Basement Introduction

Well, that little Paint drawing didn't turn out as big as I thought it would, but I wanted to present an outline of our basement before I start blogging pictures of all the work.  Let me try to explain.

Our house is a perfect rectangle.  None of that "architectural interest" for this family!  The basement was completely unfinished when we bought the house--nothing but a big concrete rectangle waiting for some love.

Looking at the picture above, you walk down the stairs and end up in the middle of the space.  Right in front of you is the centrally located furnace and water heater.  Convenient placement, right?  Ugh.  To your left is the laundry area.  The skinny lines I drew in are the walls that Sam and Karl built--they were not originally there, but they are now.

So there's your introduction: Big concrete rectangle.  Utilities smack-dab in the middle of the room.  Inefficient use of stair space.  Check back soon to see how we made it work!