reclaiming my basement

When I first moved in to my house, the previous occupants had left behind a lot of crap in the basement, including 6 years worth of newspapers. I have been slowly adding a few dozen papers to my paper recycling every collection, and as of last night, I finally got rid of all the newspapers. Woohoo!

I also put out most of the cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping they had saved from what it seems to be every item they had purchased in that time. And I thought that I was a pack rat!

This weekend, I intend to get the basement cleaned out. When that is done, I will be attempting to lay tile. I have never done that before but I have all this left over tile from my previous renos and it seems such a shame that it is standing in piles not revealing its beauty. So wish me luck as I am sure it will be both a learning experience for me and my darling daughter.

Once the tile is used up, I will have to decide on what to put down on the rest of the basement floor. Some of my family have suggested laminate, but I am leaning toward throwing down a bubble floor (not sure if that's what its called) and then putting carpet on top of it. I would love to hear from anyone's personal experience on what you have on your basement floor..