Phase 1 = Clearing the household storage items out of the area I’ve claimed as my workshop, and setting up shelves on the other side of the basement, away from the sanding dust and paint spray

Phase 2 = Organizing the rest of the back half of the basement (for my sanity because I’m a bit OCD)

Phase 3 = Organizing the middle part of the basement, on both sides of the center stairway

The most utilized item in our basement is definitely our extra fridge/freezer.  We brought it from our old house to handle overflow, because our kitchen fridge has limited storage space since it’s counter-depth.  Maybe people who don’t cook much or don’t cook much fresh food would not find a counter-depth fridge a problem.  For us, it’s a problem.  We use the extra fridge to store soft drinks, adult beverages, rarely used sauces and such, and extra freezer items.

The Mr. and The Teen love their Coke Zero and Diet Sunkist.  And The Mr. refuses to pay over a $1 for a 2-liter bottle, so we stock up when we find them on sale.  Unfortunately our soft drink/beer stockpile was getting out of control.  We keep cold drinks in the fridge, and when we take one out (particularly the 2-liters), we put a new one in.  Unfortunately we didn’t have a good system for keeping track of which bottles were oldest.  You can see the drink mess in this photo.

Before

It may not seem like a problem to some people, but my OCD self couldn’t handle it any longer.  (Oh, and yes, I have a TV in my unfinished basement.  The TV is my friend when I’m working on furniture projects in my basement workshop.  I can’t stand silence.)

My solution for the drink stockpile is shelving and a first-in, first-out system.  I marked the top of each 2-liter with a number.  The numbers increase as additional drinks come in the house, so we know the lowest number is the oldest and therefore should be used first.

After

Did you notice in the photo above that I have art hanging on the wall studs?  Here’s a closer look.


I bought the starfish art from Target several months ago, planning to hang them in two rows of two on a wall upstairs.  It turned out that I really needed two rows of three to fit the space, but the starfish were a seasonal item and I couldn’t find any more at my local Target stores.  Ugh.  They didn’t seem to work anywhere else and were going to be added to a storage box in the basement, so I thought I’d hang them down there instead!

(By the way, the starfish art is for sale.  Email me at imbusyprocrastinating(at)gmail(dot)com if you’re interested!  The starfish are printed on a linen background.  Two are beige on navy, and two are navy on beige.  Size is 10x14.  They are lightweight and would be easy to ship.)

Now on to the other side of the stairs.  It’s our default tornado shelter, since it’s the only area of the basement not exposed to windows or doors.  Would this be cushy enough for you?


We happen to have an old sofa from our first house, and an armchair from our last house, neither of which work in our current decor.  But they do make a cozy place to hang out during tornado warnings!  There’s even an end table and some tray tables at the other side of the sofa, just in case we need a place to set down a drink.  (ha)  And there’s a long folding table, as well as the chairs from our old dining table, just in case we need to seat a crowd!  Kidding –- they’re just in storage there.  We’re not seating a crowd in the basement.
 
Just for fun, I thought I’d show you my table of homeless lamps.  I’m guessing most bloggers have some collection of currently unused decorative items.  Am I right?  The white pair I found at Goodwill for $8.  It’s so rare to find a matching set, especially with a modern look, that even though I didn’t need them, I scooped them up.  The other pair are the vintage 1940s brass pineapple lamps I bought for $10 at a yard sale recently.  I’m still deciding whether they have enough value that I should resell them as-is, or whether I should spray paint them a bold color.  Thoughts?
 

Okay, only one more phase of the basement overhaul to go.  That’s hanging “curtains” to keep the sanding dust and paint overspray out of the rest of the basement, and organizing my workshop area.  Coming soon!