Ever notice how time files? It seems like every time I get determined to do something, time flies, my mental due date passes and I haven’t accomplished much on my list. Lazy days of summer got the best of me once again and my to-do list has grown instead of dwindled.
But, much like January 1st is a new year, so too is the first day of school!!!!!
Kids all got out on time. Dinner is in the crock pot. Coffee has been drank (a few times). Floors have been vacuumed. My hair has been cut. My obligatory first day of school nap has been taken.
Paralysis has officially set in… I have so much that needs to be done or that I want to do and I just don’t know where to start. Maybe I should take another nap….
No, nope, not today! Today, I will make an official list and put together a plan of action. Just about one year ago we officially stopped sleeping at our old house and had enough done to live comfortably in the new house. We still progressed with quite a few projects. But, before I knew it, our house was far enough along that I started overlooking some of the little things I could be doing here and there. My someday list has grown.
Time to make someday NOW!
Admittedly, some things are further down the road. The kitchen and bathrooms are all on the list, but those will take time, a larger budget and more manpower than just me. So, for today, I’m making a list of the projects I can accomplish myself on a smaller budget. Our fall home improvement budget is predominately going to replacing the refrigerator and having the exterior doors replaced. Hopefully we will also redo the mudroom (it functions nicely now, but I think it can be even better). And bump out our kitchen a bit into the garage (but still able to park the cars in there) to create a pantry. Both of those I need a second pair of hands for. IronFish has a race in two weeks, ideally he’ll be willing to help with projects on the weekend after that. On to the things I can do myself…
Update the vent covers
This is a close to no budget project… mainly because I purchased most of the materials ages ago. I just haven’t done them! How much nicer does this look than the old boring slatted kind?
We removed all the vent covers when we first bought the house. Molding was replaced with 5″ base resulting in the old vents no longer fitting and need to be customized. Since moving we have found out Tasha has some pretty severe allergies. We had the ducts cleaned, and I was supposed to make the covers after that…. yep, a year later and it hasn’t happened. I took found my measurements and gathered the supplies this morning to get this project underway.
Whitewash the fireplace
Once a feature in the house, the full wall of red brick with 70s black mortar is a bit harsh for my taste. Hindsight is 20/20, while painting all the rest of the walls, I should have done this too. At the time I thought this would be something fairly easy to do without disrupting too much of the house. Over time I think the wall may have grown because the task has become a bit daunting for me.
My neighbor and several blog posts tell me I can completely transform the wall in a day. I just need to buckle down and do it. Here’s just one of the many blog posts that has inspired me
Our whole wall is brick, but the before in this reminds me so much of the house I lived in during high school. We’ve also talked about adding built-ins on either side of our fireplace; that would be years down the road.
Refinish a night stand
Matchy-matchy isn’t really my style. It may have been at one point in my life, but I’ve embraced an eclectic lived in style. A bit of farm house meets coastal meets traditional meets craftsman meets anything I just like. Once upon a time, this scared IronFish. Recently he told me to do what I like, I haven’t picked anything he hasn’t been pleased with in a long time. I think letting go of what I thought a space should look like and just going with what I fall in love with has really worked out for me.
When it came time to get dressers for the master bedroom, I didn’t want a matched set. My lived-in-eclectic look is really about mixing what I like in every style that’s out there. I snagged the dresser I refinished at my family’s lake house for myself. IronFish wanted deep drawers and pronto, no waiting for me to refinish something. Ikea fit the bill and had both a dresser and night stand that matched the white shaker style look we used for cabinets and trim (some in finished projects, some in our future designs).
So, when I snagged a freebie dresser that was the perfect size for my night stand, I knew I could aim for a coordinated look between it and my dresser. Of course, I needed to get to that project and eventually IronFish moved it into the bedroom before I did any work on it. Several months later, it’s in full use, but still not looking the way I’d like. Aside from hanging a bit of artwork and covering the vents, it’s the only project in the room.
Lots of little things
Hanging picture, organizing closets, sewing pillow and curtains and other projects are on my list as well. I fear if I start planning too far out, all I will do is plan and still never DO. If I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s having projects on my to-do list keeps me going, having too many projects makes me do nothing!
Sometimes I feel as if I should work in one room until it’s finished, but then my mind can’t stay on track. I’ve decided this will be list one. Once I finish these things I can make another list, do more planning on the little things, or maybe work in one of the bigger projects. You’ve got to start some where and this is where I’m starting!
Affiliate links may be included in this post to products similar to products I used
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