Basement Glow-Up Part 2: Our New Favorite Game Room

(June 2026)

If you read the first part, you saw what the basement looked like before — the tired carpet, the wires everywhere, and Everette supervising all the chaos. Well, the transformation is complete, and we absolutely love it.

This space has turned into a fantastic game room that we spend a lot of time in now. It feels warm, inviting, and actually finished — exactly what we needed for this stage of life.

Before. 

 Got Games?  We do, and we play them. 

 This might not look like much.  It is shelves but we also have a hidden room!

Whenever we host parties, the men often disappear down there to play pool, throw darts, play cards, or just hang out listening to music and picking up the guitar. It’s become their favorite spot in the house. When family is around, we all head down to play board and card games together. And for bigger parties, the transformable table gets a workout with pool, ping pong, and air hockey — the laughter carries all the way upstairs!

It’s such a joy to have a space that works so well for both everyday evenings and bigger gatherings. Matt and I find ourselves going down there even when it’s just the two of us. This project was worth every bit of the effort (and the wait).

The best part? It feels like the house is finally complete in a way it wasn’t before. One more project checked off the never-ending list, and one more reason we love calling the Wooded Roost home.

Update: We’re Still Here – Chipping Away at the Wooded Roost

(June 2026)

Hey everyone,

If you’ve been following along since the early days, you might have noticed the blog went pretty quiet after 2021. Life got full in ways we didn’t quite expect, and the writing took a backseat while we kept right on living this adventure.

In spite of the silence, we’ve been busy chipping away at every part of this house. We’ve changed rooms around, created spaces for our kids as they grew, and tackled project after project — some big, some small, all of them turning this place into more of a home.

And now? Our kids are all moved out. For the first time in a long time, this house is mostly just for us. It’s a strange and wonderful shift — quieter in some ways, but opening up new possibilities for how we live in these woods. Matt and I are still here, still loving the rural life, still finding new ways to make the Wooded Roost work for this next chapter.

I’ll be adding blog posts about some of the other projects we’ve done over the last several years — the good, the messy, the “what were we thinking” moments, and all the little wins that made it worthwhile. The basement glow-up we just finished is a perfect example, and I’ll share more of those stories soon.

Stay tuned if you’re still out there reading. The adventure didn’t stop… we just forgot to write it down for a while. 😊

More to come — including plenty of photos, of course.

Basement Glow-Up: From Tired Carpet to Our Dream Game Room

(January 2026)

You know how it goes with these old houses — one project leads to another, and before you know it, you’re staring at a space that’s been stuck in “good enough” for years. Our basement has been that way since we moved in. Functional, but… tired.

Back in 2020 (COVID) we did make some real progress. Matt built that beautiful reclaimed barn wood accent wall, and he installed LVP in the main part of the basement. We painted the ceiling completely black and the walls gray, and that was about it. At the time it was mostly a hangout space for the kids, so we kept it simple.

Here’s what it looked like more recently, before this winter’s big refresh:

 Looking down the carpeted stairs from upstairs. Everette wondering what the humans are up to now.

The middle area between the stairs and what would become the game room. More carpet, more wires, and Everette supervising as usual.

Another view down the stairs with Everest standing guard. You can see into the other part of the basement where we were still working on things.

This January we finally decided it was time to take it to the next level. We hired a contractor to rip out the remaining old carpet, add fresh LVP throughout, install some doors, and put up proper railings on the stairs for safety.

Now it’s a real game room and hangout space for our adult kids and all the adults. We’ve got the mini fridge stocked, the pool table ready, the big TV, and a game table — it’s getting used so much more, and it feels like the house is finally matching the life we’re living out here in the woods.

I’ll share the after photos in the next post (or keep scrolling if I manage to upload them all at once). It’s such a fun transformation!

More to come — including how Everette is adjusting to his fancy new hangout spot!

The Hunter in Me?

 It's been a long time since I have updated our story. Almost 5 years to be precise. 

I left off with the story of the coyote thief/murderer. 

Trigger-warning.  Some people that read this might get really mad.  Some won't understand the actions taken.  I am only sharing with you my experience.   This involves death and a graphic picture.  Do not continue reading if you don't like hunting. 

