The Rest of the Story

When I took the photos of the main floors of the house, I held off on the basement, because we were waiting on floors.  I had chosen some cork flooring that needed to be installed last.  So, all touch ups had to go first and then

tile in the kitchenette. 

Builder Gary talked me into doing tile in the entry and kitchenette, so I had to find some tile that matched the cork.  It took some doing, but I think it came out pretty well.

The room beyond the kitchenette has an identity crisis.  We didn’t really have a name for it.  It was called a game room, a family room, an “I don’t know: we just ended up with a room below the living room.”  I finally started calling it the rumpus room.  When my kids were small, they all loved Where the Wild Things Are. Since this was sort of a video game/hangout room, a room in which one might, if one were so inclined, have a wild rumpus, I thought it was a fitting name.

Next time I build a house, I am going to spray paint the name of each room on the floor.  It took me forever to figure out that one of the carpenters was referring to the library when he said “den.”  Luckily we didn’t have any major mishaps with room name confusion, but having the rooms labeled would be a tremendous help.

Anyway, the rumpus room has a wonderful view of the back yard and the virtual pool.

And didn’t those cork floors turn out nicely?

Originally, I was just going to do the cork floors in the exercise room:

and in the band room:

but I ended up putting it through most of the downstairs.  I don’t think that my guests will mind having it in the guest room:

It is so soft underfoot and it absolutely eats the sound.  I can’t believe how much it reduced the echo in some of these rooms.

The guest room ended up with this funny little ledge where we went from a 12 inch poured concrete wall to a 6 inch framed wall.  We could have framed it out flush, but I liked having the ledge. 

I was worried that this room would feel too much like a basement room.  I had a friend growing up who lived in a split level ranch. Her bedroom windows were shoulder high and looked out at the underneath of the shrubbery.  I always thought it was kind of creepy.  I didn’t want this guest room to have that feel.

So far I think we’ve avoided it.  We'll just have to be careful of our plantings.

Besides, when they get a load of the bathroom, I don’t think our guests will mind cork floors or basement room status. 

This great old cabinet turned vanity still needs a mirror and a backsplash, but it is a neat piece.  The crystal knobs actually have the threading made into them.  The whole knob screws into the drawer.   I thought that was pretty cool.  It’s a little high end for a basement bath, but I’m kinda sweet on one of the guitar players in the band, and I want my guests to feel pampered, so there you have it:

the rest of the story.