I wanted your opinions on how I should decorate our basement. It is a nice big open room. We have our computer down there and also my sewing machine. I want it to be a fun and inviting room for kids to play in with their toys and just a nice room to hang out in. I know the pictures aren't the best, but hopefully you'll get some ideas of what I can do. Eventually I would like to turn it into a TV room but we don't have the $$ right now to get another couch and stuff, so I need to do something else with it and make it functional with very little or no money. The pictures are taken from each side of the room to give you an idea of what it looks like. (By the way, excuse the mess and the entertainment center on the back wall is not going to stay there.) Thanks in advance! 
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Calling all those Decorating Guru's!
Thoughts by RP at 9:06 AM
Labels: Decorating
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I have no idea. Good luck! Shayne, this is your forte!!
My thought is- if you're not wanting to go out and buy anything, put the sewing machine and the computer in one part of the space- so that it is known that that is what those areas are for. Then put all the toys and play things against the walls in containers (unless you have a big piece) and leave the floor open. The more open, the better the play space for the kids, the more running room and just a more open clean feel.
I tried that in the last place we lived just having a big open room and it ended up being a huge mess all the time. I'm trying to avoid that. I agree that the more running room the better, but I need some order to the place too.
So, What I'm thinking is, that you go with Jaime's idea and put the sewing machine/computer in one area of the space, and then with the other area, you could get a cheap little table with little chairs for the kids... (I think you can find them cheap) for the kids to color on, do puzzles, eat, etc. Then if you try to have designated drawers against one wall with toys, crayons, etc. hopefully it would help it stay more clean and would give you order. You can even put a bookshelf with books or games against one wall. (you might even consider getting a little bigger table - maybe a card table?- and it could make it possible for adults to play games there too. I think it would be fun to decorate it with some of your kids artwork. Those are just some of my ideas. This is all under the impression that the main sitting room is upstairs??
Yes, Whit, the main sitting room is upstairs. The table idea is a good one, we already have a picnic-type table we can use. Thanks for your suggestions. I want to have some ideas about decorating too. The carpet is a dark green carpet and I need to make some curtains to go in the windows. Any suggestions on colors? I was thinking of putting their artwork all over the walls down there too. Hmmm, so much to think about.
I'm not very good at decorating, but down in my basement in one part I made it my "educational" place. We got a long plastic table and we put it against the wall. The kids can color, draw, or do other projects on it. Above it on the wall I have an alphabet border so Kaden can practice writing letters.(I got it at the dollar store) I also have a few other educational things as well on the wall above the table. I also want Nathan to build me a toy organizer to keep in the basement. That table is also good for when we have lots of family over for dinner because it can seat us all. I'm not good with colors, so I'm not sure what color you should make your curtains out of.
Ok. Now it's my turn! :) So as far a decorating and color scheme, with the carpet being green, I would stick to Tans, dark browns, iron would work well, and a couple shades of green... the carpet being the darkest, of course! Well maybe not. You probably want to take focus away from the deep green. At least the neutral colors will go well and look nice together. Daniel's office in Fallbrook had this dark green/ dark blue carpet and we found this really nice tan paint and painted the walls! It looked really nice and definitely took focus away from the carpet. You could also bring color in through accenting with deeper yellows, reds, purples, etc. That may sound crazy, but I was just at a place the other day that decorated with those colors. It was beautiful! Call me if you need me to explain! :) I don't know if you can paint or not, and if you can't, I would probably bring the tan into the curtains!
Anyway, I like the idea of separating the areas, and I like to use tubs for toy organizing/ storage! If you have any that you used to move with, just use those and put them to a new use. I have a closet that I've designated just to crafts/ craft supplies and I really like that! If you don't have an extra space like that, I would probably just get one of those plastic tower things with the drawers to organize the craft supplies... ex: paper, crayons, paints, play dough, stickers, etc! Just make sure there's a designated place for everything. Here's a saying to help you out: "A place for everything, and everything in it's place" If you're worried about it staying clean, just set a time before your kids go to bed that's "clean up time" and if certain toys don't get put away, take those toys away the next day. I don't know if that would work or not because I don't have older kids, but it seems that if there's a schedule to clean up, and a consequence, then it should help out! You could also put on music and dance around while you clean up! They might enjoy that! (sorry for the essay... )
The "Test" person was me, Shayne. I don't know why it said that! Maybe I'm not signed in...
I would go with a lighter color for the curtains since the carpet is so dark and it is in a basement- you want the space to be as light as possible.
Also, just remember as you put together storage places that you have a baby who is at the perfect age for climbing up things, and storage containers/ bookcases can fall right on top of him. I would just recommend securing any heavy storage object or book case to the wall.
Thanks all of you for your suggestions. I have a better idea of what I want to do now, I just have to put it all together and hope it works out. Thanks for the reminder about anchoring things to the wall, Jaime. I don't always think of those things. If you think of anything else to say or give your opinion on, let me know. I'll post some pictures as soon as we get it together! Thanks for all your help!
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