Basement Family Room - Paint and Wood

Paint, wood and finishing touches..

If you missed Phase 1 and/or Phase 2 here are some links to go back and see how far this space has come.

We looked at several different paint colors.. we knew that we wanted a rustic space with a dark natural look. It came down to two colors; a bright wine color and a sage green color.. 

We decided on.. 

SW Rosemary 6187

After paint came wood, wood, wood.. lots of wood. As we moved into the last phase of the family room construction which included staining a lot of boards and I mean a ton of boards. We tried out 12 different stains or stain combinations. We finally settled on two different looks. The lower walls were stained with a 3 equal part stain combination of American English, Pecan, and Ishpeming Pine making a chocolate brown color. We went with Red Cedar 7" wide rough boards. Sadly, the rough texture of the wood and deep color didn't allow for much of the wood grain to shine through but still really pretty. We finished up the lower walls with a 2" wide chair railing. 

Look how beautiful it looks with Ed's most recent deer mount. 

The second stain color was needed for the ceiling. We decided to go with 5" white cedar rough boards and stained them Ishpeming Pine stain. It is a beautiful orange toned stain. Ed installed insulation as he went. 

As you can see we had to build a box around a heat duct but it doesn't really bother us much and better than left exposed in this space.

The next step was to "build" in the entertainment center. Ed installed insulation behind new false wall and in the ceiling before putting the false wall in place. We went with the ceiling boards stained in same Ishpeming Pine color. 

Last step will be staining the previously installed barn doors.. Will go with the same wall color.. That beautiful brown will be perfect.. 

The cost for this phase includes wood $943.39 and misc. materials including doors built in phase 2 for $1041.93. 

Total space cost from start to finish is $2235.32. Well worth every penny for this beautiful family room. 

Family Room - Sliding Barn Doors

It is happening.... We are finally back to working on the family room. This past week the weather here in Northern Michigan was calm which gave Ed some downtime and in turn time to work on basement family room remodel. When we last updated you we had finished up the back wall unit.

Here is a link to phase 1.

The fireplace has been wonderful and really helps to make the space feel warm and inviting but the space was far from finished and we knew we wanted to complete the space and really give our family staying here from out of town a private space to sleep at night. We already have a guest room so this space is more of an over flow space so it will act primarily as a family room but since we are over flowing with children and adult children and now grand children, I anticipate this space getting plenty of overnight guest as well. 

Our current phase of this project is to build a wall enclosing the space off from the rest of the basement. We also wanted to add insulation to the ceiling and new wall for some much needed sound proofing. Of course the major transformation part of this phase of the project is the addition of sliding barn doors. 

The wall wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to build. Ed is so handy and really knows what he is doing so it took all of one day to build. We sat in the space for awhile after the wall went up and really thought through what all we wanted to have in this space. First thing that came to mind was adding some more outlets.  The basement has always lacked in outlets so this was the perfect time to wire some up. I wanted to make sure that we allowed our guest ease of charging phone so we used the same outlets that we used in some other spaces in our home.  

Why not wire up some additional lighting while you are at it. We decided that rather than manually turn on each of the custom wall unit lights one by one.. why not put them all on a switch?! But, I didn't want the wall unit to come on with the overhead lights so why not put them on separate switches? so that is what we did. We wired up some recess canless lights in the ceiling on one dimmer switch and put the whole back wall unit on another. Genius!! 

Now it was time to insulate the ceiling and walls and put up the barn door slider unit. wait.... we can't insult the whole ceiling as we found a couple small projects before we can finish it up.. but that is a story for another day... 

Here is the current view from inside the room. 

View outside room with doors closed. 

View outside with doors open. 

We bought a couple items used to build the barn doors. After looking at all the options we decided to by premade doors. Lowes carries 36-84 Zpine Barn Door kits. Each kit was on sale for $89.50, bought 2. The kit came with door, track and hardware. The only thing I don't like about the doors is that they are Z shape and I want X so we bought (4) 3/8-4-36 pine boards for $3.40 each and will make our own X. Stay tune for door update in my next update. Total door cost less stain which we have on hand is $192.60. Of course this does not include the cost to building the wall but for most the wall is already in place. 

We are now able to provide our guest a place to sleep in private.

Binzebo - Construction Part 2 of 4

If you have been following along we did it!!! We purchased a Pinterest inspired item that I thought was just a dream project that would stay pinned in the land of things I wish I could... and never turn into a how lucky and I to have item. We purchased a 1950's grain bin with hopes of turning it into an outdoor bar/lounge aka Binzebo.

Grain Bin On Original Farm Site

In part 1 of this 4 part series I talked about the cost and process of obtaining this beauty. Make sure to check it out: Part 1

Part 1 Total $1450.00

Construction process was a long one even though we had the installation manual we felt very overwhelmed. We started out by laying all the pieces out and deciding which ones we planned to use and where. The original setup was far shorter than our planned design so we had to figure out how to increase height. After ordering all new bolts we began the reconstruction process. The farmer that we purchased from had informed us that the top had to be constructed first then lifted with walls being built as it was slowly lifted up. 

