Home Projects

I got the idea for this page from a friend over at Well Rounded Home.  This page will document the projects that need to be done around our house, and as we complete them I will post about them.  I am hoping including this aspect of our lives on our blog will help me to be more accountable in actually completing these projects.  The projects will range from organization (me) to kitchen remodels (Andrew).

Just to give a little bit of background, we bought our house in 2005 from a little old woman who had pretty much never done anything to update the house (since it was built in 1975).  Before we even moved in we did a lot to the house.  We put in new wood floors throughout (previously there was carpet everywhere, including the kitchen!).  We ripped off layers and layers of wallpaper and painted every single room and all of the baseboards and trim.  We also painted the brick fireplace.  Most of our updates were simple cosmetic updates (it's amazing what a coat of paint can do), and as we have lived in our house over the years we've come across more things that we want to do to make it our home. 

Furthermore, many of our friends and family know that in 2008 when Hurricane Ike hit we had some pretty serious damage to our kitchen.  Rather than just simply doing the needed repairs we took the insurance check and decided we would use it to gut and remodel our kitchen.  That was in 2008, and we are still only about 25% done.  BUT this is the year that we plan to complete the kitchen.  (Note, when I say "we" I really mean Andrew). 

At the beginning of 2013 we started talking about maybe buying a new house.  That was even one of my goals for this year.  After much thought, consideration and model home tours we decided to stay put.  We came to this decision for many reasons, one of which is simple cash flow.  Our house is VERY affordable and it allows us to have less stress when it comes to our finances.  This is a BIG deal.  Having little stress over finances is so much better than having a house with a play room and stressing each month over how to pay for said house.  Although, there are some issues with our house (like a lack of storage and lack of a play room), they are generally things we can live with and maybe even fix over the next few years.

I hope you enjoy watching our house transform over the next few years.

Kitchen:

• Filing cube - this is my big project - I have a cube with all of ours files and I want to scan most of it in and only retain the bare minimum in paper
• Organize Recipes
• Hang Cork Board
• Get rid of excess sippy cups and bottles (yet again)
• Get rid of excess cookie sheets and buy new ones that actually fit in our oven (several are too large)
• Organize and get rid of excess items in cabinet next to fridge
• Buy new fridge and move ours to garage
• Andrew to finish building new cabinets (he is doing this from scratch y'all - so amazing)
• Stain cabinets
• Demolish wall between living room and kitchen
• Install new cabinets
• Install new vent hood
• Install new oven/microwave
• Install warming drawer
• Install/convert to gas range
• Have granite installed
• Install wine coolers
• Replace curtain rod and curtains

Living Room:

• Put stone veneers over existing brick fireplace
• repair crack in ceiling
• hang painting and pictures
• wall of pictures
• clean out former fish tank stand for added storage
• organize built in cabinets
• organize wet bar
• replace curtains rods and curtains

Dining Room:

• Install crown molding
• Put up a painting or mirror
• replace curtains

Front Entry:

• Create storage closet
• Crown molding
• Repaint with satin or semi gloss paint

Master Bathroom:

• new cabinets with double sinks
• new bathtub
• new tile
• remove cabinet in bathroom area
• new mirror(s)

2nd Bathroom:

• new cabinets - consider double sinks
• new mirror(s)
• new tile

Guest/Play Room:

• move wine coolers into kitchen
• clean out closet
• clean out all boxes
• purge anything we don't need
• buy new dresser for storage
• move kids toys into room
• set DVR to record Disney channel shows
• mount Andrew's bike on the wall and put trainer setup in closet
• discuss renting a storage unit

Olivia's Room:

• finish and hang paintings I made before she was born
• hang "Olivia" rack
• hang hair bow ribbon holder
• box up all newborn and 0-3 month clothes

Autumn's Room:

• hang hair bow ribbon holder
• box up clothes that are too small
• hang "Autumn" sign

Master Bedroom:

• hang painting or mirror above bed
• hang painting or mirror above dresser
• box up maternity clothes
• purge closet/dresser of clothes/shoes/purses I haven't won in a year or more
• have Andrew purge his closet/dresser