I love tile! I really do! My husband and I are hooked on the DIY and the HGTV channel. So we’ve learned that one of the hottest interior design trend is to use tile on the floors, walls, etc.

We recently put a bid in on a house that had a shower that was beautifully tiled with real (stone) tile! The result was amazing! The intricate pattern and earthy colors brought out such an amazing ambiance to the bathroom. It felt modern and traditional at the same time!

Husb and I are in the process of looking for new lamps for our room. We would like to buy online because I feel that there is more to choose from. So with the better selection and better chance to find discount lighting fixturers, I think that looking online is the route we will go.

Not to mention, perhaps we will be able to find new lighting fixtures for the other rooms in the house as well!

Where do you get your lighting fixtures (lamps, ceiling lights, etc.)?

It seems like just yesterday we were deciding if/when to buy a house. Then BAM! The moment is upon us and boy it has come so fast! We are planning on buying mom’s (husb’s mom’s) house. We love it here. I feel so spoiled to be so near the beach. Don’t even get me started on the all of the beautiful trails that are not far from our house! The only thing we need is an extra bedroom. So, to accomplish this, we are finishing the basement.

We already have an egress window (a second exit) in the basement. We’re going to put in a bedroom, a family room an office and storage. We have been watching so many home-improvement shows lately, it’s not even funny. One of the best tips that I have taken from watching those shows is to make sure that the finished basement simply looks like an extension of the home. So true, don’t you think?

We are trying to decide whether or not we want to put home theater seating in the family room. I think it would be neat to make a family/ movie room. I suppose as we spec out the room, we’ll get a better idea of the space we need to do what we want. This week, I am cleaning out the basement so that we can start construction!

If you guys have any basement finishing ideas… i’d love to hear them!

One of the best ways to increase value and increase space in your home is to finish the sublevels (i.e. basement) and or add on to the home.

We have decided to go out of our element and start getting quotes from contractors to finish our basement. We’re looking to add a bedroom, an entertainment area and a 3-quarters bathroom! All in all I *think* most of it is simple except for the bathroom. We have even toyed with the idea of adding on a bar to the entertainment room with bar faucets.

We’re not sure how much something like this will cost and wonder if we should pay by the hour, or weekly? Also… we’re not sure where to go to find ideas for finishing a basement.

If any of you have done this in the past or recently… let me know what you did!