I see you!

It's a minor change, but our relatively newly revamped basement has some new wall decor.

I can finally run on the treadmill and not be snuck up upon (that's not quite a grammatical English phrase, but you get the idea).

Target made these mercifully easy to hang by making the packaging include a template, to know where to put the screws.

Here's the longer view. We are still really enjoying our pantry redesign and the purple wall, though the room still needs serious work to not feel like a basement (or maybe we just have to live with it). It doesn't help that the little one never tires of unloading the lower shelves of the pantry and dragging groceries all around the room. Why yes, I would love to enjoy a can of chilis in adobo sauce on the futon, thank you. And a jar of herbs de provence while going for a run? Perfect! (Did I mention we stock some pretty random things?)

On the to-do list to make this place little more polished? Spray paint this wine rack white, which definitely will have to wait until at least fall, since I don't spend more than a few minutes outside doing manual labor during the hottest months of the year.

 Get a new grate for the fireplace:

We debated painting the inside white and putting something decorative inside, but the jury is still out on whether this fireplace is useable (home was sold with this fireplace "as is" - the inspector agreed that we shouldn't use it but our chimney guy said it was fine) and we don't want to make it definitely unusable without more information.

 And maybe, one day, do something about the eyesore on this side of the room.

But at least I don't have to look at it when I'm on the treadmill.

Oh, a cool random find at Target when we went looking for the mirrors:

Back when we were searching for a solution for a nightstand in the bedroom that was compatible for our under-bed drawers and our cat-tunnel headboard, these would have been nice to have. They're little shelves that clamp onto the very top of the bed frame.

Neat, right?