Aren’t you excited? After three weeks, we are finally done with our basement project. I am enjoying the ambiance of our new movie room as I write this. For a long time, our basement was organized, but still very plain. Eric was gaming down here, so his desk was set up in the corner. The walls were painted white, which brightened it up quite a bit. The floors were still plain concrete, however, and everything we had stored down here was sitting in plain site. It wasn’t exactly pretty. Or warm. Or inviting. Now it is all of those things!

I made a “theater curtain” with about 15 yards of dark red fabric. It took hours and hours to make, but I love the result. After coupons and a fabric sale, it only cost me $46! The curtain serves as both a backdrop for our TV and a divider to separate the room and hide all our junk. The coffee table was a battered garage sale find we scored from my in-laws. A coat of high gloss black spray paint gave it a second chance at life and matched it with the rest of the furniture. The TV and sound system was brought down from upstairs.

The table is our old dining room table. It’s the perfect spot to play cards or a board game now. The chairs came with our “new” dining room table, but were too damaged to use. I fixed the frames with duck tape and spray painted them black to hide the flaws. I added foam to the cushions and reupholstered them with zebra print fabric. These are now my favorite chairs. Aren’t they sassy? We plan on putting up drywall behind the table when we get more funds.

The futon has always been in the basement, along with the bookshelf and arm chair. We added the carpet – it came with padding on the back and was only $0.57 per square foot at Menards. I painted the ceiling white to give it the appearance of a loft – it also helps to visually raise the ceiling. I bought the picture frames from Goodwill and painted them black to match. The photos are the ones I took in downtown Rockford.  (If you look at the one on the far left, that is a portrait I drew of Eric when we were engaged.)

This couch (hiding underneath a Freecycle couch cover) is the one Eric and I were sitting on the first time he said, “I love you.” I will never get rid of it, even if it is plaid.

The chandelier is also a Freecycle find. I really like the look it gives the room. You would never expect to find a chandelier in a basement, but it works!

So, who’s coming over to watch a movie with me?

And, just in case you forgot what it looked like before, here’s a “before” picture: