Listy McListerson: a house log

Wahoooooooo! A list post! I loooooooooove lists! Oh haaaaaappy day.

Now that I have gotten that out of my system, this post will continue without the excessive exclamation points & extraneous vowels.

Plenty of people have been asking what we will tackle next, what order we will be doing things in, etc. And our answer is typically: it’ll honestly simply depend on our mood and what supplies we have on hand. When it comes to big projects we like to save our pennies and plan things to death, but for small things (which we consistently recommend doing first so you can live with the house for a while before making any dramatic changes that you might regret) we consistently simply dive in and learn as we go. It is the only way we have been able to accomplish things instead of being paralyzed by indecision. So we will hang frames somewhere and if we do not like them we will move them. Same deal for picking paint colors and arranging furniture. And we will post pics and details as they occur, not to worry! But simply for lively (and because I am a die-hard list making fool) I thought I’d share a few of the bulleted things scrawled in a notebook by the bed.

My method? Simply casually write everything out in list form, circle the small things I think we can get to right away, cross them off as we go, and underline the long term things we want to save for and tackle when we at last have the funds (and are feeling more sure about our approach). Looking at those underlined things from time to time keeps us excited to squirrel away as much as we can to make them a reality down the road. And seeing all the crossed off smaller items reminds us that bite-sized undertakings can truly keep you motivated and excited to tweak your house one day at a time until it is suddenly your enjoy-it-to-pieces home. Anyway, here is the ol’ list:

To Do (But Not All At Once…):

• Find bold saturated/patterned fabric and Hands-on some no-sew curtains (using this method) for the living room, future dining room, office, guest bedroom, playroom, bedroom, hall sliders, etc.
• Paint every room (this is one of those slowly over time tasks- we are thinking about tones seen here in this whole-house color scheme post of yore)
• Paint all the dark wood trim (beams, trim, baseboard, crown) in the living room and the kitchen (some people enjoy natural wood trim, but we enjoy it glossy and white)
• Remove unnecessary bi-fold doors
• Frost the side door that looks in on the kitchen (simply tackled this- will post details soon)
• Remove the shelves next to the fireplace (simply realized we did not share this project yet- soon!)
• Prime and paint the paneling in the kitchen using this method (not sure what color we will go for…)
• Redo the kitchen backsplash (check out overstock.com for tile along with clearance stuff from local vendors)
• Get all new kitchen hardware (check out local places, online stuff, and big box stores for best deal)
• Prime and paint the oak cabinets in the kitchen using this method (again, not sure what color)
• At last refinish and reupholster the craigslist rocker that we got a while back (and find a spot for it in one of the living areas so it gets plenty of casual use)
• Recover the leather parsons chair in the corner of our living room (at the white desk) with a bright lively fabric slipcover
• Replace a ton of light fixtures (too many to list)
• Remove all the door handles, hinges, and doorknobs in the house and spray them with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint
• Frame out the mirror in the hall bathroom
• Paint the vanity in the hall bathroom
• Hang a thick velvet curtain in front of our walk-in closet
• Wallpaper or stencil the sink nook in the master bedroom
• Frost or add curtains to the window in the master bathroom (and possibly the other two bathroom windows)
• Turn the area between the addition and the old house with the sliders leading out onto it into a sweet outdoor cutting garden (it is near the kitchen, and it seems to get sufficient light… will share details in the spring when it is planting time)
• Make built-ins around the washer and dryer to create mini mudroom function and replace cabinet doors up top with pull out baskets or drop down blinds
• Paint the front door
• Frame out the porch columns so they are chunky and square instead of ornate and curvy
• Plant evergreen trees around the perimeter of the property for more privacy from the side, back, and even part of the front (waiting for them to “fill in” will be the hardest part, but getting smaller plants will save us money so we will hopefully have patience)
• Pump up the curb appeal with more landscaping upgrades

These ones are circled:

• Paint the back of the future dining room built-ins something lively and bright
• Update and paint the vanity in the master bathroom
• Replace the medicine cabinet in the guest bathroom with a charming mirror
• Paint the dark brick fireplace in the kitchen using this method
• Paint the master bedroom

These ones are underlined:

• Refinish the various wood floors throughout the house (the same shade for a pleasant cohesive look- dark brown? ebony? light gray?)
• Turn the fireplace in the kitchen into a double-sided fireplace that also opens up into the living room (call the mason who helped open the doorway in our old house simply to make sure it is possible and get an estimate)
• Widen the doorway between the kitchen and the living room
• Create a large doorway between the kitchen and the future dining room that lines up with the newly widened doorway between the kitchen and the living room
• Build/adapt a custom island for the eat-in area of the kitchen near the fireplace
• Convert the carport into a garage (and pick out a killer garage door to add some dimension and architecture to our flat little rancher)
• Add french doors between the future dining room and the office (for privacy and tons of charm)
• Replace the flooring in the kitchen and mudroom/laundry room (with cork ?)

Furnishings To Slowly Save Up For:

• A queen sized bed for the master (so we do not have to sleep on our mattress on the floor anymore)
• A big charcoal gray u-shaped sectional for the living room (I have dreamed about having a big sufficient living space for a sectional for at least the past three years)
• A larger TV stand/media center for the living room (ours is laughably dinky, but we will craigslist it and put the money toward something that’ll fit the space better- hopefully something thrifted or even something we can build ourselves)
• A giant rug to define the new seating area in the living room (8 x 10? 9 x 11?)
• Some kick-arse stools for the new island in the kitchen once it is there (find something low-cost and reupholster it for more style?)
• A giant round wooden pedestal table for the future dining room (with an expandable leaf to seat 10-12 people)
• Comfy chairs for the future dining table (preferably upholstered parsons chairs so they look library-ish and casual as opposed to hard and wood-heavy)
• New shower curtains and bathroom towels and accessories for the hall bath and guest bathroom
• New energy efficient appliances for the kitchen and the laundry room (we are waiting for some killer deals, which we have heard can pop up in February once new models are introduced- we will also check out craigslist and scratch & dent stuff).
• A full sized bed frame, mattress, and box spring for the guest room (then we will make a lively Hands-on headboard)
• A big cabinet or console table for the hallway off of the kitchen (thrifted/craigslisted and refinished?)
• A new console table (since ours is laughably small, we will sell it and put the money towards one that’ll better fit the space to assist define the entryway in the front of the house)
• His and hers dressers for the master bedroom that we can refinish (preferably especially low-cost on craigslist or from the thrift store)

In summary, it does not sound like rocket science, but our method is to in short simply write everything down and tackle things that are doable and not too intimidating while we save up for the bigger projects. And as for priorities, we generally simply do whatever project we are in the mood to take on (barring anything that needs to be a priority for safety or other extreme urgency reasons). And we certainly jump around from room to room simply to stay excited and not feel too regimented and “forced” into doing something that we might not want to deal with yet.

So you will see us working on distinct areas and taking on everything from Hands-on curtains and paint-related projects to heavy duty renovations and lightweight accessorizing. We will share more deets on each of those projects as we tackle them over the next few years (yes, we said years- remember our last house took us 4.5 years to “finish” – and even then there were things we could have noodled for years). Woot! Off to the home improvement store (again) for more supplies. There is no place like home (depot). Sometimes I wish I had red sparkly shoes that I could click three times and be taken to the hardware aisle…

Psst- Adorable “I heart lists” stationery found here on Etsy.

Psssst- Check out this floor plan post which might make some of the major layout changes & renovations that we have listed a bit more clear.