Client basement re-do

while we are hunkered down in the hotel here in bahrain, i have been trying to organize my photos. i found some OK quality ones of a basment re-do i finished up this past summer. this basement belongs to one of my all time favorite clients (and i am not just saying this because she reads my blog:))! she is honestly one of the nicest, geniune people i know. on top of that she is so easy to work with...its a good thing because we have been working together for about 12 years?!?!

i know my husband will be twitching when he sees these photos....i still havent mastered the photo taking....and the TV has a kids show on it (ava was with me hiding behind the couch that day:))...and the lamp is on!! however, i am going to show you anyway.

here is the basement before...i know you are cringing michelle:)  4 kids grew up watching TV here and now they are all out of the house...so it was time for an update!

here is the after....

ahhh...much better dont you think? we still need to add some accessories...but thats the easy stuff:) the built-in around the fireplace made a huge difference. now my client even enjoys spending time down here...so much brighter and inviting!!

here is another angle....before

and after....

believe me, i tried to have that "spindle hole" covered up...but i couldnt get someone (read my clients husband) on board with that....so it stayed:) it honeslty doesnt bother me as much now that the basement is finished. so i forgive him:)

here is another angle

my client came up the the brilliant idea for the built-in above the sofa...if you look in the first before photo you can see the wall sticks out a little...so she had her contractor add a half wall with a built in over it! it looks amazing...she is still looking for the perfect piece of art to go over it!

here is a close up of the pillows....love them.

the colors of the pillows are the most true in this photo than any other of the basement. i hope you can you can tell how really pretty this room looks from these photos.

i am trying to gain momentum here to keep blogging!! so keep reading:)

jodie

We are here.....

well...we made it to bahrain and this has been our view for the past 6 weeks...not too bad! we are staying in a nice two bedroom suite so that makes hotel living a lot easier. (so does having our room cleaned every day:)) we have been busy getting settled, adjusting to a new country, starting the kids in school and looking for a place to live. we found a place and i will be sure to post more on that when we get ready to move at the beginning of october. most of our activities have been indoors so far because of the HEAT! here is a picture of the kids in front of one of the many malls here in bahrain.

as the weather cools down and we really start exploring the island i will definitely be sharing more!

for now i wanted to make good on a promise from my last post ...that i would show you a shoe/book shelf that kevin built (almost 2 years ago!). it all started because he was sick of having so many of his shoes on the floor of his closet....

he came up with the idea to break through the wall (!) and add a built-in shelf accessible from the inside of the closet. here is the hole.....

however...the wall wasnt thick enough to hold the shoes so he decided to make a box for them. then on the bedroom side of the wall there would be a "cool box shelf"...ummmm....no. when i came home and saw this i said told him it was not "cool":)

so he/i (i cant remember who) sugggested making this box into a book shelf....now we were getting somewhere!

after a few more weekends this is where he ended up...

then it was time for paint....

here is the final product with more trim work! it looks even better because i painted the room and hung the window treatments. i loooooove the way it turned out and made our whole bedroom more cozy.

let's not forget why this whole project started....for the shoes!?!? all of that work and this is what he ended up with inside of the closet ...a place for about 12 pair of shoes!! the rest still ended up on the floor. here is the only photo we have of the inside...he did patch the holes and paint eventually:)

so that is the story of our shoe/book shelf. looking at these photos makes me miss our "stuff'...i cannot wait to move in and get unpacked!

jodie