Over the years, I've developed a home design style that can be described as Rustic Refined. I love mixing clean, modern lines with natural, rustic accents. When we moved into our new Colorado home, we found ourselves staring at a blank two-story great room wall in serious need of some kind of visual interest.

One sunny Spring day, my husband I stumbled across a local festival in our hometown of Golden. Everywhere we looked, there were tons of old windows and doors piled up ready to go home with some lucky browser. It so happens, the lucky ones turned out to be us. We loaded the back of our car with a half door and seven vintage windows – the perfect solution to our blank canvas waiting at home. (Fortunately, we only lost one of the windows to bumpy roads.)

I worked the windows like a puzzle in my garage until I came up with the perfect arrangement. After climbing hesitantly up our shaky ladder, I came to the quick conclusion that I would need to enlist some help and called Wade, our contractor friend over to do the job. The result is absolutely beautiful and an unexpected contrast to the more contemporary style of our home.

If you are in need of large wall decor ideas, vintage windows could be the answer. There are lots of inspiration on Pinterest for all kind of ways to display windows within your own home.

One of my biggest wishes for our new home in Colorado was a large, casual space for the whole family to spread out and enjoy some down time together – a luxury we didn't have in our last small, urban house in Atlanta. After moving into our new home with an unfinished basement, I knew we had to take the plunge and finish it right away or it would become one of those projects we just never got around to.

This is what our basement looked like in the beginning:

The first thing I did was pull together a visual story of what I had in mind for colors, textures, surfaces, and ideas for how to use the space, and then hired Dan Thoemke of Neighborhood Rehab Project to help us achieve the basement of our dreams. Having something visual to share with your builder is such a helpful way to communicate and to get the ball rolling. It's also very important to work with someone who not only understands your vision, but knows how to source the right supplies, and offer solid advice along the way.

I knew I wanted the following:
Gray color scheme
Space for a theater
Wider opening and finished look for the staircase
Rustic reclaimed wood accents
Dry bar with concrete countertop and open shelving
Tech space and sitting area

Here is my visual story for the basement:

Along the way, I started narrowing down specific colors for the paint and carpet. Because grays can sometimes appear too cold and on the blue side, I decided to go with a warmer greige tone and used Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray and Gauntlet Gray for the dark accent wall. I chose Tesla Granite, a speckled gray and brown carpet to compliment the reclaimed wood and gray walls – and perfect for hiding signs of pets and boys.

Here is the basement about mid-way through:

I'm completely obsessed with the design style of Joanna Gaines from the show Fixer Upper and longed for an excuse to incorporate her famous concrete countertop for the dry bar. You know you're working with someone fabulous when they agree to set up shop in your garage to create the perfect concrete countertop by hand.

Below are pictures of my finished basement where we've already spent countless hours of quality time. I hope this will encourage you to forge ahead and turn that unfinished space in your own home into something special!

Vintage Window Decor

Basement Before + After

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