Our First Movie Night

The basement will probably not be "complete" for a while, but as long as there's a toilet, TV, and couch, it's far enough along for us to start using it.  The entire project has been scheduled by predecessors, meaning we complete one project because it's necessary for the following project to start.

The end goal for the basement was always to get the sectional back downstairs.  We did each project in succession basically for a couch.  Since we bought a sectional two years ago, long before we started this project, (although sometimes it feels like it's lasted that long), we had to relocate the couch upstairs while the basement was worked on.  The only space it would fit and still allow us to function normally was in the dining room.

 
For the last 6 months or so, the dining room has looked like this, (the table and chairs were moved into the living room):

It was weird at first, but I kind of liked all the seating.  Not to mention eating my breakfast on the couch.

Even though it became the norm, Mike and I were both itching to get it back downstairs.  So, we decided that we would finish any cutting necessary, including finishing the stairs, and cutting and installing the trim and after the trim was all painted we would move the couch downstairs.  Since we'll never have a completed room without any furniture, I figured I would take some photos to show you the space before we started making it the family room.

      
As you can see I still have some paint touch-ups to do and outlet covers to install, but we finished everything that would be blocked by the couch and figured the rest could be worked around.

As soon as we brought the couch down we mounted the TV.  I convinced Mike that we needed to bring the sectional down before I committed to where I wanted the TV placed.  It literally took hours for me to finally decide on a placement.  It took so long that Mike actually caved in and promised he would build me a TV cabinet for the wall next to the laundry room door.  I'll share my plans for that later.

We finished it all the weekend before Easter and promptly set up the dvd player to watch Skyfall, (Mike's birthday present this year, along with the sunny weather and beach trips since it was during our vacation).

  
This is my bliss people: the cat, my guy (trying to be goofy for the camera), and a movie night with cuddling.  Even with a metal chair and only a couch and a TV, I can already tell this room is going to be used a lot for friends and family, and lots and lots of movies.