Playroom Project Part 1

If you happen to follow me on Instagram you may have noticed we have taken on a new project. We have a split level home that had one level that was completely unfinished. Toys were beginning to overtake our main family room. We had the room in that space, but we were completely surrounded by sections of baby gates. This is getting harder to have with the boys because Davis has mastered the art of climbing over the play yard gates already at 16 months.

We have always thought we would finish off half of the basement. One side is the home of the radon detector, hvac unit, water heater, sub pump, and all of the duct work. It made sense to keep this side unfinished and keep the storage.  I am slowly but surely getting rid of a lot of items we do not seem to be using. I emptied out half my closet and donated it last month. It feels good to let go of things that I hardly ever use or wear for that matter.  Here is a sneak peek of the after thus far.

These pictures were all done with my trusty phone, and there are no windows in this basement. We started out with Rob studding out all of the walls in the space. He previously built a wall down the middle of the space to separate his work space vs. the storage area.  He installed double doors for the entrance to the storage side. Then placed a small door that helps you access the side of HVAC unit. We have had some minor drainage issues in the past, and we need to access a tiny tube that may get clogged at times. It never really leaks, but it helps to have that door there.  That helped that one wall out of the four was drywalled and ready to go. He installed insulation along all the walls and the ceiling to help with the noise from our living area above it.  Please excuse the mess and the random stuff everywhere. It sort of became a bit of dumping ground since Christmas.

Rob then ran all the wiring for outlets, recessed lighting and a projector. We replaced the one single bulb in the middle of the room with four recessed lights. Rob put them on a dimmer and I think it will be wonderful for this space.  We purchased LED lights, and are happy that they truly give us the feel of sunshine in this otherwise darkened room.

We chose to put in a lot of outlets, and even an outlet in the closet that Rob framed out. We are going to put an additional camera for our baby monitor inside the closet space that peeks out into the room. That way if we have to run upstairs or go to the restroom we can have an eye on things.  May come in handy one day when we have teenagers....just kidding.

Rob built a closet space that we will probably figure out what to do with last.  We have a few ideas floating around, but for now we are just going to put some double doors on it. Next to the closet Rob will be putting in cabinets above, and possibly a floating desk area below. Wynn is going to want her own desk space in the room I suspect.

Along the front wall of the house we have our water shut off valve and the fuse box. We decided the best way to deal with the water valve was to simply place a door in front of it. That way the entire thing would be accessible if necessary. The fuse box will have a panel over it for access.

The wall on the garage side of our house will hopefully be the home of our painted projector screen. We were going back and forth whether a TV made more sense, but figured with how dark the space is that a projector would work great.  Here is what I am looking to purchase for the projector and components. Rob already installed these speakers that were ordered from Amazon, and the speaker wire was from there as well.. We went with four total speakers, and we are hoping to order a projector from Amazon as well. We plan on putting the audio components on the unfinished side of the basement to keep it out of the way. Rob installed additional outlets on the other side of the walls to ensure there would be enough plugs, and that way he can access all of the wiring fairly easy.

We were referred to an electrician who does side work, and he came over to link up all of the recessed lights that Rob has installed. It took about two hours total. He is going to come back over once Rob installs the outlets to hook them up to the fuse box.  It truly did help in this area that the room was unfinished. Because then we could basically do whatever we wanted.

Rob then drywalled all of the walls, mudded, sanded and primed. I helped him a bit with hanging the ceiling drywall. It was fun cutting all of the holes for the lights. He cut the holes for the speakers after tthe drywall was hung.  He just made sure he ran the speaker wire before the drywall went up on the ceiling. I helped one evening hold the drywall up while Rob screwed it in, and then our ever so helpful neighbor took over duty the next day, It was good to know that all three kiddos could sleep through the sounds of drywall screws drilling into the ceiling. It pays to have loud dogs get them used to noise as babies. I purchased a Wagner Power Sprayer and Rob easily sprayed the walls and ceiling with the primer.This was all done in the days 10-14 of the project. Basketball season came to an end, and so Rob was able to get really get into a groove.

I purchased two gallons of Sherwin Williams' Repose Gray and they are having a 30% off sale from now until the end of March. I saved quite a bit of money with that coupon.  We were going to use a color we had in one of the many five gallon buckets the previous homeowners left behind. However, once we saw the yellow and orange like color on the walls we nearly passed out. No way that was happening. We decided it would be worth the money to paint it a color we like.  Rob did the traditional roller and brush for the actual paint. He said he thought it would get a better coating, and good old Sherwin Williams paint usually only requires one coat. He started painting in week three of the project. This is the same paint color we used in the nursery for Ty and Davis.

Yesterday morning Rob decided the walls were done and it was time to begin the flooring adventure. We chose the Allen & Roth Lowe's brand laminate flooring in Toasted Chestnut.  It was $1.89 a square foot, and we have about 630 square feet in this space. He also picked up some underlayment for about $75 total. We will also be using this same flooring in our family room that is at the top of the steps from this space. Rob plans on ripping out our yucky carpet and painting during his spring break. Oh the joys of home ownership.

Well needless to say Rob spent a few hours last night getting the floors done, and then he spent a few hours today. He finished them off, and then even went and bought a door to hang where the water shut off will hide. The last project of the day was hanging the door. Next up is the trim and the possible board & batten project. Thank goodness the weather is getting warm so we can spray the doors and trim outside. Plus the panel for the fuse box, which will be done after the electrician comes along. 

This may be the longest post I've ever written. If you are still here with me I appreciate you reading it.  I cannot wait to share more progress on the playroom.