Shopping in the Basement

Last weekend my husband and I went shopping in the basement.  Not Filene's Basement, but our very own basement/storage room that is filled to the brim with stuff that has no better place to go.  We went searching for picture frames but came upstairs with a jackpot of long-forgotten goodies with which to decorate our home! 

Various remodeling/redecorating projects over the years meant that many perfectly good household items made their way to the basement and never came back out.  Seriously - I had forgotten about many of them!  What fun it was to rediscover things and put them back into circulation...we were redecorating without spending a dime!  Here are a few of the things that we found...

• An old wall clock that has finally returned to the kitchen (it had been taken down when we last painted the kitchen)
• A beautiful hand-blown glass vase that goes perfectly with our kitchen decor.
• Vintage pottery pieces we have collected over the years.  It's great to put them back into the mix again....I tend to rotate things like this.
• My old juicer that I had banished to the basement after I got my VitaMix.  (I had forgotten how much I love carrot juice from a regular juicer - the VitaMix version is too thick for my taste.)
• An old coffee grinder that just might be cleaned out and put into use for spices.
• A metal bar that my husband repurposed as a sunglasses holder for the coat closet.

All that plus at least 8 picture frames that we updated with new photos.  It saved me a trip to the store and my husband was thrilled to have current photos for his desk at work!

Have you ever shopped in the basement?  Tell me what you've discovered!!

Comments

[Ashley]

There are two areas of storage in our house: the garage and the guest (my) bathroom. Both are stuffed full of treasures.

I'm still trying to get the rest of the family in on going through the kitchen items which all come from the "kitchen department" in the garage. Last time I went shopping in the garage, I came across an old spice rack (the kind that spins and looks compact and fancy). I cleaned it up and organized all the push-pins and random nails and screws that wind up in the junk drawers. Also found the aerators I bought for the bathrooms, weather stripping for the front door, a bottle of tire sealant (grandma's wheelchair really needs it), velcro and mighty putty.

I need to shop in the garage more often.

Don't know what I'll use the velcro for though. I'll have to think of something.

[Barb]

I go shopping at my parents' houses a lot. They are my storage rooms. I come home with a few things every trip. Last trip I came home with picture frames, vases, ribbon, all kinds of stuff.

[Philippines properties]

Saving your old things in a basement is a great idea, I'm gonna make that too. Thanks.

Deirdre G

[Toronto Basement Renovations]

Good color of paint and nice collection of furniture according to them...

[Carol]

Hi Micaela,
When my daughter moved away from home, she left LOTS of bath & body products, hair doo-dads, & office organizing stuff.
Later, when she'd figured out how much all that stuff cost to buy new, she would often come back to "shop" at the "Candy Store" -- I had it all organized into boxes.
She got what she needed, and I got her room cleared out.

[vintage jewelery]

It is always great idea of shopping in the basement. I do my maximum shopping with my husband. He has a great choice and He helps me choosing exclusive things..