Wahoooooooo! A list post! I loooooooooove lists! Oh haaaaaappy day.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, this post will continue without the excessive exclamation points & extraneous vowels.
Lots of people have been asking what we’ll tackle next, what order we’ll be doing things in, etc. And our answer is usually: it’ll honestly just depend on our mood and what supplies we have on hand. When it comes to big projects we like to save our pennies and plan things to death, but for small things (which we always recommend doing first so you can live with the house for a while before making any dramatic changes that you might regret) we always just dive in and learn as we go. It’s the only way we’ve been able to accomplish things instead of being paralyzed by indecision. So we’ll hang frames somewhere and if we don’t like them we’ll move them. Same deal for picking paint colors and arranging furniture. And we’ll post pics and details as they occur, not to worry! But just for fun (and because I’m a die-hard list making fool) I thought I’d share a few of the bulleted things scrawled in a notebook by the bed.
My method? Just casually write everything out in list form, circle the small things I think we can get to right away, cross them off as we go, and underline the long term things we want to save for and tackle when we finally have the funds (and are feeling more sure about our approach). Looking at those underlined things from time to time keeps us excited to squirrel away as much as we can to make them a reality down the road. And seeing all the crossed off smaller items reminds us that bite-sized undertakings can really keep you motivated and excited to tweak your house one day at a time until it’s suddenly your love-it-to-pieces home. Anyway, here’s the ol’ list:
To Do (But Not All At Once…):
- Find bold saturated/patterned fabric and DIY some no-sew curtains (using this method) for the living room, future dining room, office, guest bedroom, playroom, bedroom, hall sliders, etc.
- Paint every room (this is one of those slowly over time tasks- we’re thinking about tones seen here in this whole-house color scheme post of yore)
- Paint all the dark wood trim (beams, trim, baseboard, crown) in the living room and the kitchen (some people love natural wood trim, but we love it glossy and white)
- Remove unnecessary bi-fold doors
- Frost the side door that looks in on the kitchen (just tackled this- will post details soon)
- Remove the shelves next to the fireplace (just realized we didn’t share this project yet- soon!)
- Prime and paint the paneling in the kitchen using this method (not sure what color we’ll go for…)
- Redo the kitchen backsplash (check out overstock.com for tile along with clearance stuff from local vendors)
- Get all new kitchen hardware (check out local places, online stuff, and big box stores for best deal)
- Prime and paint the oak cabinets in the kitchen using this method (again, not sure what color)
- Finally refinish and reupholster the craigslist rocker that we got a while back (and find a spot for it in one of the living areas so it gets lots of casual use)
- Recover the leather parsons chair in the corner of our living room (at the white desk) with a bright fun fabric slipcover
- Replace a ton of light fixtures (too many to list)
- Remove all the door handles, hinges, and doorknobs in the house and spray them with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint
- Frame out the mirror in the hall bathroom
- Paint the vanity in the hall bathroom
- Hang a thick velvet curtain in front of our walk-in closet
- Wallpaper or stencil the sink nook in the master bedroom
- Frost or add curtains to the window in the master bathroom (and possibly the other two bathroom windows)
- Turn the area between the addition and the old house with the sliders leading out onto it into a sweet outdoor cutting garden (it’s near the kitchen, and it seems to get enough light… will share details in the spring when it’s planting time)
- Make built-ins around the washer and dryer to create mini mudroom function and replace cabinet doors up top with pull out baskets or drop down blinds
- Paint the front door
- Frame out the porch columns so they’re chunky and square instead of ornate and curvy
- Plant evergreen trees around the perimeter of the property for more privacy from the side, back, and even part of the front (waiting for them to “fill in” will be the hardest part, but getting smaller plants will save us money so we’ll hopefully have patience)
- Pump up the curb appeal with more landscaping upgrades
These ones are circled:
- Paint the back of the future dining room built-ins something fun and bright
- Update and paint the vanity in the master bathroom
- Replace the medicine cabinet in the guest bathroom with a charming mirror
- Paint the dark brick fireplace in the kitchen using this method
- Paint the master bedroom
These ones are underlined:
- Refinish the various wood floors throughout the house (the same shade for a nice cohesive look- dark brown? ebony? light gray?)
