Basement Schemes

House projects are on my mind again. In the next month, as soon as the weather warms up we are finally going to work on the basement. Of course by we, I mean we are hiring someone. Family was offering to help us do it ourselves, but my husband didn't think he had the time to take it on.

The floor will be jack-hammered out and removed. Then we will do plumbing work ourselves. 2 egress windows will be cut. Some keep-water-out-measures will be made before the floor repoured. Finish work will be done with the previously volunteered help.

I have been organizing and packing up the basement. We will have to demo a bedroom the cinderblock shower and remove the furnace and hot water heater. Then temporarily move out until the work is done. Likely living in my in-laws basement, which has me a bit nervous. I don't like feeling like I am in the way.

I am mostly excited. This will double our liveable square footage and the boys will have a room to share between them. A bathroom I am excited to design, our upstairs remodel turned out so great. An extra bedroom for guests, or if our dream of moving to the farm is further away than we would like Bear will move into it.

The other for sure plan is a storage room. We are debating about an office/adult workspace.

The rest of the space will be open for the kids to run and play. My old counter-height table will be setup for jigsaw puzzles, lego building, boardgames, etc. I would like to put a sectional and chair or two with an entertainment center and lots of builtin bookshelves.

1140 sq ft extra. We will end up with a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bathroom home. Upstairs parents and girls room. Downstairs boys room and guest room. Plenty of room for kids to be kids.

Other projects on the to-do-list:
-take up carpet in livingroom and kids' room and refinish hardwood floors underneath
-remove kitchen wall next to basement stairs and build half-wall
-put up shiplap walls in the kitchen and paint
-attempt to convince husband to trim windows and doors...and consider crown  molding in bedrooms and livingroom.
-paver stone patio in the backyard
-till area in backyard for a vegetable garden
-replace siding and roof again from last summer's hailstorm

On my mind, or out of it

Big D was puking last night, he only made it to the bathroom 2 out of 4 times. I am again firmly decided that we need to rip up our old carpet and refinish the hardwood floors. Or just rip up the carpet, the wood floors actually look pretty good.

This carpet has gone through 3 potty training children, horrific accidents and spills, grease, mud, and manure from the corral tracked over it. 6 1/2 years of stomach flu and exploding diapers. I am over the carpet shampoo-er and what to do with 5 kids and a damp carpet in winter.

In my mind, looking over our fence at the greener grass that is noncarpeted floors cleanup seems easier. What mom, strike that, person isn't 110% for easier cleanup?

At least one member of our household has been sick: either coughing, snifflely, achy, pukey, feverish, sneezing, Hershey squirts afflicted, plagued of some sort since the last week of January.

I blame the carpet. I can't sanitize the carpet. The carpet that our slobbery kissing germ sharing cuddly children crawl and roll across daily. Also the boys seem to have forgotten how hygeine works. The days of obsessive handwashing are over.

I am drinking coffee, hoping the kids will nap, and having hateful thoughts about carpet.