Hello!
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like my mind is just bursting with ideas, yet totally scattered at the same time. Lots of items on the to-do list, and lots of ideas thrown in for good measure. And many times my house reflects that very concept.
Here are few things that we’re working on around here, and some other goodies that have caught my eye.
For starters, my list of 2014 goals is growing. Our basement is a walk-out, which I love and it was a huge selling point when we bought our house. That said, I don’t know what brain child thought it would be a good idea to have very light beige carpet as the first thing you step on when coming inside. Bad idea.
In my desperation, I put an office mat down in front of the door (since rugs just get caught when you open the door) to tame any dirt that may come traipsing inside. This photo doesn’t even do it justice.
After I lost my mind over the holidays allowed my teen son to have 20+ kids over for a Christmas party, it got worse.
There we go – now let’s just lay it all out there, shall we? The dirt line. Again, I seriously have to question who thought such light carpet would be a good idea – not only by the door, but in the basement, period. It shows everything. Fortunately, I have a carpet cleaner guy who is a miracle worker.
In an effort to clean this area up for good, we’re going to lay tile down here so that the mud zone is easier to maintain. We lucked out, in that there was leftover tile in our storage room, and we’ll have enough to make a bit of a landing area.
We laid it all out to see if it would work, and I think we’re in luck!
We told the kids not to walk on the tile, so they don’t break anything.
They’re such great listeners.
I think I need to investigate another couple of dependents for our tax returns this year, because apparently a couple of individuals named “Not Me” and “I Don’t Know” live here and are the culprits when anything gets broken.
(This is why we can’t have nice things.)
I’m also working on my teen son’s room, which is akin to brushing your teeth and eating a box of Oreos at the same time.
Here it is before I got to work (and after I emptied it out with the help of a shovel).
If it were up to him, it would be painted as dark as possible, making it a complete cave and even more difficult for him to get up in the mornings.
I think he has something like this in mind:
Or a color like this (which I really kind of love in this context), but his room is already low on natural light, and this would only feed his desire for a Batcave.
We settled on “Thunder” by Benjamin Moore.
Although they’re not orange, these smart storage items caught my eye as well. Blue and gray are a good combo too you know…

8 Comments
Nicole Gilbride
January 13, 2014 at 6:15 pmHey Jenny!
check out Pam's transformation of her son's bedroom – she did a ton of posts on it, but she also used gray paint and some great ikea finds : http://simpledetailsblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/teen-boys-room.html
enjoy!
Cyndy Aldred
January 13, 2014 at 6:19 pmOh, the plan sounds awesome! I laughed all the way through your post and can relate to mysteries of broken things! Ha! Can't wait to see it all come together!
pam {simple details}
January 13, 2014 at 9:53 pmOh Jenny, I was dying at the broken tile! I think one of them is 15, right? It all sounds SO familiar! Have fun with his makeover, cant wait for the adventures!
Lisa @ Shine Your Light
January 14, 2014 at 12:41 pmI love the direction you're taking your son's room! The wall color is great and the pop of orange will be fun!
Kris @ Driven by Décor
January 14, 2014 at 1:24 pmLove your plans for your son's room – that paint color is great! And I think you will love having that tile entry once it's done – my friend did that in her basement and she's so happy with how much less dirt gets on the rest of her basement carpet!
Andrea
January 15, 2014 at 12:38 pmYep, I'm right there with you. Too many ideas, not enough time. I love the idea of a tile landing in your basement. I can't imagine what my kids would have done to that carpet by now. Your son's room is going to be "The Boss", as my nine year old would say.
Blair Berdusco
January 23, 2014 at 6:24 pmAnd what a selling point indeed. Time will tell if the purchase stands strong, but so far so good. Visually, it's certain. It's really quite an effort to get a good bead on real estates. But always, it is worth it.
Blair @ Creb Now
Chad Hovde
March 10, 2014 at 7:00 pmThe batcave idea doesn't look half bad if the sample pictures were to be judged, but knowing teenagers, they probably would exagerate the idea too much. It's good that you've found common ground on this though. The plans for the room sound good, and I'm pretty sure he'll forget about the batcave idea by the time you're finished. As for the carpet problem, the tile landing idea was great! I hope you'll have fewer problems with your new home as you begin to settle in completely. Good luck with raising the teens!
Chad Hovde @ BestCollegeStationHomeSearch.com