Here are the results from my 2012 resolution. Not bad!
I'm taking this off the sidebar and hoping to make another project resolution for 2015. Maybe slightly different - thinking finance/minimalism related. Maybe another house fix-up though!
January
Replace toilet seal in master bath
February
Buy fire extinguisher
Hang shelf rack above toilet in master bath
Re-hang exterior shutter
Reorganize both bathrooms
Fix running toilet in master bath
Reorganize guest room closet
Reorganize hallway cleaning closet
Reorganize attic
Reorganize pantry
March
Remove bird's nest and fix broken screen in attic
Update front yard landscaping
April
Paint entry hall
May
Check security light and replace bulb
Put house numbers on mailbox
Replace busted back door knob
Renovate backyard flower bed
Decorate entry hall
June
Hang pictures in entry hall
Plant rose bushes
Paint fireplace in den
July
Paint den
August
Reorganize master bedroom closet
September
Fix leaky master bathroom sink
October
Paint back hallway
November
Paint brass doors on fireplace black
December
Purchase frames for gallery wall
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
June, July, August fixes!
I got a few things done in June that I had been meaning to do. I finally put the finishing touches on the front hallway by hanging some art and pictures:
I planted rose bushes! Five different colors: Drop Dead Red, Queen Mary 2 (white), Pink Traviata, Ch-Ching (yellow), and Just Joey (peach). They are budding like crazy right now and I'm so glad I put something I love in that flower bed!
I also have been wanting to redo our den a little bit. I'm picturing painting the room a lighter color so the room will appear bigger and lighter. To start, I painted our fireplace white. I've been looking at so many pictures of white fireplaces online, and I love how clean and bright they look. It also reinforces it as a focal point in the room. Our fireplace was already painted, so I just got some semi-gloss white paint and went to town on it. I painted it all in one night! Two coats was about right for this job. I love it!
In July, I put another big paint change into place. I finally painted the den. No more purple! I loved the purple so much, but I really wanted to incorporate more colors (specifically blues and greens), and the purple kept me from adding too much color in accessories, and didn't really match the furniture we already had. So I brought the paint color in the hallway forward into the den. It's so much brighter; it feels like we have more lights on at night!
In August, I didn't have much time for major fixes, but I got on a smaller project I've been meaning to do. Our master closet has been a mess for a while, with things thrown up haphazardly on shelves, and wasted space at the bottom. While I'd love for us to be able to afford a new closet shelving system, I found some things around the house and did this little fixup for free! Not to mention it was a great excuse to throw away and donate some stuff and get rid of some clutter. I organized purses and scarves into bins at the top, and added a second hanger rack on the right side so I could double the number of short items hung. So much more space! I also removed the sliding doors from the front (not pictured) because they kept getting in the way. Now I don't mind looking at the closet, and it's easier to find everything, too.
I planted rose bushes! Five different colors: Drop Dead Red, Queen Mary 2 (white), Pink Traviata, Ch-Ching (yellow), and Just Joey (peach). They are budding like crazy right now and I'm so glad I put something I love in that flower bed!
I also have been wanting to redo our den a little bit. I'm picturing painting the room a lighter color so the room will appear bigger and lighter. To start, I painted our fireplace white. I've been looking at so many pictures of white fireplaces online, and I love how clean and bright they look. It also reinforces it as a focal point in the room. Our fireplace was already painted, so I just got some semi-gloss white paint and went to town on it. I painted it all in one night! Two coats was about right for this job. I love it!
In July, I put another big paint change into place. I finally painted the den. No more purple! I loved the purple so much, but I really wanted to incorporate more colors (specifically blues and greens), and the purple kept me from adding too much color in accessories, and didn't really match the furniture we already had. So I brought the paint color in the hallway forward into the den. It's so much brighter; it feels like we have more lights on at night!
In August, I didn't have much time for major fixes, but I got on a smaller project I've been meaning to do. Our master closet has been a mess for a while, with things thrown up haphazardly on shelves, and wasted space at the bottom. While I'd love for us to be able to afford a new closet shelving system, I found some things around the house and did this little fixup for free! Not to mention it was a great excuse to throw away and donate some stuff and get rid of some clutter. I organized purses and scarves into bins at the top, and added a second hanger rack on the right side so I could double the number of short items hung. So much more space! I also removed the sliding doors from the front (not pictured) because they kept getting in the way. Now I don't mind looking at the closet, and it's easier to find everything, too.
