File Cabinet Up-Cycle and The Basement Chronicles

The file cabinet I'm about to show you is a piece in The Basement Chronicles.  And since it's the more fun part of this blog, I'm going to start with that!  Here is a picture of what the file cabinet looked like before (sorry it's not a complete before pic...I didn't think to take a pic until I already started doing my thing):

The purpose of this file cabinet was to replace our smaller file cabinet so it could hold all our documents, kids school stuff, instruction manuals, office supplies and all my crafting stuff, etc.  I wanted our stuff to be tucked nicely into a small space instead of having 20 clear bins and totes all over with different stuff in them.  Originally, this file cabinet was that almond color.  I wasn't a fan so...

I sprayed the main body a simple white and then I wanted to add some pop with bright colors!  A little hot pink, lime green and dark teal never hurt!  Here's the final product:

Ta-da!  The green looks yellow, but I assure you it's a lime green.  I love it.  I needed to add a little pizazz to the area and this did the trick!  I purchased all 4 spray paints for less than $20, and it made a world of difference.  *Side note:  Menards and Mills Fleet Farm have the best selection of spray paints.*  This file cabinet is the home to all of the things I listed above.  I like that it's all kept in one space and out of the way...and out of reach of little hands!  This was a great asset for a while until...to be continued...

This brings me to the beginning of the Basement Chronicles.  You see, when we first got this house, it was an unfinished basement but had so much potential!  After a few years of talking about it and deciding what we wanted to do, Hubby set to work to finish it.  I'm VERY fortunate to have married an amazingly handy man that really does know how to fix anything.  I'm not exaggerating either.  For real.  Well, Hubs finished the basement, and it's wonderful (just have to put it out there, I laid the carpet tiles while 6 months pregnant...that was really my only contribution!).  We wanted it to serve as another living space, a toy room, and a place for me to do a little crafting/office work.  He even made a beautiful built-in book shelf.  Here is what the basement looks like:

It's all so clean and organized!!!  Especially the office area.  Blah!  No, it's not.  I have avoided this basement for a long time because I needed to get it picked up and re-organized so that I could be productive in it.  I'm one of those people that needs a clean and organized area to get anything done.  ESPECIALLY my kitchen.  I'll get to that another time.  Can you say, OCD?  Anywhoot, I wasn't huge on the arrangement in the basement as well as how it all functioned.  It's a really nice and large living space but it wasn't really being utilized.  As a family, we don't spend much time down there.  That being said, I spend time down there every single day to get a little of this and that done...and it's kind of my little slice of quiet.  UNLESS, I have a stellar book series to read, then every waking moment is spent reading.  So, to make a long blog longer, I decided it was time to switch it up and do a little re-organizing, purging, and cleaning.  Stay tuned to see the outcome and the little projects that I did to make it a more functional space!!!