Shortly after the day I lost the drake I began to see that coyote regularly.  He found an easy food source and was happy to exploit it.  

As I was walking the girls to the bottom of the driveway to catch their bus for school I saw the beast strolling along up the driveway with no fear, like he owned the land himself.  I suppose after the house being empty for so long he didn't worry about humans and the new food source was a gift. 

Anyway, I wasn't going to let the coyote "Dine and Dash" again.  I told Matt about my sightings. He was very surprised that I was spotting it regularly.  His reply was, "I never see it, why doesn't it come out while I'm around? I'll shoot it." It was then that he decided he needed to show me how to use a big gun.  Oh boy! I wasn't really excited about it. 

Back up a bit.  Matt grew up hunting. He enjoys shooting.  After researching the legality of "gun shooting" on private land, in our area, he found a perfect spot with a natural berm and made a gun range/shooting area.  It's away from our house with no possibility of accidentally shooting anything unwanted. It's a useful area. 

He got out a 3-0-6, I don't know how to write that.  It's a big gun with a scope.  We went down to the range and he told me what to do.  I crouch down, look through the scope, aim for an orange target 40' feet away and pull the trigger.  Direct hit BUT the gun has such a kick that it throws me backward. I lose my balance. The gun in my hands fly over my head and I twist back on my knees and land on my hands, and gun, in the dirt.  "What are you doing?! Why did you do that Angela? You don't put guns in the dirt!"  "Um, I didn't mean to do that Matt. I'm sorry. But I hit the target!"  The next shot I did standing, legs spread, and I did not fall.  

Ok, so now I know how to load, aim, and fire that gun.  Matt said I should bring it out with me every morning and have it ready if I see the coyote again.  During the week I walk the girls to the bus stop at the bottom of our 1/3 of a mile-long gravel driveway.  The gun did not travel with me on those walks.  But, I figured if I saw it again on my way back to the house I would run in and get it.  

We also decided we should try to let someone else take care of it just in case. I told a couple of people about our problem and they recommended we call a trapper.  One of Lexi's high school friend's dad did just that.  He came over and set up traps but I was concerned about our dogs.  He said they could also get trapped and seriously injured so we had to keep them chained up.  Sigh.  Not an ideal situation. Who knew how long it would take to catch it.   Here is the timeline. 

February 6th, 2017 was the day the coyote stole my duck.  

February 8th, I saw the coyote strolling along our driveway near the coop.

February 11th, I shot the big gun. 

Feburary 13th, I saw that beast again - NO GUN. He got away.  The trapper came and set up traps.

Preamble.   I am NOT a hunter.  I have never intentionally killed anything in my life.  I have hit a couple of animals with my car and cried my eyes out for days knowing I had killed them.  I did not want to kill the coyote but I needed to protect my livestock.  I figured this was part of being the keeper of animals. 

February 14th, I had to go into the office.  I came back from the bus stop and went into the house to get ready to go to the office.  I walked out of the house with my camera bag (I do video work) and work stuff on one shoulder and the big gun on the other.  I was not going to risk seeing it again without the gun.  As I was putting my equipment into my expedition that was parked in the driveway I saw movement in my peripheral.  I turn around to where I see the movement and HOLY CRAP! I see the coyote a dozen yards from the coop 60+ yards from where I was standing, just past the tree-line of our woods.  

My nerves went crazy.  What do I do?  Can I really shot this beautiful animal that is only trying to survive? Can I kill it?  I started shaking. 

I moved very slowly as I pulled the gun from my shoulder.  I placed it into the position Matt taught me. I put my eye to the scope but I cannot see.  (Sidenote. I am right-hand/left-eye dominant.  This opposing dominance makes it difficult to look through the scope and I am not great at closing my left-eye to look through a scope with my right. It takes some practice.)  I open/shut each of my eyes in an attempt to get the coyote positioned in the cross-hairs of the scope and finally get it lined up.  UGG!   Can I pull this trigger?   He is walking slowly.  The aim is good, my body tenses, I get ready to squeeze the trigger while trying to keep him in sight and my arms and knees from trembling. I close my eyes and pull the trigger.  BOOM! I step back to keep my balance and open my eyes.  I see the coyote drop where he stood and I see another coyote take off running.  He had a mate.  I instantly start balling.  Is it dead? Is it in pain? Is it suffering? I don't see any movement from the coyote but I dare not go and look.  