It was a slow process. We worked on a couple pieces at a time, pressure washing as we went. With full time jobs, side jobs and other home constrconstruction projects it took us 2 months to get the top constructed. We set 7 post at 12 feet. We chose 12 feet because we wanted 9 foot plus head room and post went right to top along the almost 3 foot side wall. 

As you can the yard is sloped so we had to take that into consideration when putting the post in. Don't worry, yard will be leveled during landscaping phase. The next step was to get top onto 7 preset post. 

It was time to get to lifting. We hunted and hunted for heavy equipment without any luck. we had no chose but to hire some big guns and hire a crane truck. 

This was the most exciting day ever. The work was far from over but we could now start to see it coming together. We spent several late nights putting up the back wall.

But man doesn't it look fabulous?!! 

Ed climbed up and put on the cap and we were ready to start painting post, adding a fun touch and deciding where the fire ring would go. 

The next step will be level the area and then add the fire bar under the BUTLER logo.

P.s. Having BUTLER painted in was a special project. I had to have it, and since our grain bin is generic it was not originally on it. 

Part 2 cost:

- $175 bolts

- $280 Post and concrete 

- $150 crane

- $30 paint

- $50 BUTLER logo 

Part 2 Total = $685 

Project Total (so far) = $2035

Binzebo - The Big Purchase Part 1 of 4

Yee Haw!!! It has started. Have you ever been browsing Pinterest and come across something fabulous and thought to yourself I would love to have that but man we could never afford it or construct it? This was/is one of those items. About a year ago I came across this picture of a farm grain bin that had been turned into a gazebo and it was love at first sight. I pinned it for later.. aka never going to happen but I don't want to lose it. A couple months later it popped up again and again I thought man I really want. Knowing that Ed would say umm no I showed him and to my surprise he said let's make it happen. Dang! That is all I needed to hear to start the planning juices flowing. I don't normally get a yes so fast and when he does I don't normally get planning participation but this was different... secretly I think he was also experiencing love at first sight. 😍

Pinterest Inspiration Picture

Additional Pinterest Inspiration Picture

Excitement set in and the ideas started flowing. We both agreed that we wanted it near our current firepit and maybe even have it where you could sit at the bar and firepit at the same time. We also knew right away we wanted a solid back wall with a TV mounted (much like inspiration picture). With excitement flowing through my fingertips I started planning. Location and style were set but there is so much more to putting up such a huge structure then that. We started hunting for the perfect yet inexpensive grain bin to buy. After months of hunting online we found one. Perfect size of 14' in diameter. Great condition for age. Grain bin was set on family farm in 1950's and has been used by 3 generations. The only downfall was distance from home and the big one... how are we going to get this huge grain bin disassembled and hauled home. The farmer was amazing he offered to disassemble for us and had the original setup manual. First nice day in February we headed the 7 hours south and out of state and loaded it up in the truck and trailer and brought it home. The pile was heavy and huge but home.. now the real fun could begin. How are we going to assemble this beast?! **Being the sorta person I am; all I could think of is how will I decorate it. 😂**

Purchased Grain Bin Original Site

Loaded up and heading home.

How much did it cost? Keeping with my moto of keeping life transparent here you go. 

• Grain Bin $1000
• Extra for Farmer to take down $100
• Travel cost $350; (truck/trailer rental and gas) 

This makes running total $1450

Family Room - Custom Wall Unit

 Here in Northern Michigan it is not uncommon for homes to have basements and unfinished ones are the most common. When I moved in I found just that.. a beautiful unfinished basement just asking to be finished. The main problem I would find is that when Ed built the home he never really planned to do anything with the basement so shorter ceilings and exposed well... everything is what I had to work with. 

Our basement is setup in a way that it encourages me to want to finish it. The major question is how. Ed had previously finished or sorta finished three spaces; gun room, utility space and guestroom. Another space was sorta mapped out as a family room but longs to be finished and used as such. This space will be my first of many I will get my hands on and turn into a great space for our big beautiful family to use and enjoy. 

As with all my projects I did not want to spend a ton of money. Ed is so handy but asking him to build something from nothing is not something I wanted to do... so I got onto Facebook marketplace and started shopping. What I found were two entertainment systems, solid oak with similar styles. Both have lights and both were $75 each. The next item I found was an electric fireplace insert for $10. We loaded everything up in the truck and took my finds home where Ed was left to put the puzzle together. See I strongly feel the best tool one can have in a family room is a main wall unit with plenty of storage. With a ton of games, video game systems and toys we need a ton of storage. Plus, I want a space with room to setup an air mattress for extra sleeping space when kids come home so I don't want big bulky storage solutions here and there rather one big beautiful wall unit. 

Slowly piece by piece my wall unit went up. 

Ed build sides walls to connect the first set. Then it was time to add set two; securing the pieces together as he went. 

I don't have a picture of it but we had this small entertainment center before that was had storage below the tv and one cabinet along the side. The lower part would also be used as center portion of structure and where the fireplace insert would placed. 

With some framing and stone work a custom fireplace would be added. 

Wire up the lights from both units to work as one.. 

and what you are left with is a beautiful custom build wall unit for under $250. Man look at all the storage.. I am in love.

Now onto painting walls, adding some wood accents, drywall the ceiling and add some awesome barn door for privacy. Stay tune...