After the whiskey shelf was a complete flop, I was given the idea and approval to turn our not-used guest room in the basement into a combination whiskey and vinyl listening room. I wasted no time getting to work. I had originally planned to darken my office and add a wallpaper accent. We had purchased the paint and wallpaper already. With this new room, I decided to use the existing supplies for what I am now affectionately calling The Lounge.
The first step was to clean up and repair the walls. The ceiling was the first to be painted. I have not painted a textured ceiling before, but I knew I’d need a thicker nap roller. This took several coats due to the coverage and how obvious missed spots would be. I then painted the walls the same dark color as the ceiling. I even planned to paint all of the trim, so there was no need to tape. I painted the interior side of the doors. It was about this time I realized I should have sanded the gloss paint on the trim and doors, but it was too late. I sanded the second door before I started on it, but I’ll save redoing the trim and first door with a full sand for the future. The reality is when they get scuffed, it will be less work to just touch up with more paint.
The third phase was to put up picture frame molding and shelves to house the whiskey. I had never put up molding before and found some good tips online to think about spacing and get proper tight angled cuts. It was a great excuse to use my nail gun. The shelves required a fair amount of engineering. I had to use studs and given the weight of whiskeys, picking the right platform and brackets was critical. I ended up with 45 feet of shelving which can hold a total of 1800 pounds of weight. I painted the shelves the same color as the walls and put down a gripping shelf liner so the bottles don’t easily get knocked down.
I am quite happy with the result and the overall room vibe. I have some reclining chairs on order and will probably make some fine tuning to the fit and finish, but here is the current result.