- Turn the fireplace in the kitchen into a double-sided fireplace that also opens up into the living room (call the mason who helped open the doorway in our old house just to make sure it’s possible and get an estimate)
- Widen the doorway between the kitchen and the living room
- Create a huge doorway between the kitchen and the future dining room that lines up with the newly widened doorway between the kitchen and the living room
- Build/adapt a custom island for the eat-in area of the kitchen near the fireplace
- Convert the carport into a garage (and pick out a killer garage door to add some dimension and architecture to our flat little rancher)
- Add french doors between the future dining room and the office (for privacy and tons of charm)
- Replace the flooring in the kitchen and mudroom/laundry room (with cork ?)
Furnishings To Slowly Save Up For:
- A queen sized bed for the master (so we don’t have to sleep on our mattress on the floor anymore)
- A big charcoal gray u-shaped sectional for the living room (I’ve dreamed about having a big enough living space for a sectional for at least the past three years)
- A larger TV stand/media center for the living room (ours is laughably dinky, but we’ll craigslist it and put the money toward something that’ll fit the space better- hopefully something thrifted or even something we can build ourselves)
- A giant rug to define the new seating area in the living room (8 x 10? 9 x 11?)
- Some kick-arse stools for the new island in the kitchen once it’s there (find something cheap and reupholster it for more style?)
- A giant round wooden pedestal table for the future dining room (with an expandable leaf to seat 10-12 people)
- Comfy chairs for the future dining table (preferably upholstered parsons chairs so they look library-ish and casual as opposed to hard and wood-heavy)
- New shower curtains and bathroom towels and accessories for the hall bath and guest bathroom
- New energy efficient appliances for the kitchen and the laundry room (we’re waiting for some killer deals, which we’ve heard can pop up in February once new models are introduced- we’ll also check out craigslist and scratch & dent stuff).
- A full sized bed frame, mattress, and box spring for the guest room (then we’ll make a fun DIY headboard)
- A big cabinet or console table for the hallway off of the kitchen (thrifted/craigslisted and refinished?)
- A new console table (since ours is laughably small, we’ll sell it and put the money towards one that’ll better fit the space to help define the entryway in the front of the house)
- His and hers dressers for the master bedroom that we can refinish (preferably super cheap on craigslist or from the thrift store)
In summary, it doesn’t sound like rocket science, but our method is to basically just write everything down and tackle things that are doable and not too intimidating while we save up for the bigger projects. And as for priorities, we generally just do whatever project we’re in the mood to take on (barring anything that needs to be a priority for safety or other extreme urgency reasons). And we definitely jump around from room to room just to stay excited and not feel too regimented and “forced” into doing something that we might not want to deal with yet.
So you’ll see us working on different areas and taking on everything from DIY curtains and paint-related projects to heavy duty renovations and lightweight accessorizing. We’ll share more deets on each of those projects as we tackle them over the next few years (yes, we said years- remember our last house took us 4.5 years to “finish” – and even then there were things we could have noodled for years). Woot! Off to the home improvement store (again) for more supplies. There’s no place like home (depot). Sometimes I wish I had red sparkly shoes that I could click three times and be taken to the hardware aisle…
Psst- Adorable “I heart lists” stationery found here on Etsy.
Psssst- Check out this floor plan post which might make some of the major layout changes & renovations that we’ve listed a bit more clear.
Janie says
For the less stinky oil based primer the Zinnsser shellac based one will do the trick. It is stinky, but the smell dissipates extremely quickly (within an hour). I use it after my kids are in bed and it’s fine by the morning.
