Furniture and studio in progress

Good morning to you!  How's your Sunday going so far?  The sun if finally shining here and our house is a hub of activity.  J is trying to get our roof done now that the rain has subsided (who would have thought that would turn into a several week project??) and I'm painting up a storm.  Here's a sneak peek on what I'm working on.

Lindsay's table and chairs set for her daughter Briony...

This pretty farmhouse style chair...

And these tiny tables...

Also, I'm so excited because J is transforming our basement into my winter studio space for Lather Creations!  Now, let me tell you...I skeptical about the useability of this dark and dingy root cellar.  See for yourself!

But J has convinced me that he can turn it into my own personal furniture restoration mecca and in between roofing tasks, he's been cleaning it out and building me work benches. 

Here's the first of my two workbenches.  They will be built in an L shape with one at counter height and one much lower for bigger pieces to sit.

I know, hard to envision any inspiration down there!  But in the next few weeks he's going to lay down some underlay for warmth on my tootsies, add another lower bench to work on multiple pieces at a time and my job is to dress it up nice.  I'm going to hunt for several lamps and lights to brighten things up and I'm contemplating nailing white sheets to the ceiling for even more light.

At Walmart, I saw that Martha Stewart's line of crafting supplies had been marked down  and I've had my eye out for a cutting mat, so I picked up this pretty mat and rotary cutter for the new studio.

I'd love your input on how to turn my dingy basement into a bright and inspirational space on a budget!  What would you do to lighten things up?  How would you make it a place you would want to work?

Thanks for sharing with me and have a gorgeous Sunday!