Monday, June 04, 2012
May Fixes
It's June already! How did that happen? Well, I'm ready to show you what got done in May. I think I was subconsciously trying to make up for what didn't get done in April.
We hung a shelf in the newly painted hallway, and I hung a mirror and changed out the light fixture! Surprisingly not that hard. I did have to spackle the ceiling where the hole was just a little too big.
Before and after:
And the piece de resistance: I spent the entire three-day Memorial Day weekend removing unwanted plants, shrubs, trees, and weeds from the flower bed that runs along the back of the house, and replanting some brand-new hydrangeas (and transplanting one old one). Day and night, people. Day and night difference, here.
We hung a shelf in the newly painted hallway, and I hung a mirror and changed out the light fixture! Surprisingly not that hard. I did have to spackle the ceiling where the hole was just a little too big.
Before and after:
I got a new doorknob for the back door (the old one kept falling out)!
And the piece de resistance: I spent the entire three-day Memorial Day weekend removing unwanted plants, shrubs, trees, and weeds from the flower bed that runs along the back of the house, and replanting some brand-new hydrangeas (and transplanting one old one). Day and night, people. Day and night difference, here.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
March and April fixes
In March, I tackled the gross job of removing a bird's best from the vent in our attic and stapling up new screens. No pictures of that, but I do have a before-and-after of the other March project - updating some of the front landscaping! I moved the puny azaleas to make way for a little sitting area (we don't have a porch).
In April, I didn't get much house stuff done, but to keep the resolution I knocked one out: painting the entry hall. It had a dingy yellowy cream color, and the ceiling was painted to match. I chose a lighter cream, and painted the ceiling and trim a bright white. Let in the light!
In April, I didn't get much house stuff done, but to keep the resolution I knocked one out: painting the entry hall. It had a dingy yellowy cream color, and the ceiling was painted to match. I chose a lighter cream, and painted the ceiling and trim a bright white. Let in the light!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
February Fixes
I really got on a roll in February with house fix-its. I kind of went on an organizational streak!
My main goal for the month was to re-hang the shutter that had fallen off the house. It had been sitting propped against the house for months! I was starting to feel like we were "that house" on the block. I am trying to pick my goal project to be something that I've been putting off, or that isn't fun to do, so if I do want to do other projects it's just a bonus!
We (and by we I mean mostly Cory) spent a good part of a couple of afternoons trying to drill the holes in the mortar for the shutter screws. That is, until our drill bit broke! Oops. So it turns out, you can buy a masonry drill bit that is mean to drill into that kind of stuff. Once we got the right kind of bit, it took about 30 seconds to drill the last hole (whereas the wrong bit was costing us about 20-30 minutes per hole). I hammered in the shutter screws, and project done!
I also reorganized the closets in our guest room/craft room and in our hallway (where we keep all the cleaning stuff). It's crazy how doing something small can make such a big difference! It also keeps me motivated to keep going more things around the house.
I don't have a picture of the shutter, but it looks like all the other ones now, really. Here's a picture of the redone guest room closet, and a before/after of the hallway:
My main goal for the month was to re-hang the shutter that had fallen off the house. It had been sitting propped against the house for months! I was starting to feel like we were "that house" on the block. I am trying to pick my goal project to be something that I've been putting off, or that isn't fun to do, so if I do want to do other projects it's just a bonus!
We (and by we I mean mostly Cory) spent a good part of a couple of afternoons trying to drill the holes in the mortar for the shutter screws. That is, until our drill bit broke! Oops. So it turns out, you can buy a masonry drill bit that is mean to drill into that kind of stuff. Once we got the right kind of bit, it took about 30 seconds to drill the last hole (whereas the wrong bit was costing us about 20-30 minutes per hole). I hammered in the shutter screws, and project done!
I also reorganized the closets in our guest room/craft room and in our hallway (where we keep all the cleaning stuff). It's crazy how doing something small can make such a big difference! It also keeps me motivated to keep going more things around the house.
I don't have a picture of the shutter, but it looks like all the other ones now, really. Here's a picture of the redone guest room closet, and a before/after of the hallway:
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Fixin' it up
So, I never posted anything about New Year's, but I did make a resolution: to do one new house project a month. It doesn't have to be anything major, but I have to do or fix at least one thing about the the house during each month in 2012.
