I made this list back in early January but I forgot to post it until now. Since my home is both my haven and my workplace, I enjoy working on it and fixing it up. So, here are:
8 PROJECTS FOR OUR HOUSE IN 2008
1. Remodel the kitchen. It's an old 1970s kitchen, not pretty at all. It's got good potential though, and since the kitchen is the heart of the home I think it will have a great impact on the rest of the house. Upgrading the kitchen is also usually worth it in terms of the resale value of a house. I'm going to be so happy when this kitchen is like new again. We spend a lot of time there.
2. Get Peter a nice desk. His current desk is a small flimsy corner computer desk that the sellers of the condo we bought right after we got married gave to us. It's an eyesore in our living room and it's the first thing you see when you come in the front door and look over to the right. Another bad thing about it is that it has no drawers, and since Peter runs his own company on the side he's got a lot of paperwork that needs a home. So we really need to get him a big desk that will be functional and also attractive, since it will be in the living room.
3. Upgrade John's room. I've been working on this since I first wrote this list. We replaced his crib with a toddler bed, removed the changing table from the room, got a bigger bookshelf to hold his ever-expanding collection of books, and changed the furniture around. His nursery theme was (and still is) cute little sailboats. He's going to be 3 years old next week and it's time to make his room into a little boy's room instead of a baby's room (as sad as that makes me!). I think we'll go with a solar system theme since he loves that stuff. Just a few days ago I got a cool silver planet lamp to replace his sailboat lamp. Now I want to get new curtains, a few new pictures for the walls, and some other things.
4. Do something to fix up our ugly fireplace. It's in our family room. It's an eyesore. It's red and brown brick with these weird sloppy white streaks, almost like graffiti. Sometimes I don't know what the previous owners of this house were thinking when they did certain things. My friend Jen re-did her fireplace beautifully with a special paint and told me how to do it, so I'm going to try that too. I think I'd also like to have a mantle put up onto the fireplace. This will be a good DIY summer project, although I'm sure I'll need help with finding and installing the mantle.
5. Plant a vegetable garden. This is ambitious for me. I've been wanting to do it for years but I've continuously failed to start a garden. 2008 will be the year that I succeed! I'm going to start a small one and see how it goes. The idea of growing some of our own food is a very appealing one, and I think it will be a great way to teach John about nature and responsibility. I want to grow tomatoes, one of my favorite vegetables, and anything else that will have a good chance of success despite being taken care of by a gardening novice.
6. Get a nice wooden swingset for long hours of enjoyment by John. Apart from nature and a little sandbox, our backyard is a bit boring and I'd really like to have something like that for John and his friends to play with.
7. Get new window treatments. Our blinds are those old white aluminum ones that gather and show dust so easily. Some of them are dented because John has gotten a hold of them. 'Nuff said. I'd like to get white wooden (probably faux-wooden) blinds because they look nice and bright and they're durable.
We could use some new curtains too. They're a little tricky for me. I have very simple tastes for curtains: I like valance ones because I like to have as much light as possible come into the house, and since we have nice views of the woods from most of our windows, I don't see any need to cover the windows up too much. So most of our curtains I don't have a problem with, but some of them could really use a nicer upgrade. I'm not that good with curtain style and I think I might need to hire a consultant to help me with this. They'd probably try to convince me that my style preferences for windows are all wrong, which maybe they are, but that's how I like 'em!
8. Get a new chandelier for the dining room. It's black, modern, and reminds me of a Medieval torture device. I want something a lot different than that sitting over my head when I eat.
As each project on this list is completed this year I'll post before and after pictures. If all goes well, by year's end our house should have a lot of nice improvements made to it!
