Charm is More than Beauty- Built-ins and Closet

One of the things that I love about the basement are these two little built-in shelving units.  This is the best "before" picture that I have- there is one on the other side of the room too.  I thought that they were so cute, and added a little bit of charm to this older home.

Once I painted the walls, I realized that the wood tones wouldn't work with my color scheme in the basement.  I wanted to stick to grays and whites to make it as bright as possible.  The backing was painted an off white which just looked dirty.  I wanted to use the same white semi gloss that I had used on the bathroom door.  While I was at it, I would redo all the window trim work, and other door in the basement.  Consistency was the goal!

 I got to use what has quickly become one of my favorite tools- my sander!  I pulled all of the shelves out, and a few hours later, they were all sanded and ready to paint.

As you can see, this color wasn't the clean, crisp look I was going for... so my bright white was ready to go!  I taped over the old hardware, because I decided I just wanted to reuse it to save money.  Maybe eventually I'll replace it.

 Two coats later on the shelves and built in, and it already looked so much newer!  I love how they pop against the dark gray.

I hadn't gotten around to painting the closet side wall, so I did that at the same time.  I picked a lighter gray on this wall- it's actually the same color I used in all the upstairs bedroom.  At first, I wasn't sure I loved the dark gray wall, but I think it gives some contrast to the room.

It was also time to paint my brown window trim in the bedroom, and touch up the other trim and doors.  

Inside the closet got a brand new coat too!  I paid my bathroom contractor to come back and build out a real closet for the room so that it could be used as a bedroom.  The other closet is a utility closet, and therefore not useful for clothing purposes.  I bought a simple closet organizer I have installed in a previous home, and installed it in the closet.  Though a small closet, it will hopefully be enough storage for whoever wants to move in.  We decided to not do a closet door due to the size of the bedroom.  This way, a bed can be placed with the headboard against the wood wall, and they won't have to worry about having trouble getting in and out of the closet because of a door swinging into the bed.

Almost all set for a renter!