“I suppose every family has a lot of stuff,” Dawn said. “But I feel like we are above average in that regard.” An antiques book dealer, Dawn has built a considerable collection of volumes that are ‘just too good to let go of’. Her partner, Peter, has never met a piece of fine furniture he didn’t like. As a result, their Boston home was full to overflowing.
“We needed a sensible way to store things,” Dawn said. “But why put all of this time and energy into building a collection if you’re just going to hide it in boxes in the basement? What we needed was a space where we could enjoy and appreciate our things.”
“I hate spiders,” Peter said. “Which is why I was so averse to using the basement space for anything, really. Who wants spiders dropping down into their hair?” He shuddered. “But when we talked to the Boston basement finishing company that was recommended to us, we learned that there are several different ceiling options available. Once all those dusty floor joists were covered up and turned into an attractive ceiling, my fear of spiders vanished.”
The couple had their basement transformed into an attractive study, with lots of book cases and built in storage space. “We did the numbers, and creating this same space as an addition would have been much more expensive,” Dawn said. “Plus we would have lost a good chunk of our yard, and I wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice if I didn’t have to.”
“We have lots of books and antiques. But we know other couples who have things like sports equipment or their grandchildren’s toys: things they want to keep and have access to, but that don’t need to be right in the house all the time, cluttering things up,” Dawn said. “For those people, we strongly recommend they look into having their basement finished. We’re really glad we had it done, and we think you will be too.”