Kelly says
Great list! We’ve recently moved into a new home as well and it can just seem endless. You two are such an inspiration! Had a quick question (and apologize if this has already been answered). Why a full size (and not queen) for the guest room? Is it a space issue? We debated that in our last place and after polling some of our friends and family who visited often, they all much preferred to sleep in a queen, so that’s what we did. It wasn’t an issue of space for us and we needed to buy a new mattress set anyway (rather than reuse ours when we upgeaded to a king – which is heavenly, by the way – our old queen mattress set was just too old and uncomfortable to even want to make our guests use it occasionally).
Love reading your blog… and happy (almost) 2011!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kelly,
It’s a space issue for us. All of the bedrooms except for the master (which was an addition) are on the modest size so we need to leave some room for people to move around and put down their bags and stuff.
xo,
s
Jenn L @ Peas and Crayons says
This is one MASSIVE list! Oh man! Best of luck! I know you guys will tackle this in record time =) Speaking of lists though, it’s time to get crackin’ on my own list! woot!
xoXoxo
Jenn @ Peas & Crayons
L says
Careful with those Leeland cypress–they get BIG! A lot of people don’t really pay attention to that maximum height (and especially width!) on the tag! If you like the look, there are some varieties of arbor vitae that are bred to stay much smaller.
Carolyn says
Refinishing your floors grey would be really neat and unique. I can only offer a caution on a really dark stain. We refinished our floors a really dark brown. It looks amazing and everyone who sees it loves it. However, every speck of dust/pet fur/etc shows. Having a motivation to clean frequently is sometimes nice, this is just ridiculous. Moments after a cleaning I can see new dust settling and I’ve regretted choosing such a dark color.
Heidi says
Your house is going to look amazing!!! I can’t wait to see all of your finished products! Another ‘to do’ you might add to your ‘circle’ list is starting/finishing a playroom for Clara. I have a 10 month old and once he started to crawl, a playroom was a definite necessity! It’s been a true life saver ever since!
Anyways, thanks for sharing all of your brilliant ideas!:) You guys are great!
Sheralyn says
I am in LOVE with your house! And the ideas you have for it!! Cheering you on!
Becca says
Hi guys!
Really enjoying your blog-found out about it just in time as we moved into a new place, itching for some attention!! Many similar projects on our list too…
One that I hadn’t thought of doing is spraying the existing door knobs–we had planned on just replacing them all…Any special type of spray paint? I love the $ saving idea : )
Thanks for all the good stuff!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Becca,
We’ve been googling around for some tips and have heard that roughing them up with sandpaper, using spray primer like Kilz, and then coating them with metal-friendly high quality spray paint seems to be the recommended approach. We’ll share all the details when we tackle it!
xo,
s
Amanda says
Have you guys thought of adding a skylight to the kitchen? I am sure it will bring a TON of sunshine in.
YoungHouseLove says
It’s up there on our someday wish list for sure!
xo,
s
Amy N. says
First of all, I love lists, too! And, I want that stationary!
I had a quick question about a couple of items on your to-do list that kind of go together. After rereading your cabinet painting tutorial, I noticed that you mentioned that you removed all of the cabinet hardware, including the hinges, when you painted. My question is…did you have a problem reattaching the cabinet doors? I’m wanting to paint my bathroom vanity cabinets, but am worried that if I take the doors and the hinges off, the hinges won’t be as secure when I reattach them. I have the same concern for interior door hinges, too. I would love to repaint my shiny gold hinges and door knobs to reflect the rest of the more modern finishes in my home. Do you guys foresee having a problem putting the doors back on their hinges after reattaching them in the same spot?
Thanks!
Amy
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amy,
We didn’t have any issues reusing the same hinges and reattaching the doors (they were nice and firm when everything was rescrewed). We did get new door pulls (and plan to do the same thing again) but you should be able to reattach the same pulls and handles as before if you’d like. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
gini says
I was checking out your furniture list, and thought this site might help — http://www.ana-white.com . She has simple, free (love that!) DIY furniture plans similar to IKEA and Pottery Barn. Her blog used to be knockoffwood, I think. Anyway, many of the projects are fairly easy, between 20-100 dollars to complete, and require only basic carpentry tools, not all the fancy stuff. I like the cubby media wall, http://ana-white.com/category/plans/furnituretype/media/page/3, but there are tons to choose from.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah we love Ana’s plans! She’s amazing.
