And so we begin

When we bought this house four years ago we got a decent deal because the bottom half was unfinished (well, except for the laundry room). But with just one toddler and one on the way, we weren't in any big hurry to finish it. Three bedrooms, a living room and a playroom (shh, it's really a dining room), a kitchen and two baths seemed so huge! But with four kids we're starting to feel the squeeze. First it was a bigger table...ours is from our newlywed days and really only seats four - not five and a highchair. Then we started talking about the master bedroom which is essentially a catch-all for the stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else - Casey's guitar's and speakers, my sewing machine and craft stuff. Before we knew what happened we were thinking about finishing the downstairs!
This is the front bedroom downstairs. We'll have to put in a closet, but nothing too major in here. For now this will be a guest room and my sewing room. I'm not quite ready to move any of the kids downstairs yet and they're all enjoying sharing rooms for now anyway so there's no need to.

This will be the bathroom. I have lots of ideas for in here, but hubby keeps pointing out where things "have to go" and that is so annoying. He just doesn't appreciate my vision. Of course he would say that I don't appreciate he has to build this stuff:)

This room is behind the garage. We're planning on putting up a wall just this side of the white door you see down there to make this a smallish bedroom or office. The rest of the space will still be hubby's workroom accessible through the garage.

This is one end of the den/schoolroom. We've been using it to store outside toys so we'll have to come up with a plan for those. For awhile at least this room will be the playroom - no tv!

This is the other half of the den - the schoolroom half. I'm getting so excited planning all the bookshelves (although hubby reminds me we need walls before bookshelves - buzzkiller).

But, first things first, we have to set a budget. Casey is planning on doing the majority of the labor himself with some help from a friend at church (an a/c guy), my dad (former electrician) and my grandpa (a carpenter). I'm so lucky to have such a handy hubby and so many other smart men who are willing to help!

This house is such a blessing. If we never finished the downstairs, I'd be content - the upstairs is really wonderful. But as our kids grow and as our family keeps growing (I hope!), it sure will be nice.