Making a space at Emily’s house

When we first got to Emily’s house, she put us up in her guest room – a comfortable room on the main floor. She also offered us the den downstairs. I initially turned down the offer of the den. It’s in the basement, and it’s cold down there. And when I visited her last spring for a week, I was perfectly comfortable in the guest room.

But we’re settling in for a lot more than a week. Plus, John is here too (for now). And as we started to comprehend the rather unpleasant realities of colorectal cancer treatment and chemo, we realized that everyone would be better off if we were in the basement, with our own 3/4 bath down there, rather than sharing the main bathroom, just down the hall from the kitchen. Right? Lol.

So we bought a cute little electric space heater that looks like a miniature fireplace, set it behind the grate in the real wood fireplace in the basement, and went to work converting the large den into a cozy basement apartment.

Emily’s house is a beautiful old house in a nice suburb with large lots. Some of her neighbors have huge houses. Hers is bigger than it looks from the street, because of the basement, which is at ground level in the back.

The main floor from the front door is actually the middle floor. It has a bright, sunny living room with a fireplace.

Also on the main floor is a nice old style dining room with pane windows in a traditional New England style.

And there’s a large quirky kitchen with an enormous old top-of-the-line stove.

The third floor is where Emily, Bryan, and their three girls sleep.

The basement is a walk-out – it’s at patio level in the back. We’re taking over about half the basement: the bathroom, the den and a little kitchenette area that’s in the laundry room.

The kitchenette contains a few vintage cabinets, a sink, a deep freeze, a mini fridge, and a microwave. That’s also where their little dog, Donnie, has his pen.

The den is large, like a family room. It has high, basement windows on two sides,

and a large picture window overlooking the back patio.

It doesn’t really feel like a basement because of the full window on the back side. It gets plenty of light, yet at the same time it’s a private space.

Or it will be private, once we put up some doors! That’s our main project – doors. The den is currently open to the rest of the basement and the stairs going to the main floor. John is installing barn doors, which are super popular right now, and easier to install than conventional doors with hinges.

The doors are the only big project. Mainly we’re just buying furniture, and things like kitchen and office supplies, and all the random household stuff an apartment needs that didn’t fit into two suitcases.

Every day I put in an order or two at Amazon. It’s a hit on our budget, but I want to be fairly self-contained here, and not constantly running upstairs to borrow a plate or a serving spoon. And I want my stuff to be organized so I’m not literally living out of a suitcase. And obviously we need basics, like a bed and a table.

We bought this metal wardrobe for a good price at Target:

New bed, pillows, duvet, etc. from Amazon, with side tables from IKEA and lamps from Target:

This is a leftover section of couch came from Emily’s big sectional in the rec room; it’s just the perfect size for us:

We bought these cute tables and chairs from IKEA for our work space. John is working from home and spends a lot of the day here.

No, he doesn’t usually grin when he’s working. He knows his picture is being taken 🙂 He bought me the orchid for Valentine’s Day.

The bathroom was basically move-in ready, all it really needed was a shower head. We also bought a cart to store our things, because there’s no cabinet.

We also bought a table for the kitchenette:

Emily would like to paint over that coral color in the laundry-kitchenette area. Her house was full of wild colors and crazy-weird wallpaper when she bought it. She’s made a lot of progress remodeling, but isn’t done yet.

Last time I visited I helped with a little bit of the painting. I’m not sure if I’ll have time to get anything useful done before I start my treatment, but if my treatment is delayed until my new doctor gets back from vacation, I can help paint next week. She’s painting the walls a very nice light gray – it has almost a slight blue or lavender tint to it – very subtle. It looks very good in the rooms she has gotten done so far.

The bathroom is off the laundry room and kitchenette area – or it WAS until we put up this simple screen. Now the bathroom is off a short hallway that goes to the den. So we’ve essentially created a master bedroom with ensuite bath.

There’s a hallway with the furnace between the den and the bathroom and off that hallway is a door to the back patio. So we even have a private entrance. I’m looking forward to warmer weather to enjoy the patio.

I’m really enjoying staying with Emily. I like hearing the sounds of the kids running around on the main level above us. There is something about happy children that is fundamentally hopeful. I like being able to go upstairs to talk with Emily when I’m feeling bored or sad. I’m very thankful I’m not alone right now.

It’s really nice being able to set up what is basically our own apartment, yet we’re right here in the house with family. It’s like the best of both worlds.

And to top it off, the space comes with a cute little cuddly dog 🙂

He’s a 5 pound chihuahua named Donnie. Emily rescued him when he was about a year old. He’s about 10 years old now. He’s very sweet, and smaller than a squirrel.

His favorite spot is the sunny living room upstairs, but he also quite likes my electric blanket 🙂