Operation Retro Rec Room: Storage

We’re planning to roughly finish off part of our basement this fall to make a playroom for G/Q. Of course—me being me—I’m having visions of midcentury rec room awesomeness. Here’s my inspiration room:



Sorry for the crappy screenshot, but the owner of this Flicker set has turned off the download feature (booooo!). You can see the room better here. Brick red + olive + touches of yellow? Swoon.

We want to keep lots of open space for romping, but also make it functional with lots of storage and room for us to hang out, too. As usual, our budget is pretty minimal for this project (S—do we even have a budget?). I’ve been dreaming of having it tricked out with some Ikea Expedit storage units, but I know by the time we order them/drive to Philly or NJ to pick one up (sadly, we have no Ikea in Upstate NY), it wouldn’t financially make sense.

Then, lo and behold, on a random trip to see what was left at our Kmart (it’s closing), I find this fixture on sale for $80!

I like the light woodgrain finish on the outside, but will probably paint the inside with a pop of color, then finish it off with some baskets/bins for toy storage.

Have you bought store fixtures before? We had great luck buying some shelving/slat wall for our garage when our Steve and Barry’s closed a few years back.

Stay tuned for more updates on Operation Retro Rec Room!