Gear Room Finished

I finished the gear room this weekend. Pictures to come but here's what I did:

* Tape and mud the drywall - 3 coats plus sanding = 1 week, ~$30 in materials
* Paint primer on the smoothed drywall = 1 day, got 5 gallons for ~$25
* Paint 2 coats of white paint on ceiling = 1 day, $12
* Paint walls a dark chocolate brown, 2 coats = 1 day, $1 (hooray for the oops paint!)
* Install baseboard trim around the room = 1 evening, ~$6 (hooray for the rebuilding center and using reclaimed wood for $0.15 a foot!)
* Install moulding around the door = 1 hour, ~$4 (reclaimed wood from the rebuilding center)
* Hang furring strips (to space out the pegboard) and pegboard on two walls. Ken came down for moral support for a few hours on the first day since there were lots of custom cuts around our odd-shaped old house. = 3 days, 4 sheets of pegboard x $18 = $72
* Paint pegboard a rusty red color, including drying time = 1 day, $1 (oops paint)
* Install track lighting from Ikea so we can now see things too dark before (Note: Ken helped me with this) = 1 hour, $29.99
* Move shelving back in, re-hang wall mounted ski/snowboard supports and hang screw-in/locking pegboard hooks = 1 evening, ~$15 for the hooks

Total time: 14 days, 2 evenings and 2 hours.
Total cost to refinish the gear room: $189.99

It looks awesome now (even better than when Sara saw it yesterday). I am very proud of what I accomplished and learned to do. I hadn't finished drywall before or cut moulding to fit. I was very intimidated before starting but I learned that none of it was very hard. In fact, it's pretty easy. The hardest part is getting started and believing that you can do it. Which you can. I learned by flipping through picture instruction books at the store or looking online. Then, you just need to get in there and do it.

Spending $190 on a room that holds stuff may sound ridiculous, but it's totally worth it. We were busting out of the room -- nothing else could fit without putting more holes in the wall. Now, we can expand easily (and flexibly) without damaging the wall. I am most proud of myself for doing the job right. I could have just put pegboard over the unfinished drywall. Instead I take satisfaction in knowing that the walls are finished under the pegboard (should we ever sell the house). And the feeling of finishing a first project like that is amazing.

Next project: scraping the exterior of the house to prep it for painting. Estimated time to complete (per Sara's dad): 16 hours. Cost saved by doing it yourself: ~$7000

Next next project: refinishing the rest of the basement. I can't wait to get down there but I know painting has to come first before winter rains arrive.