Armoire Lovin'

I stumbled upon this picture a few years ago and instantly fell in love with this idea. I'm a sucker for organization and throw furniture into the mix and I'm a goner. Just ask the husband :)

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We don't have a dedicated space for an office, but we have all of our "office" stuff dispersed through out (printer, paper, stapler, books, tape, glue, utensils, etc.)

So I have been on the look out for an armoire to transform. I access our local resale pages on Facebook quite religiously and found one on there for a best offer. My budget was $50 (because i had just sold som clothes on there for that amount and figured I could just use that for my investment basically making it an even trade). So I offered $50 and she took it!

So here it is....

I am planning on changing out the hardware, leaving the exterior as is, painting the interior a fun color, adding a pull out shelf, a fabric pin board, and a chalk board.

Here are some more great inspiration pics I found on Pinterest.

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I also stumbled upon this page from Better Homes and Gardens here. They have featured so many cute ways to reuse armoires in several different spaces of the home.  I love the flexibility they offer and some creative solutions for all different uses. They create a great source of organization and conceal potential mess while looking beautiful on the outside. I love that most are painted on the outside and interior, just another element of fun they offer. Check them out....maybe they will inspire you to come up with a creative use of your own.

Bring It On Basement.

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In our new home we were fortunate enough to have a basement! It is very raw and far from finished but that's ok because it's even more of a blank canvas to work with. It's not a full basement, but covers about half of the house. Right now we use it as storage space, laundry room, and a doggy playroom. I also have my desk and craft stuff down there too but since it's not heated and cooled it's  not the most enjoyable space to work in. There are two windows so it actually gets a fair amount of natural light. I'm down there ALL the time doing laundry and I can't help but think of how much more enjoyable this space could be (and will be!). My husband's not ready to jump into another huge project and I can't blame him. We have barely finished our move-in projects plus we have a little baby now but I can still dream and draw and plan!

The planning phase has officially begun. Hopefully soon I'll take measurements and draw up a floorplan to start some space planning but for now I'm working on some inspiration.  

Here are some elements I'd love to include in the renovation whenever that may occur :).

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I love this wood slat treatment to the stairs. Right now our stairs leading down are completely enclosed so I think it would be nice to open it up. (Also, I'm loving the polished concrete floors but more on that later).

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I really like the introduction of wood to this space. So fresh and simple. But what I like most about the space above is the ceiling. At first I wanted to finish out the ceiling, but after seeing so many great exposed rafter ceilings I'm starting to change my tune.

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I've always loved these big, sliding barn doors. They've never worked for any space in our homes but could definitely work in our basement.

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I love built-insand under the stairs is a great opportunity for doing something special. A little reading nook like the one above would be perfect.

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I've also always loved these built in bunk beds and think they are so fun and such a great use of space. It wouldn't work under our stairs but possibly on a wall somewhere down there. I know they would come in use for sleepovers and house guests.

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My family teases me for having (and using!) so many different light sources. But you use some for different needs and times of the day. I love the options and I love light! Lighting up the steps is awesome especially for little ones (and big clumsy ones) in the night.

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Usually I am always about clean, simplified and modern design but I appreciate (almost) all genres. I do love earthy, reclaimed, raw elements... and I'm loving the idea of a wooden wall with reclaimed wood, old fence posts, wooden floor slats, or maybe even pallets. It adds texture and interest. Very cool.

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And last but not least... we have the flooring. The floor is already concrete of course, but I'm ok with keeping it that way. We might stain and or polish it and I think that will add another great layer of texture and interest. Just add lots of cute rugs. :)

After my digging around through pinterest for all these elements that I'd like to see in our future basement renovation I then stumbled upon this great space. It too is a renovated basement, however it includes almost all the elements I am looking for and even the same types of spaces. So cool! It's a great precedent study for what works and what might not. But this whole space is just lovely. Check it out here.

 But here are most of the images for your viewing pleasure:

Hopefully I'll be able to update you soon... at least with some "before's" and some plans. I've got to space my projects out a bit to give my husband (and family) a break. :)