Monday, January 10, 2011

Our Plans for 2011

We have huge plans for 2011 when it comes to the house. Hopefully as soon as we thaw out from underneath all of the snow (currently over 2 feet, with more on the way tomorrow) we'll get some work done on the exterior of the house as well as some landscaping.


Here are some of our other planned projects for 2011..
  • Finish the Kitchen!! Top priority! This includes finishing the window/door casing/trim, priming and painting the walls and trim, installing base trim, installing the soffit above the cabinets and crown molding, buying/installing the dishwasher, building end pieces to finish off the base cabinets, building cabinets around the fridge, painting the fireplace, painting the ceiling, and most importantly... installing the floor (which may now include ripping up the existing plywood and installing new, thinner plywood)!
  • Landscaping the front yard. Last fall we cut back the front bushes so they weren't blocking the windows, but I think that we'll be taking them out completely and planting some new bushes and flowers. We also need to clean up the stone wall and the planter around the tree by the driveway.
  • Cleaning up the front entrance/porch. This will include repainting the beadboard, installing a new light fixture, and installing new wood/pvc columns in place of the metal columns. A later project will be putting stone over the concrete steps and putting in a new walkway, but that probably won't be in 2011.
  • Finally get all the rest of our boxes out of my parent's attic and basement. It'll be nice to finally be able to organize everything in one place. Lucky for us we have a huge, empty attic!
  • Buy chickens and build a coop.
  • Fence in the backyard.
  • Install the new exterior light fixtures next to the back door.
  • Install the new motion detecting flood light by the garage.
  • Renovate the downstairs bathroom. This will include re-framing the room to make it smaller (yes, I said smaller), demo'ing everything (sink, toilet, drywall) and installing a new sink, toilet and possibly a corner shower. I'd also like to clean up the radiator in this room.. maybe by re-painting, or if we find a nice "new" radiator to install in it's place. I think I'd like to keep the wood floor in this room.. so maybe refinishing it and staining it (it's currently painted white-ish).
  • Re-work/re-build the back staircase. The stairs aren't very safe right now.. they're too small, so hopefully we will be able to re-work them using the small space available. I have a feeling we'll just be rebuilding new stairs in the exact same locations. We also will need to install a new handrail and take down all of the plaster and trim in the staircase and re-do it all. Plus paint!
  • Finish off the closet under the back staircase and install some shelving. I think this will be my utility closet, with room for the vacuum, broom and mops. Half will have shelves for cleaning supplies, since I think I'll be going with a pedestal sink in the downstairs bathroom and there isn't anywhere else downstairs to keep cleaning supplies. The thing I'm looking forward to the most is finally having a home for my beautiful Dyson. As much as I love looking at it, we've never had a utility closet to put it away in.
  • Figure out what I want to do with my pantry. I'm currently planning on using the whole lean-to and half of the downstairs bathroom (that's why I'm making it smaller.. I'll be "stealing" the part where the closet, toilet and tub are now). This will be tied in with the stair re-build, because that's how the pantry will be accessed. The whole remodel may involve reworking the roof, adding insulation, a new door, new windows, shelving, a floor, drywall, cabinets, etc. I have a beautiful plan for the room, I just hope it all works out! I really need the storage!!
  • Install shelving in the Living Room closet and make it into a game/puzzle closet.
  • Figure out lighting solutions for the Living Room.. it's way too dark in there.
  • Strip the paint off of the doors, casing, trim and fireplace in the Living Room and repaint. 
  • Demo the ceiling in the front Hall, take down the wallpaper and repaint. Also remove the carpeting on the stairs and at the top of the stairs and buy a stair runner, and matching runners for the upstairs and downstairs hall/entry. Also replace the light in the front Entry, and install a new light at the top of the stairs.
  • Install a chandelier in the Dining Room (this we won't be able to do ourselves because we'll need to not only run wiring through the ceiling and beam, but we'd also need a switch. There currently isn't much electrical in the Dining Room).
  • Get a Dining Room table. R is still saying he'll make one for me... but we'll need to get some of his woodworking tools down here first.
  • Organize tools/etc. in the basement.
  • Buy bookcases, another desk and filing cabinets for my office and finally unpack everything! I also need to make/paint my new bulletin boards, and hang things on the walls!
  • Put a second coat of paint on the Guest Room walls, and paint the trim.
  • Paint the trim and walls in the Twilight Room (though this is the room that R is currently using for his office and he's probably fine with it the way it is now... we'll see how long it takes before it bothers me!).
  • Completely demo and re-work the upstairs back hall. A ton of the plaster has already fallen off of the walls and ceiling, so it all needs to come down and be re-drywalled. All of the doors also need to be scraped, stripped and repainted. The floors need to be refinished. I need to pick a paint color. This will probably be done at the same time as the stairs and pantry, since the stairs open up to the hall and it's not a very big space. We'll also be replacing the light fixture at the top of the stairs.
  • Figure out a lighting solution for the upstairs bathroom and laundry.
  • Clean out the laundry cabinetry and make the space more usable. Also add a permanent dryer vent so we don't need to open the window every time we use the dryer.


    I'm sure there are a million other little projects, and of course lots of interior decorating, to be done in the upcoming year! I'm sure 2011 will be filled with a lot of sweat-equity, shopping, hard-work, and room reveals :)


    What are some of the projects you have planned for 2011?

    2 comments:

    1. Wow all of that in one year?! Really? That is going to be one busy year with little to no free time. Good luck!

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    2. Oh yea.. we're being really ambitious this year! Let's see how much of that we have finished by the end of the year though!

      ReplyDelete