Dungeons without dragons

When I was a little girl my mom seemed to be always dreaming up her new vision for our home. She would have pages of blueprints she had drawn up. We would drive around neighborhoods looking for houses we liked. I used to wonder why she was always talking about knocking down a wall here, building a deck there, adding on an addition there.
Then I grew up. And got my own house. And like most daughters who seem to realize they are a lot like their moms, I find myself doing the same thing. I’ve been dreaming up home remodel ideas since before we moved in. Right now I am pining (or should I saw “pinning” away on pinterest) to remodel our basement. Right now it looks like this:

Ok not really, but hopefully you get the idea that this is a picture of a dungeon and that is my best description of our dark, cold, and often wet basement. (Oh, and FYI, be a little careful when searching online for images of “dungeons!”)
As of now I avoid going down to the basement. It has cold floors that as I said are often flooded, lots of spider webs and steep stairs. I don’t know how much it would cost to update things but I am mainly hoping for a finished off area we can enjoy, even if it is mainly for laundry or storage. We have limited closet space so some extra storage would be great and I’d like a nice place to be able to sit if there were a tornado warning -- or even if there isn’t a tornado warning, where we can sit without worry of drowning, freezing, being bit by spiders, or some radon related ailment in the future.
This is maybe my favorite picture. I could definitely see this working in our basement!



I also like the idea of a versatile work space with lots of cupboards and storage.





I am hoping to meet with a contractor this week to find out if this is even a possibility. Until then I’ll try not to obsess over it too much. Anyone have any ideas? Also, I am thinking of trying to use recycled cabinets if anyone has any leads.

I wont go in my ideas for the attic…that’s just going to have to wait. Probably forever.


Does anyone else do this, besides you mom? Plan your imaginary home?