An exciting feature of our new house is in the basement. The previous owners left an unfinished workshop, laundry, and boiler spaces around the perimeter of the basement. But in the center of it, they built out a finished room, complete with heat for the colder months. The stairs divide the finished area in two. One side is a hang out area that Marisa has already claimed as a crafting and puzzle zone. The other side features a dry bar. And the dry bar has a fun design dilemma- what should the theme be?
Coming Up With a Theme
I love escape rooms. And every escape room has a theme. Sometimes you’re a a group of secret agents breaking into a villain’s house. Or you’re on a pirate ship. You could be archaeologists in a pyramid. The best rooms have really immersive sets that make you feel like you’re actually there. And since I love escape rooms, I like to think of fun ideas for them. Littered on notebooks and in my google docs are ideas for different escape room themes, sets, and puzzles. Since I’ve put in the effort to think of these ideas and I don’t have an escape room business, I though “why not use one for the dry bar?”
The biggest problem is that I’ve already shared my escape room ideas with Marisa. So when I said that we should make the dry bar yeti themed, she knew it was a Trojan horse operation to slowly turn it into an escape room. She shot the idea down. It turns out she doesn’t want an escape room in our basement. How lame.
The Current Design Plan
We’re going to scour some yard sales this summer for some decent bar stools. And keep our eyes out for a high top table, like the ones you can find at craft breweries. A friend gave us a good idea too- put up a small tv within wifi range so we can watch sports down there. I like the idea of having my own quasi sports bar. And then we figured out a fun way to decorate the area.
I’ve always wanted to hang a harpoon on the wall. And last weekend when my mom was at an antique store with a friend, she saw a bunch of them. She asked me if I wanted one for the bar and of course I said yes. I even forgot to ask Marisa if she wanted a harpoon too. Luckily she was fine with it. Between the harpoon and a ship’s bell the dry bar will have a nautical “whaler’s bar” feel to it, which is cool (by my standards). It’s also appropriate to living in New Bedford. We only have to mount the things and give the bar a good name. Any ideas?
Not Getting Too Lost in the Work
Since we’re DIY-ing the painting and some of the other projects, it’s easy to get lost in the labor. We’ve already put a good chunk of time into getting the house ready and there are still many hours more that I need to spend painting rooms. I’ve been so dialed in on the painting and chores that I forgot we even had a dry bar to decorate and enjoy for a little while. Doing fun things like planning the bar area gives a nice respite from the tedious task of getting the house ready. And the thought of enjoying the bar gives me valuable motivation when the twins are in bed and I could get a bit of painting done. Because the more time I put into painting, the faster I can be sitting on a barstool, watching some sports, and admiring my beautiful harpoon.
