I did it! I did a trend! Put it in the books. But, in my defense, I don’t consider it a regular trend if it’s something old being “brought back.” My house was built in the 1960s so really, if I’m doing a mid-century modern (MCM) trend, then I’m just keeping things current. And MCM happens to be my favorite decorating era ever!
Because of my contract nursing gigs doing life insurance physicals, mobile IVs and hospice, I am inside homes all day and I always ask myself how I feel when I am in a space. Usually these cookie cutter houses are sterile. If I see another Ikea or Target cube shelving unit with the exact same bins and picture perfect grid-like layout, I’m going to barf. When I was looking up ideas on Pinterest for a basement redesign, I found pin after pin like that and it made me so sad. I’m always curious what people think when they do these projects… happy they are organized? That it’s symmetrical and perfect? Listen, I’ve purchased more than my fair share of IKEA and Target furniture in my lifetime. During college I didn’t have any other choice (or at least the creativity to think about other choices), but now that I’ve found a fun hobby in woodworking I love taking these projects on. But the people who want their rooms to look exactly like every other room? I’m genuinely curious as to the draw of those “design” choices. I consider myself a Montessori-adjacent momma (allowing kids’ natural interests to dictate their activities). I don’t like my kids having a million toys for a few reasons 1) more to clean up, 2) they seem to play with two favorites at all times and 3) too many toys seems like it would feel the same way for kids that I feel with open browsers on my computer… too many can make me feel overwhelmed and anxious.
So when I was designing this basement wall, I wanted a place to put their toys, but not too much space as we get rid of toys frequently. At the same time I like stuff to be multi-functional... I like my couch to turn into a bed, my dog to turn into a vacuum cleaner and my kids to turn into tax breaks. So this wall needed to serve our family’s current needs as well as be able to evolve as the kids got older (and always look good!).
The diagonal wood decor that’s popular right now is something I liked at first, but like all trends it’s overdone and will look silly in 5-10 years just like shag carpeting or faux wood wall paneling. The vertical slats are “in” right now I admit, but it is very reminiscent of MCM- the clean lines and simple earth tones with pops of crazy is stunning. So even though the slat accent walls are coming back, at least they came from somewhere. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times… if it was popular 100 years ago and still looks good, it’s a keeper (ok, ok I get MCM isn’t quite 100 years old yet, but I’m really confident this “trend” is here to stay like dark wood floors or the name John).
One to my favorite part of the whole design… the French cleat. It’s a wonder of wonders! I completed my whole garage with this design feature. It’s equal parts math and functionality much like the MCM design and I LOVE it. It’s two 45 degree angles that combine and offset the weight perfectly. Like a beautiful woodworking symphony. I’m salivating.
I made those detachable so the kids can remove them and color anywhere. I wanted to offset the geometric lines of the rest of the design with something circular.
The letters on the magnetic white board are from Hobby Lobby and I had some adhesive magnetic strips that I added to the back. And, although it’s hard to tell, the background and “accent” color is a dark blue which is the main color in our house and matches the ottoman I built a few years ago.
I found the picture frames at Michaels and they are perfect to showcase some of my favorite art pieces from the kids!
The original thought with the desk area is that it would “grow” with the kids. I attached dowels on the side for the “desk” to be adjustable, but ended up not attaching them all the way up the sides since I thought it might look unfinished. I can add them as I need them.
The main design feature was that I wanted everything to be off the floor. It’s easier to clean and adds dimension.
On the slat wall, I wanted an easy way to hang dress up clothes. When I was pregnant with
Lily I bought everything to make pacifier clips, but she never used pacifiers so the clips have been sitting in my sewing box for 6 years. They were perfect for the dresses! To add some new decor, I found this adorable wood print with my favorite Dr. Seuss quote from The Lorax. Otherwise everything else was just repurposed from around the house! The final touch was a puzzle I had of my name when I was a toddler. My parents brought me a bunch of my old stuff when they sold their business (and subsequent storage) and I didn’t want to just shove it in storage! I glued on the letters and hung it up.
So while I have a good idea of what I like and an even better idea of what I don’t, I still don’t know what I’m doing. So I will likely never share a video of me putting something together because I honestly don’t know what I’m doing and I feel no need to highlight that!
I completed the cabinets and slat wall a couple weekends ago when Jesse was on a golf trip and have been slowing finishing up the details. I’m sure I will make a few more adjustments, but I love how it turned out!
