Remodeling the Basement, Part II

Happy Easter!  He has Risen!!  I hope your day has been as wonderful as mine so far, with just a few chocolate eggs or a breakfast mimosa thrown in for good measure.  :)

I'm getting close to being able to share with you the major overhaul our basement has gotten.  Today I'll start with just one corner of it.  We were SO thrilled when we bought our house almost three years ago that the basement was already finished.  It has a little bathroom, which I've already shown you.  And the rest of it was carpeted and insulated and...wood-paneled. 

Now hold on! I know just as much as the next design junkie that there are people all over the map on this issue...to paint or not to paint the wood?  I myself stand on both sides of the fence, depending on the state of the wood and the feel of the room.  This wood paneling in my basement had it's heyday in 1979, the year the house was built.  It was in good shape (i.e. we could not justify ripping it out) but it was pretty dated.  Also it was that pre-fab, pressed wood that you install in sections, not wide-planked wood boards that were hand-cut by Amish craftsmen.  So, no guilt for this girl when that paint went up!  Here's the before shot:

Please forgive the lighting of these photos.  It's hard to capture the cozy feel of the basement (how I like it!) without turning on the overhead florescent lights that I just hate. Plus I have no idea how to work the settings on my camera!  :)

Moving on...My husband was thrilled because he's been collecting "bar" paraphernalia for years, and has even dabbled in brewing his own craft beer at home.  Just call this his "man corner" since we can't really give him the whole room to justify calling it a "man cave."

All. That. Wood. Paneling.  Painting it was a L-O-N-G process, but we'd just had baby Vivian a few months prior, and we figured we were house-bound with a sleeping infant so we'd have plenty of time.  It took two coats of oil based primer (a MUST for durability and longevity, not to mention that it covered SO much better than a latex primer).  Then we did two coats of water-based Sherwin-Williams "Roman Column" on top.

Brent finally got to display all his goodies and glasses and bottles.  We hung an old stained glass window, picked up years ago at a Virginia antique shop, to give it an English pub kind of feel (plus it divides the space between the bar and the rest of the room, which is the kids' playroom). Brent also built that long shelf you see below from a piece of barn wood we picked up on Craig's List, and, after all these years, his wife finally let him mount that glowing, electric sign that is exhibited so prominently.  :)

He also wanted to name his man corner, and so one night we were tossing names around and "Grumpy Goat" was the winner.  It's what we call our kids when they wake up on the wrong side of the bed.  I'm not sure how it started but over the years we've amassed many photos of our three kiddos in various stages of grumpy goat-ness (as I'm sure all parents have!). So if he ever gets really fancy and starts printing bottle labels for his home brew, let's just say we've got a wealth of images to brand the Grumpy Goat Tap House into a household name!

The color on the lower half of the bar has become my most favorite shade of green!  In fact I've used it in our front room for the back of the built-in bookshelves, and also on a bathroom cabinet I haven't shown you yet.  I'm forever looking for a "warm" green, if there is such a thing, one that goes with the other warm colors in my house and is not minty or "cool" at all.  It's called "City Arboretum" by Valspar.

I'll show you more of the basement soon!  Truth be told, my husband is downstairs right now finishing the last big project down there, and I'm hoping to get it in place before I show you the rest.  One step at a time...its taken a year and a half to finish the project...why rush now? :)