the next design star

sure....why not. i think i could handle a television show....except the whole camera-adds-10-pounds thing. Is it possible to film a show with no cameras?

Well anywho...here at the heeke house we ALWAYS have a project going. When we moved into our new house this summer my husband called dibs on the basement. It is huge and comes complete with a wet bar. Only issue is that it was dark, dingy and full of yucky paneling. Actually that is pretty much the story of our whole house. Luckily, I can see past all of that. Our house has great bones. From day one, I was chomping at the bit to get rid of the things in the house that were bothering me so much they made my skin itch. Things like carpet in the kitchen. Or carpet in the bathroom. However, because I only have fantastic ideas and lack the ability to bring them into fruition, Justin got to start his man cave first. Awww man. I knew I should have paid more attention in shop class.

Because Justin is in charge of this project....he was in charge of taking the "before" photos....and he didn't. Fail. That is why I should be in charge of the projects. However, after that initial snafu, the project seems to be moving forward and its smooth sailing. The process started by pulling paneling off the wall and peeling--yes peeling-- paint off the walls. Someone before us thought it was a great idea to paint over wallpaper with latex paint and no primer. Not good folks, not good. After that, we textured the walls and ceilings and added recessed lighting. We slapped on a gorgeous shade of grey and were well on our way.

The hubs and I butted heads when it came to the fireplace in our basement. I had dreams of making it a real focal point in the room. When I saw how much the white shelving and baseboards popped against our gray walls, I had visions of decking our fireplace out with a chunky mantle and gorgeous molding. The hubs said no way. Then after sleeping on it and realizing that he should always trust in my brilliant ideas, he jumped on the fireplace bandwagon. We are only part way through the process, but use your imagination!

Here is the boring before picture. It doesn't even have a mantel. Boo to that:

Phase 1: Covered in plywood....and make sure there is cable and power for Justin's new tv:

OOOOH! The mantel is complete...its nice and chunky and simply delicious:

Final phase of the molding. Crown molding installed and looking mighty fine. My husband insisted that he hung the crown molding upside down the first time so he took it all down and put it all back up. I don't think crown molding has an upside down or right side up, but he lost sleep over it, so whatev:

All that is left on the fireplace is a coat of crisp white paint and the installation of the TV. I am actually really looking forward to that moment....because I can't wait to try out a movie marathon as I veg out on our new couch:

If you can believe it, Justin picked out this couch all on his own. He came home and told me he had found a 1/2 leather, 1/2 fabric couch. I immediately shut him down. I explained that I had more than two teeth and would not be interested in purchasing a whiskey-tango couch. However, he convinced me to go look at it....and I loved it! It is uber comfortable and was the most economical option we had looked at.

Although the basement is technically Justin's "man cave" I am a bit of a control freak. I am a little worried that he would hang boobie posters and such all over the walls if I didn't have some influence over the decor.

First, I hung some shelving. I purchased every form of the letter "H" that Hobby Lobby had to offer. I haven't put all the stuff where it belongs, but I just stuck it all on there for you to see. Yes, those are some sports figures on the shelves. That was my attempt to pay tribute to the manliness that Justin insists the basement must radiate.

After brainstorming about how to fill up a blank wall at my office, my aunt sent me a picture of multiple clocks hanging all together. I loved it so much that I decided I wanted that at our house....sorry office! Here are the clocks. To make it more "sporty" another aunt suggested that I pitch it to Justin by saying we can set each clock to the time zone of his favorite teams. And...that actually worked!

Finally, because I am obsessed with pictures, I have claimed the walls going down the stairs to display my obsession. These are the framed photos I have selected so far:

I will figure out a hanging arrangement and get them on the wall as soon as I repaint the walls they will be hanging on. We picked a blue accent color just for some interest. I decided to paint the walls that surround the staircase. The blue was a bad choice. It looks like a toddler took the blue crayon out of the box and smeared it all over our walls. It is.....blue. And it is bad.

Soooooo we are trucking along. I am so ready for it to be complete. Mostly because it means I get to have a big reveal party. And if there is anything I like better than home decorating.....its party-throwing.