Now that we’ve cleared out our backyard’s weed and liriope jungle, it’s time to turn attention to another neglected area: the basement. Let’s just talk about the basement for now. You may remember it as a shameful, debris-strewn space…
…which became a bit more presentable after we rented a Bagster a few weeks ago and hauled out a ton of junk.
That Bagster purge—and a low-key yard sale we hosted—were the push I needed to finally focus on this room. Since moving in nearly two years ago we’ve done almost nothing to organize or improve the basement; it’s been a dumping ground. The “before” shots made that pretty clear.
We tackled a similar basement at our previous house—a small cinder-block space accessed only by an exterior door. That room taught us some useful lessons.
The old basement was basically glorified storage. We rarely worked there—our garage handled those projects—so many of the finishing touches we added felt like overkill. Painting the walls and floor looked great and helped resale, but we hardly used the space beyond storing holiday decorations. In this new house, the basement is more functional: it stores paint, tools, unfinished furniture and, in the absence of a garage, it’s become my workshop. From Day One we inherited useful features like shelving, pegboards and a built-in work table.
I’ve completed plenty of projects down here—from a living room console to a dollhouse—so it’s a little depressing to spend time in a space that felt neglected. That ends now. My plan is still taking shape, but every makeover starts with cleaning and organizing. I’ve been stealing small windows of time—during naps or while Sherry watches reality TV—to sort through every nook and cranny, deciding what stays and what goes.
At the top of the “definitely not” list were leftover items from the previous owners. Some finds were downright strange—even a fire extinguisher dated 1984.
There was also a creepy old pig toy and, among a pile of yard tools, three axes. That collection felt like the start of a horror movie scene, so out it went.
I started the organizing by tackling yard tools. I inventoried what we actually needed and weeded out extras—rakes and duplicate items went to the yard sale. I decided dirty yard tools should be kept away from my work table, so I moved them to a recessed area that looked rough a few months back but now feels much cleaner post-Bagster and post-yard sale.
I made the pegboard on the left my yard tool headquarters, which meant removing an old rotted shelf the previous owners left behind. Rotten wood was easy to break apart and toss into the Bagster.
I discovered a spare section of fence from a previous patio project that fits perfectly into the recessed nook next to the pegboard. It wedged in so snugly I bolted it to the cinder wall for safety. Even upside down, the wood texture breaks up the bare cinder block and makes the space feel warmer.
My proudest moment so far is arranging the pegboard. It took an hour to plan the layout, but the result is immensely satisfying. Organizing small tools and items on pegs is oddly thrilling—I found myself imagining everything in the house on that pegboard.
Another simple improvement was rethinking bike storage. The old rack from our previous basement was cramped and awkward here. I installed two heavy-duty bike hooks into an exposed beam near the fence nook. They were inexpensive and made getting bikes on and off much easier.
After screwing in the hooks, the bikes hang neatly in the recessed area without intruding into the main room.
Clara’s bike seat and our car rack now hang nicely on ledges created by the fence rail. Getting things up off the floor instantly improves the room’s functionality and appearance.
I’d like to show a final wide shot, but several organizing projects are still in progress. I’ll share more as the basement evolves. Whether you’re tackling a yard makeover, a kitchen update, or a basement refresh, breaking a project into phases makes it manageable. What small, one-step-at-a-time projects are you working on lately? Do pegboards get your pulse racing too?