Gas Fireplace - Basement Remodel

The fireplace.

 I wanted a fireplace downstairs so we measured it out on every wall and  in every corner of the living room. How much space would it take up? How would we do the venting? etc.?
 The gas line wasn't far and it wouldn't have taken much to tap into them.
 But as we were assessing our options we realized that there was this cinder block chimney that went through the center of our house. Maybe the house did have a fireplace upstairs? So I asked a bunch of my neighbors who were born and raised in the neighborhood if our house had ever had a fireplace?
 No, definitely not.
From what we could guess and helpful neighbors, it was put in when the house was built in the 1950's probably for a coal furnace, seeing as there was a clean out in the bottom. Well the house never had a coal furnace and therefore this chimney had never been used. I actually wanted to get rid of it the cinder block chimney because if we got rid of it it would give me more space in my dining room upstairs.
 But then we got thinking, what if we could use this random chimney as a ventilator for a gas fireplace? We had a professional come look at it and it took all of five minutes for him to say absolutely it could be done. All we would need to do was get a new lining.

It turned out to be a prefect place for a fireplace, not just because we could use the chimney, but because we could put the bulk of the fireplace behind the wall and into mechanical room so it wouldn't be taking space out of our living room.

 Now we need to decide what to do with the fireplace wall? We bought some ship-lap months ago but haven't put it up. But is that what we want to do? I thought exposed brick might look really pretty (but expensive.) Any good ideas for us?

Basement Living Room Reveal Before/After

The Basement Living Room is probably our most drastic change. Mostly because it went from a unfinished cold storage room to a beautiful, spacious, light, and airy Living Room!

 I know what you all are thinking, what did we do with ALL THAT CRAP?? Clearly we were utilizing the storage space to it's max capacity so where were we going to put everything after we changed it into a living room?

 First, we purged.

 Big time. 

Because we had the space, 600 Sq Ft. of storage, (which actually was about the size of our first apartment we lived in after we got married,) we filled it up. It's easy to talk yourself into keeping almost anything when you have a place to shove it. Especially if that place has lots and lots of shelves in a cold, dark somewhere you hardly ever go. A lot of it was donated or sold.

And guess what? 

We still had ample storage space for the things we did need after our remodel, in the mechanical room!

And lucky for me, I have a husband who is a champion Tetras player. 

The picture below shows what you saw when you first walked down the stairs. There was a landing with wood paneling staring you in the face. I was SO happy to see that taken out. 

 And wouldn't you know it, when that wall was gone it opened everything up like a breath of fresh air!