We've been in our new house for almost a year now, and I'm finally ready to share the details of our "Cardinal Basement."  This finished basement was a major selling point for us on this house, and because Jason is a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan, this was the perfect "man cave" for him. 

The previous owners designed this basement so we really can't take credit for any of the design details.  They also had way more Cardinals memorabilia (and much more expensive/cool items than we have).  We were lucky enough for them to leave their Cardinals Fatheads on the walls. 

We simply put our own small touches (like furniture and our sad collection of Cardinals gear) to make this the perfect family room.  There's still work to be done, like more/better bar stools and deciding what can go in the empty space by "Yadi."  The walls could use some more pictures too. 

Without making this post more wordy than it needs to be, I give you "The Cardinal Basement":








See the rest of our finished basement here and here. 



UPDATE:
Since writing this post, we saw a super affordable 7 foot trampoline during a trip to Sam's Club.  We decided this would be a good investment and it would give Katherine something to do during the cold/rainy days when she can't go outside. 

Behold, the newest addition to the basement:

After months of planning and organizing (and shopping), I'm finally ready to reveal our main living space.  Our living room and foyer were a work in progress.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen this post about our gargantuan paint job.  This room used to have yellow textured walls.  Every.Where.

Painting was a three day job, but I'm soooo glad we did paint and I'm even more glad that it's all over. 

So here is our living room/foyer:

Bench - thrifted // Pillows // Mirror -Walmart // Hooks - Target

Buffet

Blue Line Family

Coffee Table

White cabinet - IKEA // Curtains - Wayfair

It's amazing how many toys migrate upstairs from the playroom every day.

Coasters - Walmart // Candle - Target

Side table // Blanket - IKEA

I spy Callie dog.

Just for fun, here is what our living room looked like when we moved in:

I spy Callie dog again.

And for even more fun, and because I could still find the photos online, here's what the house looked like when the previous owners lived here:


Our decorating tastes varied slightly. 

I love how this room turned out!  I can't wait to decorate it for the holidays.

We didn't really make any changes to the basement of our new house.  It's called the "Cardinals Basement" by us and many of our neighbors, and for good reason.  The basement, in it's entirety, is painted with red and blue with St. Louis Cardinals Fatheads secured to the walls (more on that later). 

I claimed a section of the basement as my own office space, but didn't repaint anything.  We (Jason) wanted to keep the theme of the basement the same. 

My office is located in the back wing of our finished basement, next to Katherine's playroom.  It's actually more than just an office, it's also my sewing and design studio, a craft room, and small ballet studio. 

Here's a look at the space of the basement that's all mine (and Katherine's):














With the upstairs of our house finally painted, it's feeling more and more like home.  Our walls on the main level are still bare, and I'm obsessively trying to find the right pieces to hang on them.  I'm trying to channel my inner Joanna Gaines. 
 

Aside from the St. Louis Cardinals basement (which we'll get to in a later post), a main selling point when buying our house was the (already established) playroom.  It's like it was tailor made for Katherine. 

Located in the basement, this beautifully decorated playroom is any little girl's dream.  We literally didn't have to do a single thing to this room, but fill it with all of Katherine's toys. 

Here's a look at Katherine's new playroom:












It of course never looks this clean, and pretty much stays in a constant state of chaos, but it's Katherine's room.  Most of her toys stay in this room instead of in her bedroom, making clean up a lot easier.   

Also, when we bought the house I never imagined we'd actually fill this room.  I didn't think Katherine had enough toys to fill it up.  I was obviously wrong.