Ok, since this flooding that we are having, we have to redo our basement. its been completely finished already and now we have to replace carpet in one room and redrywall another room and put up I beams to help fix a crack in our basement wall from mudjacking that we had done last year that the company wont do anything about.

Ok now to the situation. the area we have to do is about 500 square feet. we want to do is laminate hardwood floors or something with a light kahki brown walls and a nature theme type of thing. anyone have any suggestions???? Thanks

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Sam
Mom to Devin and Jordyn Anne
Loving Wife to Dave

That is alot to do with $1000. I would like to hear reports of how you are doing. We want to drywall and finish our basement too, but are waiting for more funds!! Let me know if you can pull it off, I will use you for inspiration!

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~Happiness is a large family~

When shopping, remember nature decor is usually rustic, wood tones, earthy colors.

Ask to see any products that are discontinued or on clearance at your local home improvement stores (go to a few different ones, including local flooring stores). If you find that you can get enough laminate to do only half the floor, do carpeting for the rest. One in the center, one around the perimeter of the room. It looks very nice. They also have those connectable flooring tiles (I've seen them at Big Lots of all places) that you can just put over concrete.

As for nature theme, check the stores NOW because all the outdoorsy type things (including fake plants, etc) are going on sale now, with Fall coming. Add greenery throughout the room to bring it together. Check your classifieds for new furniture if you need it. You can always slipcover something that's durable but the pattern is hideous.

Hit your local Salvation Army & flea market to look for stuff.

You can have multiple wood tones; just pull them together with some cohesive elements. A pillow with the same fabric on it, etc.

For cheap curtains (or a room divider), forego the ones in the store and buy shower curtains (the decorative outside part) when they're on clearance. Cut them down the middle, hem them, and you have two curtains for a whole lot cheaper than you can get one curtain panel. They also will let more light in, which you want as much natural light as you can get in a basement. Also, hanging curtains from floor to ceiling makes a room look taller, therefore larger.

Suggestion to make room look larger -- paint the ceiling. Either the same color as the walls (if it's a fairly light color) or a lighter shade of the wall color. It will eliminate the stark halt of wall to ceiling and make it fluid. There's no place for your eye to stop and your mind to see the end of the room (height-wise). It just keeps going, which makes the room look bigger. Honestly - I'm not just making stuff up. All the professionals do this.

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~~Amanda~~ Mommy to one Little Man (3 1/2 yrs old), TTC #2

WE'RE ADOPTING!!!
http://daughterinthedistance.blogspot.com/

Are you or your husband able to do any of the work yourselves? That will save a ton of money.

You might ask the paint store to see any paints that they have in the back that were returned, wrong color, extra, whatever. You can get really great deals that way. It might not be the exact color you were planning, but they might have something close or that you would like, too.

Ask about remnants at flooring places. Sometimes they order the wrong thing, have extra from a roll, whatever. Also ask them for any that might have flaws. They might be small enough that no one would notice.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Parker, Wyndser, and Carson....................Wyndser (in blue) with her cousin

That is a lot to do with not "too much" money.

Maybe check out your local craigslist as well as what the other posters stated- maybe you can get a few good things for really cheap or free!

I also agree to keep us updated on your project! Have fun doing it (I usually have fun during remodels!).

We used the laminate flooring from Sams Club in our rental property. It has been down for more than two years and still looks very good. The key is to install it properly. The side of the duplex where my husband took his time and installed it carefully has held up really well. (The lady who lives there also takes good care of it.) The other side that we hired installed was not put in as well. The flooring is a bit harder to work with than other more expensive laminates but the result is still good. We installed it with glue to help with cleaning up spills, but you don't have to do that. If you do use glue, make sure to clean the residue off well when you install it. Hope this helps!