More Basement Progress

I hope you wonderful moms had a great Mother's Day! My mom came over and we had an amazing Mushroom and Sausage Risotto made by the hubby. It was a great day! I have some basement progress to show you! The walls have been painted and a special treatment has been done to one wall. Let's get right to it...

Painted Walls

Soon to be Bookshelves

The walls have been painted Horizon by Benjamin Moore, which is a super pale blue/gray. We chose a light color because the basement is already dark and we wanted it to feel bright and airy. We have this color on our ceilings on the first floor and one shade darker for our kitchen, family room and master bedroom walls. So, the basement will flow with the rest of the home. There will be built in bookshelves for the space under the stairs and shelves along this long wall that you see in that last picture. You may have remembered a recent post where I discussed my shelf dilemma and whether I should opt for the gas pipe shelving unit or go with white cube (IKEA expedit look alike) built ins. I hope you're not all going to be mad at me, but I chose the latter. I thought and thought about this and it really came down to the use for the space and the upkeep in this moisture rich basement. My husband is super supportive and still wants me to have my gas pipe shelves, so we're going to work on it together and install them in our office! It will be a fun project and in the end, the office location will suit us better. In the beginning of the post, I mentioned a wall that will be getting a special treatment. And here it is... an entire chalkboard wall!!

One Coat of the Chalkboard Paint

It will be pretty dramatic when it's complete! Maybe I could find the inner artist in me...



Source: edisonavenue.net via Sarah on Pinterest

With chalkboard paint, you can choose any color and have it mixed with the chalkboard paint. I chose Dragon's Breath by Benjamin Moore, which is a deep gray/brown/black color. I already have this color on the interior side of our front door and love it! We will also use it on the doors downstairs and for the railings. {The doors and railings won't be mixed with the chalkboard paint, though!} And in other related news, I have chosen the horse print for our family room wall! To recap, there is a giant empty wall space above our sofa that needs a giant piece of art. With much deliberation and so many great options to choose from, here is the winner...

via

The name of the print is "Once Upon A Dream" and I love it! It's ordered, and I can't wait to see it in person. And mom, if you're reading this, I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you this when you were over!  :) I will make sure to take lots of pictures when she is framed and up on the wall! Thanks so much to all of you that weighed in on the decision! I was torn for a while on whether to go light or dark with the horse print, and with a darker frame, I think this will be a perfect compromise for our space. I say compromise because my husband is not too keen on this art idea, so with a washed out print on our light walls, it won't stand out too much, yet still make the dramatic effect I was after. I just had to go with my gut on this one. Every room has to have a touch of the unexpected, right?? I hope Mike agrees when it's up!  :)

I'll be back later this week with a client's painting project that you won't want to miss!