I was so upset.  I called Matt balling. 

Matt: Hi. 

Me: I - I k-k-killed it

Matt: What?

"I got it"

"What did you get? The coyote?"

"Yeesss" in a blubber

"You shot it?"

"Yes!" soo sad

"Is it dead?"

"I don't knoooow.  I think soooo." crying more intensly. 

"Calm down, Angela. Is it moving? Where did you shoot it?"

"In the head, I think."

"In the head? Where did you aim?"

"I aimed for the head. It dropped instantly.  I don't think its moving but I haven't gone up to it to look. I'm sooooooo sad. I killed it and it was just hungry."  D:

"You aimed for the head?  Angela, you are supposed to aim for the chest so you have a better chance of hitting it."

"You didn't tell me that!  I aimed for the head and I hit it!"

"Wow!" a few moments of silence as he contemplated my words.

"What do I do now, Matt?"

"Go see if it's dead." 

Breath Angela, breath, I tell myself.  "OK, but I'm scared.  What if it's in pain and not dead?"

"Just go look."

With a lot of hesitation, I start to walk over to the trail where the body of the coyotes was laying.  I walk through the trees, in my skirt and slip-on shoes, to see if it is moving.  Tears are rolling down my face.  I feel so guilty for murdering the beast. 

As I approached the animal I see a pool of blood surrounding its head.  "It's dead." I sigh. 

"I shot it in the head." 

"Nice shot, Angela! Send me a picture"

"Fine, I will. I have to go to work now," I say with somber sadness through my sobs. "I don't know what to do with it." I took a picture and sent it to him.

"Just leave it there and we'll call the trapper later. Don't worry about it. I love you."

"Bye."

I hung up and drove to work.  It was a dark day. 

Later that day I called the trapper and told him what happened.  He, too, was surprised.  I asked him if he would take the coyote and he agreed to come after he finished his day to retrieve it and the traps.  I didn't want to worry about the dogs and the traps and I figured the mate wouldn't be around for a while.  

After a lot of contemplation about what I had done, I decided I needed to have that coyote.  I asked the trapper if I could come and watch him skin it and pay him to tan the hide.  And that is what I did.  In honor of the coyote, my first hunt, my first kill, we went to the trapper's house and watched him "take care" of the coyote.  It was hard to watch and it smelled really bad but I learned a lot about hunting that night.  I learned that hunting is a necessity in this lifestyle we chose to live.  Animals die. 

It was a perfect shot. It was a quick death. The coyote didn't feel a thing. I hit it where I aimed from over 60 yards away through the trees and slightly downhill. I take solace knowing it didn't suffer.

It was a male.  Its mate lived to raise their young.  They came back that spring and got "revenge". But that is a story for another day.

That coyote now lives in our house by our front door as a reminder of all of the above.  Honestly, I cherish it.  I know I can do what it takes to protect what needs protecting. 

I Said I Wouldn't Keep Count

As I was sitting here in my office working something made me stand to look out my office window.   Down on the front lawn of my yard was a dog, no not a dog, wait....it's chasing my birds!   WAIT THAT'S A COYOTE!    Holy crap!

I run to the front door just in time to see it catch my biggest duck.  "HEY!" I yell as if I expect it to look back and drop my drake from its mouth.  I panic!   I've never caught a predator in the act.  I run out in my pjs and slippers.   Do I let out my 90lb dog?  I think to myself.  No I don't want him to fight....but wait that's, kind of, what Everett is for; to protect the birds.....   SHIT!   Open the door Everett COME!  Not you Misty, you might get eaten.  (12lb chihuahua).

I run to the driveway as the coyote disappears into the woods, down the trail, duck in mouth.  I stop, I'm wearing slippers, I can't run after it with these.  "Everette, GO!"  I run back into the house, grab my gun and put on my boots in the hope of finding that coyote with my duck still alive.   I chamber my little gun with hallow point bullets, I've shot it one time before, and head into the woods.

