The Basement Becoming Less Basement-y

I'm sort of overdue for some updates on my basement makeover. A lot of times I like to wait til a project is done to reveal it all at once. But since this is such a huge undertaking, I figured posting some progress pictures would motivate me to get 'er done.

This is the most finished looking section, minus the random filing cabinet and computer monitor on the right. This was a couple weeks ago, so I've actually done more since this was taken.

This is my holiday corner. Christmas on the right, Halloween on the left. :-)

As I was painting, I noticed that some of the windows had a less-than-tight seal. These windows do have 2 layers, so often times the outside layer had a better seal, but some of these windows needed to be fixed up.

So you remember the random hole in the wall right? It looked like this before my parents came to visit.

Um, yikes.

Luckily, my dad was kind enough to cut down a cinder block back at his house in Michigan before coming out to visit. We picked up some pre-made mortar tubes and filled in the cracks and got it looking like this.

Better.

Once it dried and cured, I gave it a quick coat of paint (it's still wet in the pic below) and got it looking like there was never a hole there at all. :-)

Best.

 As for the windows, I've been caulking all those gaps around the frames so they can still be opened in case of emergency, but won't let in as many bugs. Although two of them I did caulk shut because there was no way to secure them without filling in the gaps between the windows and the frame. But four can still be opened.

In this picture, there's only a coat of primer on the trim, but I have since added a coat of glossy white as well.

OK, so this is probably going to be the cutest object in the basement. It's a shopping cart, but it works perfectly at the bottom of our laundry chute so we can wheel the clothes around the corner to the washer and dryer. My mom bought it, refinished it, and sewed the liner. She left the wheels the original teal color, which goes perfectly with the new sea foam color walls in the laundry room! So so so cute.

The picture below is definitely in progress. The laundry supplies are all on the dryer because I was painting the built-in shelves they normally live on. And the woodwork has since gotten another coat of white. And I finished painting the walls.

This little corner here is going to be the new home to the kitties' litter boxes, once I get the floor painted and such. I'm hoping this little area will help keep stray litter contained to one small area I can clean easily.

 I let Zoro down to keep me company one day, and he had fun exploring the new setup. He loves this new perch I created for the kitties to look out the window.

So there you go. Updates galore. It's definitely getting brighter, cleaner, and more organized down there. And since those are my main goals, I'm happy so far. But I can't wait to be done. Spending all day, several days a week down in a basement is no one's idea of a good time. But it'll be worth it once it's all done and I can walk down there to do laundry without dreading the smells, darkness, and clutter. :-)