The Dungeon

Sorry I’ve been AWOL all week.  I can’t even think of a funny excuse because all my brain power has been wasted this week, staring at the walls of our dungeon basement and coming up with 273 different plans of how we can do the mantle/shelves.

Here’s what we’ve got so far:

One beautiful gas insert that makes the basement warm and fuzzy instead of cold and prickly, plus one “Big A TV,” as it was labeled in the carpenter’s design plan.  Kevin tells me the Big A TV is staying because I can cover the walls with scented, floral wallpaper if I want, but it is his man cave and Big A stays.

I will not bother you 272 of the designs we have come up with but will just ask for your honest opinion on design number 273, which is the one I have almost-but-not-quite said “yes” to.

First of all, I should show you my dream room.  Whenever someone suggests an idea, I point to this picture and ask, “Will it make the room look like this?”

So.  We are thinking of moving Big A to the shelf area now, on a swivel arm.  We’ll keep the seating area closer to the fire, but it will actually be able to see Big A from a distance and from a lower position.  I will be losing six shelves, which makes me have a mini stroke each time I think about it, but I think it might be the right thing to do.  (Maybe that’s because I’ve had about 20 mini strokes today, though.)

Then we’ll go all white, as much as we can, hang a sconce on each side of the mantle (one where the dart board is now and one and the other side) and some art above the fireplace.  We’ll paint the shelves white for now, with the long term plan to do this to them, cabinets and all:

Only it will look more like this, of course:

And lose the dog.  We’re cat people.

Thoughts?

WHAT’S COOKIN’ LAST NIGHT:
Chicken and stuffing
White wine gravy
Mashed potatoes
Glazed carrots
Sugar cookies