"Everett! Damn it where is the coyote?" I exclaim as I slosh through the mud and melting snow.  I'm really nervous.  If I find this thief do I have it in me to shoot it?  What if Everett gets in the way, I don't want to hurt him.  I hear a....gunshot?.... maybe from the farmer on the other side of the hill.   Maybe. It wasn't far.  I yell, "Guy with the gun, I'm coming in the woods with my dog."  Not sure why I yelled that.  Maybe hoping for a response like, "Hey Lady, I got him, and your duck is alive!"  Yeah, I know, dumb.

Anyway I walked for 20 minutes calling Everett every so often hoping he wasn't fighting or freaking out the gunman.  Don't need my dog dead too.

I didn't find the coyote or my duck.

I got all the chickens back in the coop except one.  Puffball. Mandi's chicken.  I hope she is ok.  I walk the perimeter of the house and find her tucked into our rock wall.  Tail feathers pulled and what's left, soaked with coyote slobber.  She survived!   Scared as shit but alive!  THANK YOU!







I lost an escaped rabbit the other day too.  Found his beautiful fur in the woods.

15 chickens and 2 ducks cooped for the rest of the day.  >:{

Rehab: The Hole In the Stairs

Minor Changes Make Big Impacts

This was a small change in the house that made a big impact.  The stairs are quite beautiful in this house.  The rails are wood with large reclaimed barn-wood banisters.  Off the main stairs from the front door there is a small, narrow staircase that goes to the other side of the house.  

In the original design this other stairway, and anyone walking up or down it could not bee seen from the main family room.  So....I had a GREAT idea!  Lets bust that wall out.  Matt says, um....no, I don't want to do that yet.  :-/   

Well... When he was working on the stairs to remove staples from the old carpet he put a hole in the drywall.  That was all I needed.  I thought it was intentional so I started busting up the wall.  The kids saw me doing this and they thought it looked like fun so they asked to join in.  "Sure!" I say.  

Busting up drywall is messy!

 The demo began. Matt didn't really intend on starting this yet but the damage was done, the fun was had, and the hole was gaping.  Sorry Matt.  :*

So then the question was how to redesign it.  Forest and Matt worked their magic and within a couple of hours this was the beautiful result. 

Now, when sitting in the family room I can see anyone sneaking up and down the stairs trying to avoid going to bed. ;)

Rehab: The Kitchen

Its amazing what a little color can do!

Our new kitchen.   The designers of this kitchen did, for the most part, a great job.  I love the brick feature and the double oven.  The picture window at the sink and the skylight allow a lot of light and fresh air in the warm weather.  The cabinets are very beautiful with knots and texture showing through the wood.  The added shelves along the sink, the crown molding and under-cabinet lighting are also very nice.

If money were unlimited I would change a few things but that's a story for a different day.  I changed what needed to be changed that was affordable.  The big change that was absolutely necessary, I mentioned it before, was that location of the cooktop. I did not want to be bumping my head every time I cooked.  There was no prep room either in its original location.  The designer must have been 5'3" or shorter to be able to cook there.   Just sayin'.  

The other necessary change, other then cleaning the dust, dirt, soot, grease and noodles off of everything was color.  As in every part of the house but the couple places I mentioned previously the kitchen walls were dull and dirty white.

Here is what we did.  This is how it looks today.   Color and functionality!

Before.

Below is the original cooktop and oven.  I think it is original from the house build date.  The cooktop was old, rusty, cracked and in a place that reduces the amount of cooking that can be done.  You can see there is no space to prep food.  Above it, not pictured is a exhaust fan - to nowhere- and a light.  The back and side walls are made of masonite and were full of grease and handprints.  

For me, this simply was not practical nor functional.  I thought it might be nice to put a refrigerator here but that would require demo of the brick feature that Matt and I like.  

So.....what to do with that space?

I knew right away that I would prefer to do my cooking on the island.  My parents have a vacation house in central WI with a cooktop on the island and it allows the chef to visit with guest or family while they are cooking. The chef is not isolated in a corner with their back to everyone.  This kitchen would allow me to have that.  So that answered the question of where to put the cooktop but there were problems with that idea. 

