Okay, so we are coming up on our one-year anniversary in the house, and it doesn't feel as far along as I'd hoped. In many ways, it still feels like our predecessor's house that we're just staying in, not our house. To be fair, we did get married this year and go on 2 honeymoons, all of which took a lot of time to plan. We are also training for a marathon, which takes a lot of time and exactly 99% of my energy. But still, I'm a nester and I want my home to feel like it's mine.
Since we moved in, I've painted almost all of the rooms, and we've moved in all the furniture from our previous much smaller, 1-bedroom condo. We focused on the backyard as our first big project, mostly because we planned to have the rehearsal dinner out there (which was spectacular, even though the rest of the house was lame). The other projects I've worked on have all been small and somewhat random, just addressing issues as they popped up (ie, curtains and moths).
Moving forward, I want to be more focused and prepared. I think it would be helpful to have one big list of all of the projects I want to address, so that we can prioritize them and start making progress. I think we both like the idea of completing a room before moving on to the next, as opposed to a more scatter-shot approach. This is not the all-encompassing list that makes these rooms 100% finished- just the bigger issues that need to be addressed. [Obviously, every room is very sparse and desperately needs some accessories and wall art]. As I've already laid out, we have a couple bigger renovations in mind, that will take a few years to complete. For those rooms, we have a phase 1 approach for the short term, and the phase 2 longer-term project that we'll hopefully get to in the next three or four years. For the phase 1 projects and all the other rooms, it would be great to get through this list in one year. So not only do I get to plan (I do so love the planning), but I also get to take this opportunity to introduce you to all of the rooms and catch you up on all the work I've done since we moved in (and before I started the blog). [Sidenote, this list excludes the basement, which is a project on a separate track that will hopefully start moving shortly.]
Outside
This space has come the furthest since we've moved in. We added the stone walls and lots of plants. We got a new table and chairs, as well as a fantastic grill.
To Do List for the Backyard:
- Add new shrubs to replace the ones that died
- Add curtains between neighbor's porch
- Remove pealing paint on porch
- Add an outdoor rug for the back porch area
Downstairs
Moving into the house, here's the general layout of the first floor:
For most of the downstairs, I painted everything light gray, which was a huge improvement over the peachy-pink that was there before. We have a few projects for the whole floor, with the general purpose of brightening it up. There's very little natural light, so everything feels dark and dreary. I know there are a lot of strong opinions on painting trim, but I hate the dark wood. R feels differently, so we're still working on this one.
To Do List for the Downstairs:
- Refinish floors a nice medium brown color
- Add recessed lights
- Paint Trim (?)
Entryway
This space, including the area between the two front doors, isn't very functional. It's often where all the mail and shoes and stuff pile up. So far, all I've done is remove the old wallpaper and repaint. Plus we added a piano!
To Do List for the Entryway:
- Add a bench
- Add coat hooks
- Replace tile by door
- Replace security door
- Add a rug
- Replace overhead light
- Add something to sort mail
Living Room
This is our only living room, so we actually spend a lot of time living in this room. The beige couches and beige rug were transplanted from the old apartment. They didn't look great there either, but here they create an overwhelming ambiance of blah. While we don't have any reno projects for this room, we desperately need some new furniture to make this room a little more functional and a lot more attractive.
To Do List for the Living Room:
- Get a bigger TV
- Replace couches
- Replace rug
- Replace coffee table
- Add more seating
Fireplace Room
This space is our token odd room. (I think lots of houses, and old ones in particular, have at least one room that just has a weird layout with no obvious purpose. This is ours). It's small. There's no good wall space for seating or furniture. We don't even know if the fireplace works. The only thing we've done (other than paint) is to add a rug, which helped hugely in cutting down on echoes, but totally clashes with the fireplace.
To Do List for the Fireplace Room:
- Have fireplace inspected and cleaned
- Reface fireplace and hearth with tile
- Add screen and log holder thing
- Paint mantel (?)
- Replace overhead light
- Add liquor cabinet
- Add seating
- Finish painting the staircase
- Refinish the bannister
Dining Room
All I've done in this room, again, is to paint. Unlike the rest of the downstairs, I used a darker grey in this room to create a cozier feel. The furniture is absurd.
