Basement projects

I guess I've been too busy to blog.  I had my first successful work trip: a few days spent in the hospital (an ICU, no less) and I didn't come back sick!  (Adding to my figures of healthy days spent in hospital: 700 or so?; sick/broken days spent in hospital: 0  Good karma?)  I've also been working on wrapping up the year in terms of doctor/dentist/eye check-ups and planning for next year (LASIK!).  Also, due to the impending Ashley-hosts-first-Thanksgiving, I'm really pushing myself on getting the house where I want it decoration-wise.  Yesterday's beautiful 72 degree Sunday was spent at IKEA and Walmart buying (among other crap) winter-y scented candles and pictures and frames to fill out the last blank spaces on the first floor.  (I finally have a plan for a handsome Owl trivet I picked up from Goodwill and painted blue!)

Since I lost energy last night to actually hang things, the pics of the main floor will have to wait.  First up, the basement:

Project: Free coffee table I grabbed while buying a futon 2 doors down.

Before:

I saw potential.

After pics and the rest of my basement after the jump!

After:

Here it is with a coat of (Rustoleum?) Key Lime Green spray paint and about half a yard of IKEA fabric ModPodge'd on top.  The Green also was used on the redo of the IKEA clock I posted previously.

I love how the green brings out the details.

OK, so minus my decoupage table, my main living room is pretty muted in colors.  Dark wood, Beigey walls, navy couches.  But I do love color and patterns.  The basement went a little wilder.  I love the IKEA pillows that spice up the plain futon.  (Which will most likely get a new look with a full size bedsheet.  Easy to transform!)  The red lanterns come from my sister's wedding, and the blue tulip lamp was thrown in for free when I bought a secondary dining room table (Thanksgiving!) off craigslist.

And check out the Mondrian-style clock and paintings that I created with a couple little bottles of acrylic paint, a ruler, and cheap blank canvases from BigLots.  And there's the transformed glider chair from before!  I don't hang out down here as much as I should, but I still love than chair.

There's the (still non-functional) clock more art, above the entertainment station.  The blue and white things are mounted DanceDanceRevolution mats I re-did last summer during my summer of being out of work (luckily being hired before the economy went to hell!).  Imagine trying to dance on a Twister mat. Now they are mounted on plywood, with no-slip mats on the bottom, and pieces of bathmats as cushioning for your feet.  Sigh, if only I actually used them more...   

I'm having second thoughts about the rug (another craigslist find - $20!); too much for the room?

Gregory napping in the craft area, which needs more shelving to the left of the "inspiration board".  This is way neater than normal.

Not pictured is a bar area with an awesome blue wall behind it.  This section needs more lighting and inspiration.  Plus, my kitchen is so awesome that I haven't got this set up as the party room yet.

Phew.  So now you've seen my basement (in parts).  I guess we'll work our way up?  I most recently finished a little catch-all table for the kitchen stuff, but am not loving it there.  If I decide to find it a new home, my blog followers can have first dibs!