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  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

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Because There’s No Such Thing As Too Many Shelves

December 10, 2012

Remember when we ambitiously removed the laminate kitchen countertop with great ambitions of selling it on Craigslist? It didn’t happen.

That's a big piece of laminate countertop. And right about here, we almost got it out of the kitchen in one piece.

It’s not like I expected to be able to redeem any substantial value from the two large pieces of countertop, I mostly wanted to see them go to a good home (and clear out of ours). Big countertops aren’t known to hide away easily in tiny houses. But they didn’t sell, and we were still reluctant to throw them to the curb. They’re in damn good shape, aside from being sawn in two.

Pete had a good Plan B effort in mind for the larger of the two pieces though, because you can never have too much working surface space in the basement. Eight feet of length along one wall makes a big difference.

New storage in the basement, thanks to leftover laminate countertop.

This particular corner of the basement, the corner nearest the staircase, has a built-in ledge. It’s not wide, only about 6″ in depth, but the perfect shelf for a pint of beer if you were playing foosball, which is quite likely what was happening down there when the home was occupied by previous homeowners. Note: There’s some verified accuracy to that statement. I found pint glasses and a foosball table when I moved in. And then I sold the foosball table for $150 a few holiday seasons back when the thing I needed least was a foosball table and the thing I needed most was cash money. Have I ever told you how much stuff was left in the house when I bought it, and how much of it I was able to sell? Cha-chinnnnng. Story for another day.

The countertop piece, a section which has a right angle with backsplash still perfectly attached, sits flush into the corner of the basement directly on said built-in shelf. It’s not even attached, the thing is heavy enough that it wouldn’t be easy to budge, although if it, brackets would surely anchor it to the wall in a pinch. With two simple scrap board lengths cut to height and attached to each corner with pocket screws from beneath, there’s no bend or flex to the countertop as well, you could climb onto it if need be. I realize that the left wooden leg looks totally wonky in this next picture, but I can assure you it’s level in all directions – crazy camera warping.

New storage in the basement, thanks to leftover laminate countertop.

Also, I never claimed that our basement was well-organized or picture-ready. Surprise, our house is a mess, especially this corner of the basement.

This space is going to be perfect for wrapping Christmas gifts, my dears. How’s your holiday preparedness coming along?

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Basement  / DIY

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

2 Comments


Staci @ My Friend Staci
December 10, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Reply

What a perfect fit! Congrats on creating some more usable space in the basement.
The homeowners left a ton of stuff in our old place, too. We sold an XXL dog kennel for $50 although I was hoping to get more than that!



    Emily
    December 10, 2012 at 4:54 pm

    Sweet! I think $50 is a good deal, depending on condition – both for you and the buyer! Free mon-ayyyyy, money, money, money.

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  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

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