This is what you see when you first come down the stairs. It is the kids' play area. There used to be a TV right there. The walls used to be orange and the carpet used to be beige. The new carpet is darker than it looks here. Note the awesome surround speakers with no exposed wires!

This used to be the kids' play area. Now it's Daddy's play area. We replaced all of the dark brown trim and doors with white trim and doors. The right-most wall used to be further to the right and that closet used to be big enough to contain the washer and dryer. The closet was reduced significantly, providing more room for the TV and speakers. The closet now holds the electric panel and my Rock Band instruments. The washer and dryer are now in the laundry/craft room to the right. Don't believe me? Keep reading.

It's tough to explain what this used to look like. Taking pictures would have been too easy. This room was completely unfinished. The walls and floor were bare concrete. The ceiling was just joists. To the right was the furnace and all of the air ducts going through it. Finishing this room took some work.

The sewer and water pipes were installed with the expectation that nobody would ever finish this room. So we moved all of the water supply and sewer drains. I installed a new dryer vent since the old one was too far away at this point. Cutting a hole through an external wall in your house always makes things more fun.

The next step was to frame walls for the entire area. A pneumatic nail gun is a huge help for framing. You can't build on the ground and then raise the wall like you can with a new house. Instead, you nail the top and bottom plates in (the bottom plate requires gun powder), then you measure and cut each stud individually and toe-nail it in place. Toe-nailing with a hammer is tedious and leads to cussing and projectile hammers. Toe-nailing with a nail gun is fun. You have to cut each stud individually because you can't assume consistency. Basement floors are sloped for drainage. The joists in basement ceilings sag and warp over time. I tried to complete about 12 studs per night, which normally took about 3 hours.

After framing, I ran electrical for the entire room, plus dedicated circuits for the washer and dryer. I'm pretty comfortable doing electrical work, but it helps to have an electrician as a friend when adding new 220V breakers to the panel. Plus, he knows some handy tricks that speed up the process.

I installed insulation and plastic sheeting in the external walls. I also installed insulation in the internal walls to reduce noise. It is no longer a distraction to run the washer and dryer while watching a movie.

Next, I made use of some friends to help me hang all of the drywall. Then I paid a pro to tape, mud, and sand it all. Mudding requires a special talent that you only get with lots of experience. Plus, a pro can hide any mistakes you make while hanging the drywall.

Both the floor and ceiling were done by pros. Acoustic ceilings and linoleum flooring is very easy to install. But I had been working on this room for 4 months and my resolve to do things myself was significantly reduced. The only part I did myself here was the black contour-molding along the floor.

That's basically it. Kristen and I installed shelving and cabinetry. There's still some loose ends. I need to install the end-pieces for the countertops. That's what you see sitting up on top of the wall cabinet. The window casings need to be installed as well. I'll need to custom-build those from MDF and nail them in.

This is Kristen's scrapbooking area across from the washer/dryer. Laundry actually gets done more consistently now.