xo,
s
Casey says
Okay, so in addition to being a YHL addict, I’m also a craigslist junkie AND a local Richmonder. So when I was perusing good ol’ CL instead of working this afternoon, I found this gem and thought of you guys. I know it’s green and not gray, but it’s also only $200.
http://richmond.craigslist.org/fuo/2135785352.html
YoungHouseLove says
Ooooh la la! Love it! Unfortunately the measurements won’t work in our room (12′ long is suuuuper long!) but it’s definitely an amazing deal. Thanks so much for sharing the link!
xoxo,
s
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
oh yes, the never-ending list. Ours is a mile long, as well; even after (yikes!) 4 years here!
Ann says
I love lists, and I reeally love the circle/underline tip. Must copy… Because I am so frugal, I plan my rooms in advance and when one of the items goes on extreme sale, I purchase it. For example, I wasn’t planning on updating a bath until later on but when the sink I wanted was 60% off, I couldn’t pass it up. One bad thing about this is it takes awhile for a room to get finished, but the good thing is I save a ton.
Corinne says
I love the idea of keeping a little notebook around to write down any items that you want to accomplish around the house! I may have to follow suit or else forget everything that I have in mind.
At the top of my list is to fix the kitchen cabinets. I would love to paint them following the method you used in the past, but for some reason I don’t think it’s going to work. The cabinets are hardwood laminate and I lack a good sander. I did see a new product at Home Depot that I may try though. It’s called Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations. I like the idea of no sanding!
Erin says
This is a little off topic, but would you or anyone here have any qualms about keeping your light-colored slipcovered sofa around with kids? We’re in the market for a sofa, and I love the cream and natural colors, but people think I’m wacky with kids in the house.
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve heard time and time again that light slipcovers are easy to wash (and oxyclean if you have to get stains out) and we’ve found with a dog and a baby that so far it’s true! One mom of four has had a white slipcovered Ektorp sofa from Ikea for nearly a decade and it still looks like new. Not sure if she’s a magician, but if not it definitely has stood the test of time!
xo,
s
claire says
wow, there’s only one word – ambitious. how long do you think all of those improvements will take you to do? i hope it will look great, and i’ll be looking for the updates! ps. i hope you keep one set of the folding shutter doors. they would be cute if you had one or two pairs!
inspiringpretty.blogspot.com
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Claire,
We’re thinking this house will be a work in progress for at least the next 5 or 6 years- maybe longer! Our last house took us 4.5 years and it was smaller, so we definitely will be having fun for a while!
xo,
s
Neyir says
Love this post, it is great to see how you go about tackling your projects. I am sure I missed something but I noticed that the new opening to the dining room(from the kitchen) will be directly across from the living room door, does that mean you are taking out some of the kitchen cabinets or am I just misreading the distances in the pics? Or just generally misunderstanding the whole thing :-).
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Neyir,
Our current idea does involve a teeny bit of cabinet restructuring, but it shouldn’t be anything too major. We’ll see how it goes when we get there though!
xo,
s
Casey says
I know you’ve got a new couch on the list, and if I remember correctly, you Craigslisted your Pottery Barn couch from the old house. I’m hoping you’ll do a post on your couch research process. It seems like such a big purchase that can go so wrong. My man and I chose a LaZBoy with recliners built-in, and in the store it was Soooooo comfortable. Three years later, we hate it and sit on the floor, leaning up against it. It doesn’t look bad, but it gives us both backaches. How does one choose a couch that will be as comfortable a decade later as it was in the store? We’re moving this year and getting rid of the current couch. I’m flummoxed and worried about replacing it. I don’t want another high-ticket mistake taking up space in our living room.
Clare says
I love your lists….but even more so I LOVE that paper!
Andrea Warren says
Oh my, oh my…. I can’t wait until you get to “Remove all the door handles, hinges, and doorknobs in the house and spray them with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint”. I built my house 12 years ago, when it seemed the only finish for door handles was brass… and more brass. I dream of bronzy or pewter finish hardware and wondered if it was possible to spray paint mine.
