Home Improvement Update

I posted my last home improvement update nearly 10 months ago, and I’m happy to report that we’ve crossed several items off the list since then. I highlighted recent accomplishments in red, and the items in green are what’s next on my list.

Family Room/Kitchen/Dining Room

• Replace the carpet in the family room with wood or laminate flooring (done!)
• Get a rug for the dining room
• Get a rug for the family room
• Finish installing the cabinet hardware in our kitchen (done!)
• Revamp/reorganize the kitchen cabinets and pantry to better fit how we actually use the kitchen (everything is still where it was when we moved in) (done and done!)
• Decide what to do with the wall o’ windows in the family room (cornices, curtains, etc?) (done!)
• Add some sort of light in the pantry
• Extend the teal paint from the breakfast room along the rest of the wall to corner of the kitchen
• Touch up the paint in the dining room
• Add crown molding to the family room/kitchen
• Declutter/reorganize how we use the sofa table
• Get some sort of sideboard for the dining room?
• Some sort of shelving for the TV wall?

Master Bedroom/Bathroom

• “Frame” the huge wall mirror in the bathroom (a la something like this) — or remove it entirely and replace with 2 smaller mirrors
• Paint
• Make some large DIY art for above the bed
• Add curtains?
• Embellish/get new lampshades for our bedside lamps
• Re-caulk the shower

Emma’s Room

• Furnish and decorate the nursery (done!)

Study/Office

• MAJOR decluttering
• Clean out the closet and re-fill in a way that makes sense
• Paint?

Guest Room

• Turn the 3rd bedroom into a nice, comfy guest room (as opposed to the furniture-less junk room it is now) (done!)
• Make and hang the “wall o’ curtains”
• Install a ceiling fan
• Clean up/declutter the corner bookshelf and closet

Guest Bathroom

• Frame or replace the mirror (same idea as in master bathroom)
• Paint?

Bonus Room

• Build some sort of craft/fabric cutting table (a la Someday Crafts)
• Get a new light fixture to replace the “boob light” — and increase wattage (it’s dim in there) (done!)
• Get a TV or projector?
• Redo the space plan — ideally this room will eventually be some combo of playroom/craft room/movie room/home office

Exterior/Yard/Garage

• Clean out one side of the garage so we can park the TBD new car in there
• Install tree spotlights outside (we have them already; they go with the flower bed lighting we did in 2010)
• Replace the front porch can light with a pretty pendant of some kind (which I thought of after coming across the Can Converter)
• Redo the front flower beds (I plan to hire someone to do this for me)
• Buy a grill (especially since we have a gift card from my parents specifically for this!)
• Build a bed around the crape myrtle, oleander, and hibiscus that are planted along the fence in the backyard
• Get gutters installed on the back of the house
• Add a big potted plant next to the front door
• Aerate the front yard
• Get a sandbox or some sort of play structure for Emma
• Hire someone to put in a sprinkler system

Miscellaneous

• Repaint all the trim and doors white (which will basically never happen because it’s way too much work!)
• Upgrade all the carpet (in the bedrooms, hall, bonus room, and stairs)
• Build an over-the-machines counter in our laundry room (a la Young House Love) (done!)
• Add a hanging rack for brooms, mops, etc in the laundry room
• Hang art or photos in the hallway
• Replace the boob light in the entryway with something cooler/nicer/more our style
• Get the a/c system tuned up
• Replace our thermostats with Nest thermostats