A Girl and her House

Today is the one year anniversary of me owning my very own house -all by myself. I almost didn't notice the date, but I was casting around for evidence that I had accomplished something...anything... in the last year. So I started making a list of the things in the house that I had accomplished. In a house this size and of this age, changing things is a bit like spitting in the ocean. There's always so much more to do, that it's easy to focus on (and see only) that part of the equation. So, just off the top of my head, here's the list.


Outdoors

• Grill
  
• Adirondack chairs
  
• Garage torn down
  
• Yard managed

I now have a picture in my head of where the yards and gardens are going. That's huge. Next up, this summer:

• Back garden perennials relocated
  
• Brick patio installed
  
• Brick fire pit installed
  
• 2 new Adirondack chairs built
  
• Back fence and gate rearranged/extended
  
• Composter assembled and located –somewhere
  
• One small front yard garden re-arranged and made pretty

Front Porch

• Rug
  
• Wicker rocker
  
• Table, tablecloth, clock
  
• Curtains removed
  
• planters

Next-up Project:

• New storm door installed
  
• Get it cleared off. It's become a winter-time mess.

Morning Room

• New lamp

Ummm... I think that's it. This room is still in the emptying out, re-visioning phase.
Living Room

• Rug
  
• Couch
  
• Chair
  
• Bookshelf
  
• Wine rack
  
• Lamp

Next-up innovations

• Second bookcase

Dining Room

• Dining room table
  
• 8 chairs
  
• New “china”
  
• Removed doors from the dining room corner, where there was just a jumble. I hope the doors will replace uglier ones upstairs, but I haven’t checked yet.

Next-up project:

• Table linens

Kitchen

• New silverware
  
• Building a collection of new cookware
  
• New kitchen table
  
• new glassware

Next-up project:

• Copper ceiling installed; ceiling fan removed
  
• Hideous, (seriously) light over the kitchen sink replaced with something nice.

Family Room
This uses to be the office, so it’s a paradigm shift

• walls painted
  
• Bought trim; it will be installed as well

Next-up project

• Move pine cupboard upstairs to sewing room
  
• Move my desk upstairs to new office
  
• Install trim
  

Downstairs Bathroom

• Toilet repaired, but really it needs to be replaced

Next up innovations

• hot water leak repaired

Sewing Room

• Two new (custom) windows installed

Next up innovations

• Get it cleared out!
  
• Look for a chest of drawers that can serve as a cutting table

Guest Room

• Removed scoungy old bookcase
  
• New clock

Next-up:

• I have tentative arrangements to get a full-size wrought iron bed in there.

Workout Room
ahem.... nothing. At all.

Next-up project:

• Clear out the yarn piles that have developed
  
• Bring down the weights and the weight bench

New Office

• Horrible carpet removed
  
• Hardwood floor installed
  
• painting finished
  
• Have a full-on plan for the room
  
• Have purchased the wall hangings

Next up innovations

• Prime and paint the trim. Touch up the ceiling where I got over-excited.
  
• move the desk etc... upstairs
  
• Order the futon

My bedroom

• New bed
  
• New curtains

Next-up Innovations

• Remove carpet; have Pergo installed

Upstairs bathroom

• Shower door removed
  
• Recaulked the tub
  
• Dry wall repaired; room is ready for re-painting
  
• New curtains, towels, rugs, etc…
  
• Two new pieces of furniture –armoires
  
• New ceiling light installed
  
• New low-flo “rain” shower head installed
  
• Orchid for top of one armoire
  
• New doorknob
  
• New bathroom clock -which I seriously love

Next-up projects

• Ceiling exhaust fan replaced
  
• Painting

Infrastructure

• New sump pump
  
• New furnace and central air
  
• Programmable thermostat

Next up:

• a new hot water heater, probably

If you've gotten this far in the list, you must be a dear friend. Which probably means that you've noticed that I had a LOT of help getting all of this done, for which I thank you. You might also have noticed that the "next up" projects are somewhat smaller and discrete. "Change a light fixture" is a lot different from "Oh my heaven's, I'm rattling around in an empty house." This is a respectable list for a year's worth of work and I certainly don't want to lose momentum or stop this project. But I need a little respite, and some free brain cells to work on other things -such as, my career, for instance.