Our Home Gym Renovation and Welcome to Dress & Home

 Welcome to my blog about fashion and home decor!  I thought a great way to kick it off would be to share our new home gym renovation.  My husband works out at home every day, and he was doing his workouts in our family room and storing his equipment in his home office.  This situation wasn't working for anyone in the family--the kids would get in the way & we'd be afraid they'd hurt themselves with the weights, the dog would run through the room, the office was crammed with equipment...  So we decided to take an unused sitting room area of our master bedroom, add walls & a door, and create a quiet, tucked away home gym.

 We "hired" my dad who just retired as a full-time carpenter to complete the project for us.  We're very blessed he shares his talents with us!  (He just finished my brother's basement, too!)  He framed the walls, did all of the drywall, added base & crown molding, hung the door, and put down laminate flooring.  He and I painted the new walls and molding to match the existing color of the room.  (Windy Blue from Sherwin-Williams)

 We hung the TV from our family room on the wall of the gym.  We had been wanting to get a new TV for the family room for a while now, so this was the perfect excuse.  I found a small shelf to fit our DVD player at Lowe's.  We wanted everything in the gym to be mounted to the wall so we wouldn't have to worry about bumping into furniture.

 I really wanted to lay down a pricy gym floor, but the cost didn't fit into our budget.  My dad suggested a more affordable laminate flooring that would look like hardwood.  We laid it right over the carpet that was on the floor.  I wouldn't suggest this for most spaces, but it provides a little cushioning when you're working out.  I also have no idea how it will hold up.  The main reason I wanted something other that carpet was so the floor could be cleaned easily.  My husband vacuums the floor then uses a wet Swiffer to clean it.

I found these canvas bins at Home Goods.  I wanted something that would hold mats & the rest of the equipment so the space would stay neat and organized. 

 This is what the space looked like before.  It was a mess of storage bins.  The blue tape on the floor shows where the new walls went up.  Check back for posts on some smaller home projects I have on my to do list as well as posts on fashion & style.