Making room

If there's one thing that having our third boy in three years has shown us, it's that we needed a little more room in our home.

Well, that and the fact that sleep is overrated.

So the room, and the sleep.

And that children really test your patience.

The room, the sleep, and the patience.

And that we really go through a lot of milk.

So it's the room, the sleep, the patience, and the milk.

Not to mention the fact that your boobs look like crepe paper once you stop nursing, and stretch marks are...

Wait, where was I?

Oh right.

The room.

Sorry about that.

So, we had this unfinished basement that doubled as Patrick's office. The man donned a hat and gloves to go to work in the winter time. It was far from ideal working conditions. If he didn't work from home, I'm sure he could have sued.

But he did work from home, and we wouldn't have paid, so we needed to do something about it.

And the room.

Two toddler boys need a lot of space in which to burn off energy. A couple of blizzards this past winter proved that point beyond a shadow of a doubt.

So come with me as I show you how we transformed our space.

We can see how things changed as we look down the stairs.

Here's where we started:

Show us the studs, Jack.

Drywall

Primer

Paint

Carpet

Railing which, along with that little door covering the circuit box, will eventually be painted white.

This space will become Patrick's office:

Tadah!

This main space, which used to be his office space, will become the play area:

Doesn't that look fun?
The paint color is hard to nail down and depends on the lighting, but I love it. It's called "Lion's mane" and is mainly a camel color, but sometimes more yellowish and sometimes more orange.

A few more wonderful touches. Watch as this space

becomes

this gorgeous built-in bookshelf!

And these shelves

disappear behind a closet!

This view

goes from here

to here!

And this

becomes this!

We have doubled our living space in a matter of three and a half weeks, and feel like it's Christmas!

In addition to having the extra space, my favorite part of the whole endeavor is that Jack told every workman as he went down to work that if they needed him, they could just call him and he'd grab his (toy) toolbox and come down to help. Dead serious. Every time. I love this kid!

The boys are loving that they have enough room to walk all the way around their train table, let alone rock themselves silly on that cool bouncy horse that's been holed up in the garage until we had the room to put him anywhere. (Thanks, Hoovers!)

If anyone local needs a contractor, please let me know! We're happy to recommend ours!