Granny Flat

One of the projects I completed this summer had nothing to do with fiber or fabric.  My husband and I have been finishing our basement for the past few years.  He did all the framing and I helped him with the sheetrock.  Every time he brought home a load of wallboard, I wanted to cry.  They're really heavy!  I know I'm stronger than I look, but I'm not as strong as I was when I was twenty!  We hired an electrician to do the wiring and a mudder (?) to mud the sheetrock.  I painted the walls and ceiling, laid tile on the bathroom floor and installed bamboo flooring in the play/living area.  About two years ago, we were at the 90% mark.  All that was left was trim and plumbing hook-up.  The basement stayed in that stage for a year.  That's twelve months the trim stayed on the floor.  I don't know what Hubby was waiting for.

Last year, Hubby decided that we would convert the basement into an in-law suite for his parents, complete with a FULL KITCHEN.  There was much tears and gnashing of teeth over the decision.  Needless to say, I gave in and work resumed.  Part of the space was partitioned into a bedroom, a wall in the half bath was knocked out and framed for a shower, and a full kitchen was created in the living area.  Since the basement was originally intended as a play space, the walls were painted a sunny yellow and pretty sky blue (my favorite color).  With the space reassigned for Grandma and Grandpa, I had to rethink the color pallete.  My mother-in-law picked forest green fabric for the new couch covers (they needed to be replaced anyway) and I repainted the walls a coordinating taupe.  I also painted, cut, and installed all the trim for the windows and doors.

One weekend in July, I tiled the shower.  Hubby cut the tiles for me while I stuck them on the walls.  I was a bit nervous about the project because I'd only tiled before on a horizontal surface.  What if the tiles fell over before I grouted?  In the end, my fears were baseless.  The mastic held the tiles in place and there weren't any stray tiles on the floor the next morning.  Grouting was a little tricky until I got the hang of working over a vertical surface.

Since I haven't repainted the bathroom yet, you can still see the pretty blue that I love...

tiled shower,

all grouted

accent tiles, so pretty!

almost done

I'm  pretty proud of my tile job.  Other than repainting the bathroom, we still need to install shelves in the bedroom closet, caulk the trim in the living room and install the floor thesholds under the four doors.  I think that's it.