I figure it would cost me a few thousand dollars to replace all my brass finish hardware and that just seems downright wasteful… Have you previously tackled this on your blog?
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, but we’ve read about it with some confidence inspiring results! We figure it’s worth a try before springing to replace things. Here’s hoping it works!
xo,
s
Sara says
My husband and I haven’t tried the painting of the doorknobs and hinges quite yet, but we plan to this upcoming summer and here’s an article about it that I thought you might find helpful. My worry was that the paint would chip away but this article gives me faith to try it! (Even though it is a ton of work!!). Hope it helps! Love the new house!
Sara says
Der! I posted te first comment without the link! It’s there now though, dont worry!
My husband and I haven’t tried the painting of the doorknobs and hinges quite yet, but we plan to this upcoming summer and here’s an article about it that I thought you might find helpful. My worry was that the paint would chip away but this article gives me faith to try it! (Even though it is a ton of work!!). Hope it helps! Love the new house!
http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2010/03/spray-painting-door-knobs.html
Diana says
Love you list-making. I can get kinda compulsive with it, but lists make my calm! Need some new notebooks so maybe I’ll get some of that stationary.
Noticed you had plans for cork flooring and just wanted to send a word of encouragement. We just laid cork in our kitchen, office/music room and laundry (they’re all connected and the only floors in the house that aren’t original oak). It looks and feels great, I can stand for hours in the kitchen and not have any pain! The only down side is that it turned out to make our maple cabinets (cabinet color was screwed up by contractor, but not changeable)look kinda orange-we may be painting or restaining those somewhere down the line.
Lissa says
As a king-sized bed lover I’m curious about your choice to have only a full bed for the guest room? My parents always had 2 twins in their guest room and husby and I have had (at various houses) either queens or twins. Perhaps because we’re so used to 20+ years of a king bed, a double seems so small. Perhaps that’s best for your room size though. Thanks so much for the LIST (I too, love that paper)….seeing a rough idea of your plans gets me all the more psyched to see what’s next!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lissa,
Yup, that room is modestly sized, so we want to make sure there’s room for our guests to walk around and put down their luggage. We had a full sized bed in our last guest room (and have stayed with a bunch of friends and family, usually on a full sized bed) so it seemed like the way to go for us.
xo,
s
Bridgette says
Good Luck with it all. I LOVE lists. I want that paper too. My hubby always makes fun of me cause I love to make lists and break them down into smaller bullet points. Like when doing a project or major cleaning. I put the main point and then break it down into small points. So then I am still crossing things off(which brings such satisfaction to me) and still have the bigger picture. I look forward to seeing all the projects you guys will be posting about. I had finals and then Chritsmas and such, so having to catch up on your guys blog.=) Happy Late New Year.
Maureen says
This sounds so geeky, but i LOVE lists! I once made a list of reasons why I love lists. LOL! There is something so empowering about being able to cross things off…
Have you tried listography.com? It’s a super fun website dedicated to listmaking. :)
YoungHouseLove says
We’ll have to try it! Thanks for the suggestion!
xo,
s
Stacie says
Everything is looking great! We are about to tackle our upcoming baby’s nursery and it, too, has lots of wood trim that I’d like to paint white. Any pointers for someone who has been told “it’s not worth the trouble”?! Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s totally worth the trouble! Check out our post about our secret weapon when it comes to painting trim really easily (it’s located on our Project’s page in the Paint category with the title called “Paint Trim and Cut In Like A Pro”). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
ashlee says
i wish i could get the hang of painting wooden cabinetry. i tried painting my wooden bathroom vanity in my old house, and it turned out HORRENDOUS. in my new house, i have an equally ugly bathroom vanity in a honey oak colour. i’d love to paint it white. but i’m scarred for life after my last failed attempt.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Ashlee,
Check out our Projects page (see that tab under the header?) where we have a post all about how to paint wooden kitchen cabinets. Good luck!
xo,
s
threadbndr says
Loving the new house! Just a thought. If it turns out that you can’t open up the back of the masonry for a true two sided fireplace, how about seeing if the mason can run two sections of flue up the existing chimney. One can serve the existing fireplace and one a new fireplace or wood stove in the living room.
