The first "Kid's are in school" project

Before

When we moved here, we almost doubled our living space. Our dream of having a place for Ben to go when I had the Visiting Teacher's over (other than be exiled to our bedroom) finally came true. Fortunately, the basement was beautifully finished. Unfortunately, we had absolutely no furniture to go down there. Then, I unearthed this table base.

When Ben's great grandma died shortly after we were married, I loved this base. It is metal (and at one point had a glass top). It was painted green, but was rusted and chipped. I think we stored it at Ben's parent's cabin until we bought our first house, where it sat outside. I think the glass broke in the move to GA. Then, in GA, I don't even remember where it was...probably in the storage half of the 2 car garage. In FL I shoved it up in the attic over the garage.

Finally I found a use for it. I cut a piece of plywood for the top and it was our first "official" furniture in the basement. For some reason, the kids thought it was okay to color all over it...top and bottom. After a year and a half of this, I finally spray painted the legs black and sanded and finished the top to match the woodwork in the basement. It is a huge improvement!

After

The TV was on the floor, as was everything else, until I built this:

The shelves on the left actually pull out (courtesy of IKEA).

Then, we found a great sectional at the Macy's outlet store. We have a great basement now - if only it had more light fixtures...