Plywood and Concrete

(dwell magazine)

The saga of my basement continues...

What does one do with a tiny room that has a toilet and a random set of stairs to nowhere? Well, first you use it as a bathroom, though there is no sink...And it actually kind of works as a guest bath. But, it's not ideal.

Then you fix it up as a music room for your husband...but who has the time to play?

Then you steal it back and create a sewing room to store ALL the fabrics and stuff you have. 

It's pretty janky...that is a table top with no legs balancing on a concrete slab and a plastic drawer unit. Did I mention it was a free makeover? Here's another pic just to the left of this shot:

My old drafting table sits under a weird creepy inset cabinet. It was all kinds of weird down there and I did my best. Mostly, though, there was paneling. I painted it light pink because I'm surrounded by boys and it really brightened up the space. 

Here's a pic of the toilet. It just kind of hung out in the corner. After awhile it stopped working, so I placed my drafting table over it and we didn't use it again. Until we decided to fix the plumbing. Turns out the drain pipe was slightly off angle so the pipe was clogged. Like 20 years clogged. We replaced the pipe and,...working toilet!

But then the panelling had to go...

Here is a view of the whole tiny room with all the painted pink panelling removed...It's the same viewpoint as the faux Renoir painting pics:

We tore out the weird ceiling, the insulation, the panelling and this is what's left. A concrete room with a free window! And stairs!

Here's a view of the toilet! (I'm the funnest)...

And see the stairs? Not anymore!

Now there's just a hole in my house! Yay!!

Now the idea is to add a clean top coat to the existing concrete with Feather Finish and then install plywood to the openings above. The plywood will do two things, look amazing and also strengthen the house as earthquake shearing.

Oh, and we also have to fill the hole. I have dreams of a galvanized stock tank shower, adding almost an entire bathroom to my 2 bed, 1 bath house.

(dwell magazine)

It's a small dream, but if you saw my bathroom now, the one I share with 3 boys, you would understand.