I believe there are many ways to express creativity and make art besides painting, sculpting, and collaging: gardening, sewing, cooking, and decorating are just a few. We recently completed a four-month art renovation project in our basement, transforming it from a rather dark and dated space into a brighter, more contemporary one. Somewhere along the line, previous owners had added a small kitchen and rented the room out as an apartment. We hardly ever used the kitchen and had no plans to become basement landlords or hoteliers, so the kitchen was on the chopping block. But before that happened, Howard came home for lunch one day and started in on the knotty pine walls.
Next, we took down the yellowed and stained acoustic ceiling tiles.
I even got in on the action by helping remove hundreds of staples.
Next, Howard removed the old kitchen.
And took out a window that was no longer functional due to an outside deck covering it completely.
Next was new wiring and lighting, sheet rock, priming, and painting.
The old rug was pulled up and replaced with new.
Finally, we were ready to put the space back together. Here is what the sleeping area looked like: before and after.
We had ordered a new sectional in January, and it was delivered on Valentine’s Day. Best gift ever. And we immediately put the new room to use since Major Lefty was hanging out with us for a couple of days.
This project is now complete. Ummmm, I wonder what our next “art project” will be.
