I was flipping through Martha Stewart Magazine from May 1997. I still have most of her magazines and decided to peek for recipes in them until I stumbled upon this article.
THE BASEMENT
Martha writes....
The basement is the most mysterious area of any house. ( ah she ain't kidding.. she's been peeking in my basement windows.. I know it!!) .. Children often imagine bad things happening downstairs, while adults to often tend to fill these subterranean rooms with their darkest household secrets: yellowed magazines, impractical kitchen appliances, furniture waiting to be recaned, and miscellaneous detritus too precious to be thrown away, but so useless it is condemned to eternal basement obscurity.
**GASP GASP**
She knows me so well... My son refuses to go into the basement.. I just never knew ... Ok.. so my 8th grade graduation dress from 1986 is STILL in a box down there... with my heart hoping.. just maybe one day my sweet princess would want to alter it and wear it to her prom some day... ( oohhh pretty in pink flashback there)... but alas.... she DID wear it once... for Halloween... sighhhhhhhh
The article goes on with really some good information... but in total with Martha.. we really know what her final point of view is... CLEAN IT UP and ORGANIZE IT!!!....
My Goal for the year 2008 is to do that....
I am WAYYYYYYYYYYYY to embarrassed to give you the before pictures right now... but please.. please.. do not think the rest of my home is in that disarray.. because it is NOT!! My basement is probably death by unwants, because I have cleaned up the upstairs ..... I can't get rid of that waffle iron from 1924 with the dangerous cords... gosh.. what if it really WORKED and I WANTED to use it someday.. really.. come on.. it STILL has the directions!!!!
Well.. I'm going to make one of the garbage companies in my area RICH this year... YUP!! RICH... Should I hold out for a yard sale.. well.. I LOVE going to them... not having them.. Wait.. that could explain some of my basement issues as well... eh???
Anyway.. You know Martha.. she has a PLAN.. and I have to admit.. this is a classy plan and NOT out of reach.. ( cause let's face it.. some of her ideas are never in my budget... ever!! she is in a dream world sometimes)!!
So.. for your entertainment.. I took pictures of her basement ideas.. and I'm going to share them with you.. especially if you want to jump in and join my efforts into a world of organized basement bliss!!!
This is the picture that caught my eye!!
How I dream to walk down the stairs and grab something that I need with ease...
For us New Englanders.. I love the window storage idea!! We have many windows in our home.. and we have a TON left in our basement from the original structure of the home... and I don't want to get rid of them.. If someone wants to restore this home to it's MINT condition later in years.. I truly want them to have everything available... and I think this is a GREAT way to store that!!
I love love the laundry workspace.. yes.. I'm one of those crazy gals that loves to do laundry... and I think this set up is wonderful.. my washer and dryer now sits in my kitchen .. which I hate... and it would be wonderful to stow it down below.. Laundry shoots are now illegal to build into homes.. but I don't think it would bother me to lug up and down the stairs... I do have teens after all.. * wink wink*
My basement is not as big as this one... but in truth is is large!! I can't complain!! I know that I can make it look so much better.. and functional...
Martha does say..
The vast majority of American basements show serious signs of confusion and neglect. Few people seem to understand the potential that basements offer for work, storage, and even meditative space. A basement can be a truly wonderful place!
Ok.. so I'm up for the challenge.. I WILL take a before picture.. and to start.. I'm going to work in 15 minutes sessions ( it's pretty cold down there now)..
I will keep you posted!!
10 comments:
Ooooh! Sound like fun, makes me wish I had a basement!
I miss having a basement:( We have a crawl space and it's just not good for storing everyday things. Luckily it is not dirt, so we are able to store some things down there.
Here in the GREAT state of Texas...we don't have basements! My grammy and grampy in Kentucky have one...it is absolutly GORGEOUS! We play pool down there and hang out with family! I adore them and their basement! Love ya, Mere
NO basements here in the South. Nope not even crawl spaces. Houses are built on concrete slabs. Yeppers...Ok no those shelves...I love them. In fact they are in the Williams and Sonoma Catalog! I have been eyeing them for Months. They are Swedish Shelving. Brookstone also sells them online! I want to do my whole garage in that type of wooden Swedish Shelving. All the reviews have been great also. They are expensive but I think would be worht the expense.
Oh, how amazing!! I so wish we had a basement, but homes in SA don't have basements. It always looks fun to have this much storage. Nope, here it is all above ground!!
take care
xx
Now THAT is a fantastic goal for 2008! Don't know if I would be up to doing it. LOL. But I do want to at least try to declutter my house. I have WAY too much stuff. The biggest challenge would be convincing my husband that we don't need all of it. LOL LOL
BTW, I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE the new look of your blog. :)
I can't wait to see what you do with your basement!
Our basement is partly finished (the family room) and partly unfinished (concrete slab floor, cinderblock walls). We so need to clean out the unfinished part. It's become the dumping grounds for all kinds of misc. stuff.
Well, T...that sounds like a big job, but a fulfilling job! You will feel so much better with it all organized and cleaned up! Good luck!
Yes, I agree about MS. She has great ideas, but she rarely considers that most people have to live on serious budgets!!!
I'm sure, though, you can use her ideas as a springboard to come up with your own "more realistically priced" options. (note: scan garage sales for shelving!)
Good luck!
I will try to join you this yr into organizing the basement! It is SO bad down there I doubt it will get "done" this year, but any progress will be good!!!
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