Claire Nalley, 57, has used a stay-at-home order to finally handle a DIY home improvement project in her Cobble Hill basement.
I teach high school French, and it’s a little embarrassing to say “Répéter” out loud while my husband and children work nearby. I need to be in a private place.
I have a vision to clean my 900 square foot basement for years. In March, I started going crazy about it. Four weeks later, I finished my office at home: a white room that was truly heaven.
I tore the wall-to-wall shag carpet and linoleum tiles underneath. I painted a white wall and opened a channel of coal, which was filled with light, and installed palm trees and ferns. I lowered the drop ceiling, painted open wood, and put up a plan as a mold. And I do it all with a little money: around $ 250.
Now, I plan to install Claireview – an invention for which I am still waiting for the patent. This is a wrapped screen that gives the illusion of a window and a link to the camera in my garden, so I have a world view.
Nalley changed his basement in just a few weeks.
The silver lining on coronavirus is that it gives me a mission – and something that I can use forever. – As told to Zachary Kussin
Read more about the silver lining of the coronavirus pandemic.