To Do List for Dining Room:
- Get a bigger table
- Get comfy dining chairs
- Add a buffet
- New Rug
- Replace Chandelier
- Add curtains
- Open window into a door onto the back porch
Kitchen
Unlike the rest of the house, we haven't done anything in here. The walls are covered in a painted, textured wallpaper, so I didn't want to add another coat of paint over it, but haven't bothered to try removing it yet. The trim is bright yellow- this picture is true to color (yah- that's neon yellow if you were wondering). The cabinets are all nice with granite counters, and were probably part of an expensive renovation not too long ago. Unfortunately, there is almost no counter space, and only one drawer, so it's really not functional. Plus, it just reeks of the 90s. I would love a bright, white kitchen with more working space and a peninsula that allows guests to talk without being underfoot. This is a room that needs some short term fixes while we wait for the bigger renovation, somewhere down the line.
To Do List for the Kitchen:
Phase 1:
- Paint cabinets
- Replace overhead light
- Paint trim
- Remove wallpaper and repaint walls
- Add temporary counterspace
Phase 2 (maybe in 2 years):
- Create mudroom off back door
- Add half bath to pantry
- Open wall to dining room
- Add peninsula
- Replace all cabinets and counters
- Add backsplash
Upstairs
So, moving upstairs. The layout again, looks like this (not including the sleeping porch running along the top):
To Do List for all of Upstairs:
- Add lights
- Repaint trim
- Refinish Floors
Office
The office is one of the few rooms that's gotten some love so far, with the new bookcase and curtains. It also got a nice coat of paint, which replaced one very dark blue wall and three very white walls.
To Do List for the Office:
- Add a rug
- Get a real desk
- Make another bookcase
Green Room
The Green Room (Guest Room) has also gotten a lot of love since we moved in and is probably the nicest room in the house. With new green paint to replace the one black wall and three white walls (I don't understand the accent wall thing, but our predecessor loved it), the room has a really nice relaxing feel in the morning light. It's all well furnished, with a mattress (no headboard), two nightstands, a dresser and a mirror, in addition to some fabulous curtains.
To Do List for the Green Room:
- Get a rug
- Add a tv and side table
- Get a headboard
Bathroom
Like the kitchen, the bathroom hasn't gotten any attention since we moved in because it also has painted wallpaper. This is another room that needs some short term fixes before we can get to the bigger renovation.
To Do List for the Bathroom:
Phase 1:
- Replace sink with a new cabinet
- Replace toilet seat (it's faux mother of pearl).
- Replace mirror and vanity lights
- Clean & scrape skylight
- Remove wallpaper and repaint
Phase 2 (maybe 4 years):
- Remove wall tile
Master Bedroom
I think this is just the saddest room we have. When we moved in, the master bedroom had four white walls. Combined with our white sheets, it was the most boring room I had ever experienced, so I quickly picked a paint color and threw it up on the walls. We wanted a smoky blue color, but it came out kind of baby blue. It's also a darker room that doesn't get any direct light, which contributes to the general sadness.
When we moved in, we quickly bought a new mattress to accommodate our first house guest, but we didn't get anything else. That means that whenever someone comes to visit, or when we moved temporarily into the Green Room to sleep, we have to move the nightstands, lamps and bedding from the master. [Note pilfered nightstand & lamp in pic below]. So really, this room is nothing more than a mattress with some sheets. Since it's our master bedroom and the place we spend the most of our time in the house, it should be the best. It definitely needs some short term help, but we also have a bigger renovation planned for the future.
To Do List for Master Bedroom:
Phase 1:
- Get bedding
- Get nightstands and lamps
- Make curtains
- Add rug
- Make headboard
Phase 2 (maybe 3 years):
- Remove closet
- Close in part of sleeping porch and open into room
- Add skylight
- Add comfy chair
R's Room
This room got another coat of the light blue paint, but otherwise nothing. R uses it to get dressed, which is a little disturbing in the morning, while I'm still asleep. When the bedroom renovation occurs, this room will be dramatically converted to a large walk-in closet and master bath. In the short term, it would be great to add some features to cut down on the noise and light when he gets ready.
To Do List for R's Room:
Phase 1:
- Get a rug
- Add a curtain to separate from master bedroom.
Phase 2 (maybe 3 years):
- Add the new washer/dryer
- Create a walk-in closet
- Close in half of sleeping porch and open into room
- Add a master bath
- Add a skylight
So that's the house. Now that we've got everything down, it's a little easier to prioritize our next projects and track the progress. First up is the dining room, which has some major progress coming very shortly. Next will be the master bedroom, because everyone should have a bedroom that makes them happy. Then we'll tackle the fireplace room in time for the holidays. Stay tuned.
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