We're Finally Finishing Our Basement

This month we have started our big project of finishing our basement.  After getting three quotes from contractors, we chose Morley Construction.  Then began the huge task of going through all of the stuff we had stashed in the basement and deciding if it was worth keeping or if it needed to be donated.  We got rid of a bunch of things and probably made four or five trips to Deseret Industries.  We gave our ping pong table to Hebe's family.  That was a beast getting it up the stairs, out of the house, into his truck, and then into his basement.  Thankfully he has a walk-out basement which was super helpful.  We gave the giant LoveSac to Kristen's boys and sold our treadmill to her for a good low price.  That was a beast as well getting that out of the basement.  My brother Erik and his son Alex helped Matt.  Erik took it up to Kristen's house in his truck.  That was so kind of him.  It was sad for us to take down Matt's golf practicing area.  It was his happy place, his retreat from stress. He will rebuild in our garage next summer after the Calls take away their storage items.  For now, Matt will practice at the Golf Superstore.

After deciding what was being donated, we had to re-locate all that we're keeping to a different place in the house.  Most things were added to two bedrooms upstairs and some things went to the garage.  I went up and down so many stairs carrying boxes and things for a couple of days as I worked on clearing stuff out of the basement.  It was a good workout.  Matt and I were able to move food storage and the shelving units into the cold storage area which isn't having any work done to it.  I'm so glad we didn't have to carry those heavy items upstairs.  Here are the before pics right after we cleaned it all out and had it ready for the builder.

Parts of our home look like we are hoarders because our basement stuff has been added to Chelsea's household things that she is storing here while they live in London.  It'll be great when the basement is finished, and we can get organized and everything will have a place.

The basement should be done just before Thanksgiving.  We are super excited for that.  Framing, electrical, and plumbing have been completed.  Insulation should be installed tomorrow.  Then I think drywall comes after that.  We've picked out tile and a vanity for the bathroom, and we decided that we will buy the same carpet that we put in the rest of the house.  We need to go pick out light fixtures this coming week.  Matt and I bought a sectional couch and a cool leather swivel chair at West Elm last week.  It's gonna look so awesome and be super comfy.