss?
“Down cellar” is totally a New England thing so I always feel inauthentic saying “basement.” Haha. I didn’t really think about that when writing this. Maybe we need to start keeping score of our dinner parties as motivation?
Niall and I have been in our apartment over 6months now and have had a few dinner parties! The only thing is at the start I must have invited everyone “round for dinner some night” so now I have a long list of people still waiting to come round!
Hope you win the competition, looks like you have some great ideas! I also love the title of this post, it sounds like an episode of the big bang theory!
Anna you are the winner. I envy your hostessing! We’ll have to get a guest post on that someday!
Sounds like great plans.. Just don’t make it too martha or else your kids won’t get toughened up by having to “brave the creepy cellar” during their early years!
Haha. What kids!?