Projects for 2014

Are you ready for some projects?! The holidays are over and it's time to get moving. I feel like my kids when they wake up and cry that they don't want to go to school. I don't really want to get started on anything, but I know I it's time. When I wrote my to do list last year I had just finished all of the big projects downstairs and was excited to get started on renovating the upstairs of my home. I didn't finish the entire upstairs like I had planned, but I knew that was an overly ambitious goal.

Here's a quick recap of what I have done upstairs. The old, gross carpet was removed and we had new laminate flooring installed throughout the entire floor. This made a huge difference. Everything just felt clean and new. Then, we replaced all of the trim around the doors and windows, and put in a batten board treatment throughout the entire game room. I decided to work on the game room first since it's the first room you see when you go up the stairs.



I had planned on painting the game room myself, but I knew it would take forever just to caulk the trim. Since I had zero motivation and wanted this room done quickly, I hired someone to paint this room. I felt uneasy about paying someone so much money to do a job I knew I could do, but it was so worth it in the end. It took them three days and it probably would have taken me three weeks.





I spent very little on the décor since I already had the sofa and console. I added the rug, coffee table, shades, and accessories. Besides the kitchen, this is the first room I've actually finished in this house because I didn't have to buy any big ticket items.

And, my latest project still isn't finished either, the boys' bathroom.



It's really close to being done so I will probably finish this room first. The hard work is done and it will help get me motivated to start on the rest of the upstairs, I hope.

So, what's next? My kids' bedrooms and my master bathroom is all that's left inside and they are in need of some serious TLC. The boys' bedrooms have gotten the most attention in this house since we've lived here, but look the worst since kids aren't "careful" with their belongings. Using the word "careful" is me being nice. I can't tell you how many times I've had to repaint walls, replace broken blinds, pick lamps up off the floor, scrape gum off the nightstands, etc. Because my little "darlings" will just tear it up again I am just giving it a spit shine with a bit of paint and a few accessories. Now, do you understand why half the furniture in my house is from Ikea?

And, on to the biggest project. My master bathroom should be a gut job because it's a 90s nightmare, but I'm planning on giving it a facelift instead with new paint, trim and fixtures. The shower, tile, vanity countertop and flooring will eventually need to be replaced. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to save that for later. I wish I had more time and money to devote to it, but we've really got to do something about my home's curb appeal.

The roof needs to be replaced, the siding pressure washed, and the landscaping addressed. My front yard has never been wonderful to begin with, but it was really damaged after having a tractor drive through the middle of it for our pool dig last summer. Oh, and my upstairs flowerbox is so sad with one lone weed creeping over the side. I'm hoping we can get working on the exterior this spring when the weather is nice. Until then, I will be working on the remaining interior projects upstairs. Fortunately for my wallet they are mostly paint projects, but I am not looking forward to the manual labor. I suppose I should say goodbye to any hopes of having a manicure this year.

The bright side is that these are the remaining big projects! Once these are finished I will be decorating, tweaking, and doing small DIY projects. Then, we'll probably move. We have no plans to move, but we moved after our last house was remodeled so it's a running joke in our family. Now, off to work! I'm not talking about DIY. I'm really running late for work!

Have a great weekend!