…the basement will get done. It didn’t see much loving in the month of April, mainly because Tim traveled a lot last month [to 5 different states to be exact]. So only minimal work was achieved, plus one really exciting thing!
So this is what the basement currently looks like standing just to the left of the bottom of the steps—it’s only a little different from the last basement post. Tim started putting insulation up, but then quickly realized that more of the electric work needs to be done before he can put all of it up. That’s why you’ll see areas without insulation. Those will get filled in, no worries. Notice all of the wires on that right wall? That’s all for the entertainment center and TV that will be put on that wall when everything is done.
Now I’m standing next to the ladder facing where I was in the previous photo… The wire is being ran along the main support beam of the house to keep it neat, tidy and free from dangers. The beam will then have a box built around it and dry-walled to look nice. Eventually, there will be a new door and frame put up where the two types of tile meet to create a landing. That way we can close off some of the air flow if needed.
And some new HVAV work was done. This is right above the ladder in the first picture—it will be slightly in front of the couch. There is another one towards the back of the same room [where the bar is going] to help heat/cool that area as well.
A shot of the rest of the basement. To the left will be a door leading into the utility room—which, by the way, has all new electric and lights in it! So that room’s electric work can be checked off the to-do list. A new cold air return will also be installed just the right of the furnace—there’s a wall [frame right now] that is partially hidden. It’s where the two “sections” of the room meet and make a 90 degree angle. You also can’t see very well, but there is some insulation moving down the right wall and into the future storage closet.
For the best part…
The new sectional and chair arrived! Too bad the basement isn’t anywhere near being finished… You’ll have to excuse some of the lighting/color differences in the photos. My camera doesn’t do well in low lights, and there aren’t many lights in main room yet. It’s somewhat hard to see because of the coloring, but the new furniture is a pretty medium gray color with black, wooden bases. There is a much better picture if you scroll down a bit.
We ordered the sectional and chair the same time we ordered the new bed frame, but since it was a custom order it took longer to get. We were told 8-10 weeks, but they were ready in 4 weeks—thats 4-6 weeks too early. See the tags still on the couch? Brynn over at Phillips Furniture was great—patient when Tim couldn’t make up his mind and backed me up about fabric choices on the included accent pillows. We chose to get a love seat/chase sectional and a separate arm chair. We can’t really fit anything much bigger than those items. You can see that Ferrah kitty found her new favorite spot on the chair.
As for what was custom? Pretty much everything. The different pieces to make up the sectional, fabric of the furniture, the fabric of the accent pillows [our order included 3], the arm style, the seat cushion style [we chose the T-style so it comes in front of the arm, making the arm a bit shorter], the cushion filling, and the base of the furniture. The furniture didn’t come with a stain guard, but instead a 1 year Phillips Furniture warranty and a 5 year manufacturer’s warranty. That way, if anything were to ever be spilt on the furniture and stain it, Phillips would come out and clean it for us. If they can’t get the stain out, they replace that stained piece of the furniture for free [whether that be a cushion or reupholster the entire chair if it were somewhere non-detachable.] But what if they discontinue the fabric we picked out? We get a replacement credit for the full amount we paid so we can buy new furniture. That’s right, all new furniture if they can’t fix or replace the stained fabric. It made me feel a little bit better for what was spent on the new furniture.
Here is about the most color accurate picture I was able to get while having very little lighting in the basement. We love the warm gray color of the fabric.
Here’s the sectional from the side view. After we put it in place, we found that we’ll have to scoot it back a bit further that we originally thought. It’s alright though, but we will have to work around that darn support pole. It will also be boxed in and dry-walled so it will get slightly larger in size than its current state. We’ve already discussed about if we want an ottoman or coffee table for the furniture, but I think we’re going to wait and see what kind of entertainment center/system we end up with first. I don’t want two bulk pieces of furniture crammed into a small space.
One more view from the back facing the wall where the TV will be mounted. This picture was taken before Tim went wire happy with that wall [like in the first couple of pictures.]
But for now, the new furniture has been wrapped in plastic and set in the utility room out of the way. I was actually really surprised that the sectional and chair didn’t come wrapped in plastic. Lucky for us, my Grandma had some we could borrow so they should stay clean when it comes time to putting up the dry-wall and doing the sanding.
Dry wall will probably be ordered next weekend, which means I can start picking out paint colors. We want to get the walls painting before the new flooring gets installed. I’m really good about not spilling paint on the floors, but since we’re having carpet put in [rather than wood floors like the main level] I want to be extra careful and would prefer to paint first. You can swipe paint off wood floors, not so much when it comes to carpet.
—m.