38 Basement Progress - A "Pinteresting" Studio

I thought today I would share with you the new blank slate that will be my future IHeart Organizing studio!

Shut the front door!  What did I say?  Yep, I am making myself a STUDIO!  Wahoo right?  A place to craft, blog, design, dream, expand... ahhh, I am SO EXCITED!

Sure, our cloffice is a great place to pay bills, write up a quick post and journal.  But it was all done as a temporary solution while we lived upstairs, since we lost our original office space last year in the flooding of the lower level.

When it comes down to it, I miss having a large space to spread out my crafting supplies and let my creative juices flow.  Plus, I have mentioned a gazillion times that have giant dreams of expanding my Etsy shop with all sorts of organizing goodies, and I definitely need more space for that!

I already shared some of the changes we have made to the lower level during the refinishing process.  We added pretty shelving and painted out our laundry room and tore out a wall in our master bedroom closet.  Why not make lemonaid from lemons, and turn the lower level into a space that functions fantastically for all of us!?  So we are, and that means switching up the layout and how we use the spaces.

I have big plans to figure out how to use floorplanner.com, and get a floor plan of our entire home created for you very soon... so hang in there as I try to explain the updates.

Back to the studio.  It once was actually our uber awesome playroom!

It was REALLY narrow for a playroom.  Loved everything about the room, but it just didn't offer a ton of room to really spread out with toys and train tracks and blocks... so the playroom is being relocated also.  To a larger, brighter area of the lower level {more on that in an upcoming post as well}.

It made much more sense for me to make my own playroom in this space instead....

Such a BLANK slate.

As you can see, we painted the green walls a gray blue.  It's Behr's Prelude, and yes, this gray blue paint color scheme I keep choosing seems to be a phase...

The doorway you see unfinished there?  That is storage under our stairs that is begging to be finished!  Or maybe I am the one doing the begging... did you read that hubster?

I have our old game table to use as a craft table.  That makes me super giddy!

And the wall above it is screaming for something fun!  A gallery of kids artwork and mug shots perhaps?

And the desk is great for our old computer tower {oh, it's so nice to have a full size screen again, working off of a laptop upstairs to create spreadsheets was a smidge of a nightmare}, however, it's lacking in all of the storage that I am needing...

Speaking of storage...

More will be a necessity for this space to really function well!

Budget?  Yeah, I have like zero...

So what does one do when they have a great blank slate and very little budget?

Why go to Pinterest of course!  So I did, and look what I found!!

How great would some art in the form of paint chips be?  I can't wait to take the idea and make it my own!

And a wall of pretty hooks to hang my camera and cardigan and office tote?  Yes please!

OK, so how am I going to add all that fantastic storage flanking each side of my desk, on a budget?  That will absolutely be a challenge!

But I could totally create a pin board out of an embroidery hoop, make some pretty floral art out of paper, drill out a piece of wood to hold pencils and pens and recover a drum shade for a statement ceiling fixture!

And some pegboard of some sort could be great for storing all of my wrapping and crafting supplies!

Were you wondering in the pics above why there was no door for under the stairs?  Well, that's because we are in major debate.  Open in and you take away oodles of storage space.  Open out and you crash into my desk.  Wouldn't a sliding barn door be magical?  I think so too!

Can you see it yet?

So how do I find a rug on a budget?   That's always my biggest challenge.  This space is begging for a huge area rug for my cold toes.  Or wait, maybe that's me again...

And the built ins surrounding the desk.  That idea is never cheap but that's what modifying inexpensive bookshelves is for right?

I can't wait to get started!  It's going to be SO much fun!  In fact, I am probably starting a pinterest inspired project right now.....