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The halfway mark is here folks. At the beginning of the year I wrote a draft of a blog post I never published titled “20 PROJECTS BEFORE 2020” Lofty indeed. Needless to say given the way the year has been going things around my house have been on hold in favor of client projects and growing my business and slipping in a little life-enjoying in between. However, when I posted my home tour (see it and pictures of all the spaces below here) I got several requests asking what smaller things I will be doing (especially to my kitchen) to make me love my house more as we save up for larger renovations. With each item on this list I’ve included some of the items we’re considering adding and my favorite tools for accomplishing the task at hand just in case you have some of your own projects you want to finish up!
1. FRESHEN UP & ADD STORAGE TO THE LAUNDRY ROOM
I’m looking for easy, not-too-expensive solutions to update our laundry room. I imagine it as more of a butlers pantry where we could also store countertop appliances, our wine fridge, and serving dishes. This would free up more space in our kitchen helping that feel a little less hectic and clearing off our counters. I’m even considering stacking our washer dryer so we can gain some much needed counter space. All of this would require some demo of existing (useless) shelving, paint, some IKEA cabinets, and a butcher block counter. A bigger project would be replacing the double doors into the laundry room with something like this, or taking out the wall entirely turning it more into a “nook” than a room - allowing for more elbowroom in the hallway to the backyard.
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2. New KITCHEN BACKSPLASH
Right now our kitchen backsplash is….dull. Its a matte, slate look, 6x6 tile that was poorly installed over what appears to be the original backsplash (yes, TWO layers of tile). The grout is crumbling so there is a constant coating of grit on the counters. Its a mess. Luckily my mom is a WIZ with tile and it would be easy enough to rip it all out and put in some fresh white subway tile. This isn’t my forever backsplash so I’m looking for something I can love for 3-5 years (but nice enough that if we sell before we get to the full reno, it improves our house value). A white backsplash would help bounce light around our little one-window kitchen.
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3. hang a new dining chandelier
Right now we have a horrific semi-flush straight out of the early 2000’s. It barely gives off any light and is honestly depressing, if a light fixture can be called depressing. We’ve been talking about remedying this from day one. The lights below are all being considered…I’m so ready to replace it but I guess we have to decide on a chandelier first.
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4. remove chair rail in dining room and paint
I have not done much drywall patching in my life. I’m particularly scared of this item bc it could look HORRIBLE. However I have been considering board and batton wainscotting in this room so if I really do mess it up…I will just cover it up. The current trim work in this house is horrific. It’s mismatched throughout, it’s over the top, and it’s like an assualt on your eyes. This is a 1915 craftsman people, get out of here with these 1995 turned columns and fluted trim. Yuck.
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5. Paint the master bedroom and bathroom
After the ultimate success of the brighter white in my guest bathroom it’s time to tackle my bedroom. I would even consider painting our bathroom vanities (currently a dark, matte charcoal - which sounds pretty in theory but is heavy and overbearing in reality). If I get really crazy I might try to replace the cabinet doors and drawer faces too. They, too, were victims of the flippers obsession with aggressive trim carpentry.
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6. Seal all exterior holes and screen in under the house
Last but not least a not-fun, but necessary maintenance issue I’ve been putting off. We recently had an exterminator out to deal with some critters in our attic. He informed us that because our house is a balloon frame we have openings under the house that extend all the way up our walls into our attic and that if we don’t seal those off he can never guarantee that we won’t keep getting critters. Oh and he also isn’t the guy to seal off the holes. Cool. So we’re on the hunt for someone to come put some galvanized mesh around the interior perimeter of all our walls under our house. While we’re at it I’m going to go around the outside perimeter with foam sealant and caulk and close up every little hole I can find. Water and bugs you are not welcome here!
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BONUS!
I’ve already done a little work in our powder/guest bath - mostly “good enough for now” projects like a new mirror and hardware, a fresh coat of paint. I’m on the fence about ordering a new light fixture but if we could really revamp this bathroom by the end of the year: *praise hands*. If we cant gut it just yet I would love to experiment and test some of my hand(wo)man skills: painting the tile floor, putting a feather concrete finish over the existing countertop, and replacing the toilet and sink faucet.