Firstly the existing cooktop was gas which meant that the gas-line was in the cabinet beneath the cooktop.  How could we move it?  Would it be worth it to move it.  

Remember this house has hydronic-radiant heat.  Perhaps I didn't mention that before.  It means that the floors have pipes of hot water running through them encased in cement.  If we move the gas-line we need to drill into the floor and chance hitting a pipe. EEEK! The island already had electric installed so perhaps an solid, flat-top, glass, electric cooktop it would have to be.  They are sleek looking....

You will see our changes in the pictures below with captions.

We purchase a stainless steel double oven.  I don't remember where....  Measure, measure, measure.   We had a problem.  The old style double oven is larger than any I could find.  And because the double oven was going to be installed in brick there was no way for me to change the installation hole size.  I measured and measured but I didn't take that important info into account.  So the oven we got was short and needed to be lifted.  But first the old one needed to be removed.  Matt wasn't very happy about doing this but we got the job done.

Now the problem was to lift the new one.   Fortunately the builder left bricks everywhere on the property so we placed some bricks inside the hole and lifted it to fit snug.   It worked but then we were left with a gapping hole under the new beautiful oven.  So, Matt, creatively came up with a way to cover it and make it not obvious.   Nice work Matt!  I think it looks great and matches perfectly!

Amazon.com is an amazing place to shop.  I found the cooktop with no shipping.  I could see the reviews, dimensions and have it delivered within 2 days cheaper than I could buy it at a local store.  SCORE!

Here it is sitting on the old island top.  I went shopping for a new piece of granite.  I had many ideas of how to top the island.  My favorite was patina copper.  I think it's beautiful and would have added so much color and sparkle but alas money is not unlimited so I found a gorgeous new granite piece to fit the island with.  I didn't like the existing granite anyway so this was a way to push the old stuff into the background with a new beautiful focal piece. 

This is Bristol Marble and Granite.   They came out to measure after I found the piece of rock I wanted installed.  They are getting ready to cut the hole for the cooktop. 

And this is the piece I picked.  I love it still.  You can't see from the pictures but it has purples, reds, blues, yellows and many other colors veined and speckled throughout.  I found this piece in their remnants yard at a very discounted price.   I found a rock piece that I loved and would allow me to have a larger island for prepping, cooking and seating. 

Unfortunately when they finally brought it they realized they cut it upside down.  ARRGGG!!!!   I would recommend this company with a caution.  Stay on them.  They are slow and made this mistake.

It worked out better that they cut it wrong because the bulk of the cream got cut out for the hole rather than all the beautiful veining and I didn't loose size but WOW that could have been bad!

Here they are measuring again and again to see if they can make it work with the piece cut the way they did.  This gave Matt and I an opportunity to see how to run electric also.   It tuned out that we still needed to drill a hole to move 220 electricity.   We hired an electrician to install it and get it working after the island was finished.  

When we drilled that hole, because no one else wanted that responsibility, Matt and I were sweating bullets hoping we didn't hit a pipe.   Whew!   

 In this triangle is where we blindly drilled.  We tried to use heat sensitive tools to find the best spot to drill down but they didn't really work.   We guessed; we got lucky.

It was nice to see how the island was made.  We didn't know if it was veneered or solid brick and wood.  We also got to clean it out.  It was gross with cobwebs and mouse dropping.   Not anymore. 

 

What a difference it made already.  Color and lines and size.  I was really excited!  I knew that with old piece I wanted them to cut it to put in the spot where the old cooktop was and to cut 3 more small pieces for the new bathroom we were building and a small cutting board.  They said they could. 

Here it is not quite installed. 

Here it is done!   I love it still.  Though the cooktop surface is a PITA to keep clean!

So you ask, what did I do with the old hole in the wall where the cooktop was?   Here it is.  You can see the old island replaced the old cooktop.  I, with the help of my girls, tiled it, added shelves and turned it into a coffee bar.  All our mugs are kept in the cabinet below and the gas-line was removed after hours and hours of work......   I love this new feature of our kitchen too!

Soon I will back-spash the rest of the kitchen.    Thanks for reading.