time for some small changes in my home

In my last post (I know, it's been awhile), I was explaining how we lived in a ranch-style house and that we basically lived on the main level. That we have a family room in the basement, but we're never down there. I also explained how we're at the age where retirement is looming, and that we need to decide if we're staying or moving. We started looking at other housing options by looking at homes in a nearby over-55 community. For various reasons, we have decided this particular housing development is not the right place for us.

In the meantime, I decided why not take advantage of the basement family room while we still didn't have any problem with the stairs? Besides, our living room is small and the wall by the fireplace is the only space we have for our TV. Not that this is a bad thing, but we don't have a foyer. So when you walk into the front door of our house, you're immediately in the living room. You're staring right at the TV. This was the only current (ish) photo I could find of the living room that shows the TV - from last fall. 

Another negative thing about having the TV in this space: the glare from the windows.

We purchased a big rug from HomeGoods to anchor the living space (the floors are painted cement; long ago we had carpet but had a basement flood...the contractor said at the time that even if we put down laminate, if we ever had a basement flood again, that the water would go under the laminate and ruin it...so he suggested just having the floors painted). Then we moved the TV and media stand downstairs.

Ta-da! A usuable space once again. We're not big TV watchers, but sometimes on the evenings where Brian has the next day off, we've been enjoying our time watching TV downstairs. We're currently watching Season 3 of The Bear.

Tucked in back of the living area is a little alcove where Tim used to have his drum set. It now holds the treadmill and some other exercise equipment. To the right of this alcove is a small hallway with a door that leads into the unfinished part of the basement. Same with that bi-fold white door that you see. 

You can see in this wider angle of the room, that behind the couch are bookcases and a L-shaped bar. That bar area came in handy when our boys were little and we'd have birthday parties in the basement. It was a great area to spread out all the food. Same for when the boys were teens and they'd have their friends over: a great space for kids to hang out and use the bar top for pizzas, pop, and snacks. The bar has cabinets built in behind it, so that's where I store all my large kitchen appliances and big serving pieces and platters.

A view of the bar...not a very attractive area, but at this point in our lives, we don't have any desire to change it. It's "good enough" for our use right now. The wall with the staircase behind it used to have an assortment of metal faux-vintage signs on it, but I recently took them all down. Was tired of looking at it. 

Back upstairs, I moved the console table from Brian's office to the space where the TV and media console were. It's a weird place to put anything, with this wall being right next to the angled fireplace and needing enough room to walk into the kitchen or hallway. I don't think builders think about furniture placement or design challenges. ;-)

 

Thanks for still being here and leaving such nice comments, even though I've been posting sporadically. 
💓