My parents did this to get a woodstove in their basement. In that case they ran the stove chimney paralell to the furnace. Don’t know if your local code would allow this, though.
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! Gotta have options!
xo,
s
Janet says
Hey guys,
one item on your list is to spray paint all the door knobs, handels and hinges with spray paint. Interesting idea, have you done that before? I was thinking to update all our old, brass door knobes to a more modern version but now you got me thinking to just spray paint them as well. I’m just wondering if the spray paint will hold up the use. Any idea?
YoungHouseLove says
Nope never done it and have no idea if it’ll work or how we’ll do it. But we figure it’s worth a try before scrapping and replacing things. So we’ll share how it goes down when we get to it for sure!
xo,
s
Essie says
Do you think the color of sink faucets and other bathroom accessories have to match the color of the doorknobs? We’re remodeling our bathrooms. thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We don’t think they have to match at all, as long as they “go.” We love layered looking things, so if there are chrome fixtures but a brushed nickel shelf on the wall and the door handles are brushed nickel too, it all feels cohesive and intentional. If the doorknobs are the only thing in one material (brass for example) they might stick out and look accidental, which isn’t always the best approach. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Essie says
Thanks! Your comment is really helpful!
Jess says
In reference to redoing your kitchen backsplash… Any idea if your tiles are on backerboard or actually on the sheetrock? Our ceramic tile backsplash is truly awful (whoever did ours did not do a good job!) so I may have to wait until you guys tackle this before I get up the guts to face mine! :) Ours, I’m afraid, looks to be attached to the sheet rock. Yikes!
YoungHouseLove says
Sheetrock we’re afraid. It’s gonna be messy.
xo,
s
georgia says
You guys have a lot to check of this list already!
Done quite a lot so far in such a short time :)
YoungHouseLove says
It’s so funny! Sometimes it feels like we’re going so fast. And other days we add about thirty things to our mental list so we’re pretty sure we’ll need another decade to get things done- haha.
xo,
s
Kim says
I went back looking for this and you guys have made some serious progress on this list!! Congratulations.
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo thanks! Of course we’ve added a hundred more things to the list as we go!
xo,
s
Holly says
Haha – I liked your April Fool’s joke today! :o)
I saw this post listed at the bottom of the page, and decided to check out your working to-do list…and congrats! Looks like you can cross several things off here!
And I was also curious – for the love of organization – do you have a post about anything related to how you organize pics, videos, writings, etc. on your computer? I’m a creature of habit and have just been doing the same thing for years — but it gets overwhelming, ya know? With the obsessive (in a good way!) pics and videos you guys take in a day — how do you keep it all organized? Maybe this is why you have a blog…so it’s archived and easily captured. Now there’s a thought. Anyway, when you’re not out trimming a tree, would love to know how it works for you! Thanks!!!
Happy Friday!
Holly
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes “storing” things on the blog is a nice safeguard. Haha. But we also back up photos/videos by uploading them to Flickr/YourTube and use an external hard drive along with some cloud servers to keep blog stuff and other work docs backed up. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Holly says
Ok, ok — good to know. I should start doing that then (uploading to web and external HD). As for keeping things organized, do you organize strictly by “date” or moreso “like” items (i.e. Folders specifically for: Clara, Holidays, Bathroom Reno) – does that make sense? I’m trying to tap into your train of thought on this one —
I’m sure it doesn’t help that I DON’T have a MAC. Consider that on the to-do list. :o)
YoungHouseLove says
We have main folders like “Clara” “Blog Stuff” “House Pics” and then within those folders we have dated folders. So we have months of clara pics and house pics (so we can look up May Clara or house pics for example). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Megan says
I want a list update! Cross some stuff off. :-) Please?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- we definitely need to get on that! We love crossing things off!
xo,
s