beadboard drop ceiling in my basement

I reviewed all my options for putting in the ceiling in our remodeled basement. At first I had my heart set on a drop ceiling tile from Armstrong that was very cool. When the cost added up to ovr $1,000, I decided to look at a different option. Some of the basement ceiling is drywall, but there's about 500 square feet that still needs covered.

I googled basement drop ceiling to get some ideas and discovered that I really liked the beadboard look. I came across this video where they remade an existing drop ceiling using beadboard.

It was really cool for using an existing drop ceiling, but we didn't have anything. At first I considered getting a drop ceiling grid system and adding beadboard to it, like the video.

Then, talk turned to creating our own grid system using wood. So off to the big box store we went for some 1x2's, beadboards and trim.

We figured we wanted our ceiling to hang down 10 inches from the joists. We put in a 9 foot ceiling and wanted to keep as much height as possible. The 10 inches would just cover the beams and everything above it.

So we made ladders that were a total of 10 inches wide.

They were hung to the joists around the walls and in the middle of the room.

We used nails to put together the ladders and then screwed them to the joists. I wanted something module that I could take a part if I needed to expose the ceiling.

I made those handy poles to help hold the beadboard panels up while Burke nailed them to the ladders.

Then we trimmed out the whole thing using the same trim as the doors.

I really love the look.

Altogether I spent $60 in 1x2's, $60 on beadboard and another $50 in trim.

I still have the rest of the basement to do, but my photography room is done - minus filling some nail holes and trimming out the windows. Can't wait to have a ceiling in the basement finished!

clearwater

On our recent trip to Florida, we drove to Pier 60 to enjoy the Gulf of Mexico.

Sunset was amazing.

We all enjoyed the sun.

I even got Grumpy to pose for me.

It was a beautiful sunny day.

We were so glad to get away from the Michigan cold.

The pier came alive before sunset with a festival.

Cool place to be.

Building sandcastles.

Watching sea gulls.

Cabanas and umbrellas filled the beach.

The pier

Eileen found a good book.

Our lunch cruise along the shoreline.

Bobby in his usual good mood.

Practicing my selfies!

25 Million dollar homes

The beach was amazing and we spent the entire day exploring the pier and enjoying the sun. 

Best day ever!

fool moon parade in ann arbor

I signed up with the Shutterbugs to go shoot the Fool Moon parade for April Fool's day in Ann Arbor. Eileen was unavailable, so I high railed Holly and Logan to go with me.

I really thought hard about how we should get downtown. With a festival and the popularity of being downtown on a nice night, I knew the traffic would be super heavy.

Logan was not a fan, but he reluctantly agreed to drive his new girlfriend and mom downtown. Such a brave lad. Such a brave mom for trusting a new driver to get us there safely. Outside of the few quick starts and stops, he did great. We found a spot to park and began our trek to the Art Museum in Ann Arbor.

The mission was to photograph the artists that line up outside the Museum. The first to show was this lady. She made this costume herself and is the proud owner of Pop Designs and Creations. She demonstrated how it lit up. She was so cold waiting for others to show.

Holly liked this structure. She kept saying, "I call this piece .... tic, tac, toe."

There were 3 different spots around Ann Arbor where people would meet up to begin their parade.

At exactly 8PM, all groups would start their parade to a party spot at the same time.

They trickled in.

And I moved between people to get candid shots.

I loved seeing the creations.

The creativity ....

and fun ideas ...

Finally we set off to parade around Ann Arbor.

The crowd of people grew as we walked and everyone on the street wanted to know what was happening.

The had a section blocked off on Washington street where the groups all met up.

It was most amazing thing! So many people with their luminance's. A DJ kicked out dance tunes and everyone was dancing!

This lady was on stilts.

We were packed in like sardines.

We finally left and wondered around while I tried to figure out where the heck we parked. Only took a few wrong turns. Got my steps in though.

It was really fun. Most of my pictures were pretty terrible, but I got in some practice time on shutter speed and ISO settings.

I think Holly and Logan had a good time too.

first shutterbug - u of m

Eileen and I signed up for a Shutterbug meetup in Ann Arbor. So after staying up til midnight the night before working on the double wedding ring quilt, we headed out the door at 6:45 to meet other camera enthusiasts to take pictures at the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.

I watched the news for the weather and it would be in the mid 20's during the morning. Michigan weather had been quite nice the past week and I thought, "it'll be fine." I just grabbed my winter coat - no gloves or hat. Eileen ... was much smarter.

We met Patrick who was an very nice young man with 2 very impressive cameras. "Hey", he said. We'll take some pictures of the Angel building and then move over to the Nickels Arcade. Just set up your tripod and take pictures." So we did. 

Very quickly my hands became purple.

I was soooo cold.

Eileen and I longed for the coffee shop across the street for some hot chocolate and coffee.

Twilight was still in effect as we roamed the campus. I was using my kit lens to get a wider range.

We rounded the corner and I was met with a beautiful sky along with our flag (your welcome Julia!). I popped on my telephoto lens.

After a few more shots, we headed over to the coffee shop, Espresso Royale where we got a muffin and some hot liquids. F.i.n.a.l.l.y .... warmth.

After the feeling returned into my hands and the stinging left when I held the hot cup of coffee, I went outside for a few shots.

Patrick says that the sun rays will begin to hit Nickels Arcade soon and we should gather,....so we did.

The sun began to bounce off the walls of Nickels Arcade and lit up the archway.

I went further inside to get a shot from there. I watched the other photographers and looked at their pictures in their cameras realizing I was lacking in spotting great composition and use of filters. 

Patrick sauntered up and looked at the lens I had just popped on because ... well....it was new. My new Rokinson, 85mm portrait lens. He began to get excited about the lens. "Oh I love Rokinon!", he exclaims. Then paused ..... "oh an 85mm. Portrait lens. Hm." and with that sauntered back away. Kind of felt a little stupid at that moment.

So I grabbed Eileen, huddled within her winter clothing and took a few shots of her.

As the group headed off to another architecture marvel in Ann Arbor - we decided to go home. It was just too cold. The experience was exhilarating and I would totally do it again (in warmer conditions). Matter of fact, I signed up for the next meetup.

We headed home to get ready for the wedding shower.