So far, I've kept it! Last month, Cory and I replaced the wax seal under our toilet in the master bathroom, a process that involves removing the toilet and putting it back (side note: toilets are HEAVY). That fixed our poor wobbly toilet!
This month, my personal goal is to rehang a shutter that has fallen off the front of the house. In our case, that means drilling holes and hanging it properly (as opposed to using the velcro the previous homeowners used). I'm going to keep a list in the sidebar of things I've done this year to the house; I hope to add more and more!
So far, I've kept it! Last month, Cory and I replaced the wax seal under our toilet in the master bathroom, a process that involves removing the toilet and putting it back (side note: toilets are HEAVY). That fixed our poor wobbly toilet!
This month, my personal goal is to rehang a shutter that has fallen off the front of the house. In our case, that means drilling holes and hanging it properly (as opposed to using the velcro the previous homeowners used). I'm going to keep a list in the sidebar of things I've done this year to the house; I hope to add more and more!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Pinspired
Have you heard of Pinterest? It's a bookmarking site that allows you to save links and pictures from any website. It's a great way to see what ideas other people from around the world have for homekeeping, organization, parties, recipes, fashion... anything, really!
My sister got inspired by one site that consolidated a DVD collection by putting all the discs into sleeves an storing them in a decorative box. She asked me if I wanted to do it too, and we hunted down some cute boxes this past weekend.
Our DVD collection went from this...
... to this!
I made a little space on our existing bookshelf for the box, an now we can get rid of our entire DVD rack. I'm always looking for ways to save space in our house!
My sister got inspired by one site that consolidated a DVD collection by putting all the discs into sleeves an storing them in a decorative box. She asked me if I wanted to do it too, and we hunted down some cute boxes this past weekend.
Our DVD collection went from this...
... to this!
I made a little space on our existing bookshelf for the box, an now we can get rid of our entire DVD rack. I'm always looking for ways to save space in our house!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Little things
Now that we've been in our house for over half a year, I'm definitely starting to notice a few things that need a little improvement. While our budget doesn't allow for major renovations or anything, I can't wait to make a few tweaks here and there.
- Fixing the latch on our gate. We've gone as far as taking the old one off (not a big problem, as it was mostly broken), but we have the new one and haven't put it on yet. We may be investing in a drill soon; I think it will come in handy for more than just this project.
- Putting trash cans in every room of the house. This one is really minor, but I've noticed there are a couple of rooms where trash seems to accumulate because it doesn't have an immediate place to go.
- Hanging things on the wall. We have a couple of things, but our den and living room have pretty much nothing at all. Also related...
- Hanging some window treatments. We have nice blinds on all the windows, but I'd like something soft and modern to frame them up a little.
- Refinishing the kitchen cabinets. Our cabinets need repainting, and they have nickel bathroom drawer pulls as handles. I'd like to change those out.
- Gardening! I generally think of myself as having a black thumb, but we have a couple of really nice hydrangea bushes, with a lot of weeds growing around them. They would look so much nicer weeded and surrounded by fresh mulch!
We will have to do some major projects in the next few years (roof, possibly plumbing), but while we're still paying off other debts, I think it's a great time to tackle some of these other jobs.
- Fixing the latch on our gate. We've gone as far as taking the old one off (not a big problem, as it was mostly broken), but we have the new one and haven't put it on yet. We may be investing in a drill soon; I think it will come in handy for more than just this project.
- Putting trash cans in every room of the house. This one is really minor, but I've noticed there are a couple of rooms where trash seems to accumulate because it doesn't have an immediate place to go.
- Hanging things on the wall. We have a couple of things, but our den and living room have pretty much nothing at all. Also related...
- Hanging some window treatments. We have nice blinds on all the windows, but I'd like something soft and modern to frame them up a little.
- Refinishing the kitchen cabinets. Our cabinets need repainting, and they have nickel bathroom drawer pulls as handles. I'd like to change those out.
- Gardening! I generally think of myself as having a black thumb, but we have a couple of really nice hydrangea bushes, with a lot of weeds growing around them. They would look so much nicer weeded and surrounded by fresh mulch!
We will have to do some major projects in the next few years (roof, possibly plumbing), but while we're still paying off other debts, I think it's a great time to tackle some of these other jobs.
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