Our Home Improvement Plans

Last spring and summer we were all about making improvements to the interior of our home.  We began in our kitchen by updating our cabinetry and then repainting all of it followed by painting the walls and ceiling in our kitchen over the course of about six weeks.  Our entry way received a much needed update as well before we moved into our dining room and gave it the makeover I'd always dreamed of.

With the dining room completed we moved all of our furniture into it and the hallway so we could tackle the living room which included a new entry at the door as well as some much needed new carpet.  Once that was done we moved all of our furniture back in place and made our way down the hallway.  Before we put down the carpet however we had the biggest project which was to remodel our stairway.  We replaced the treads with new ones and stained them, repainted the walls and ceiling as well as the railing.  It has been a huge improvement to our home.  Then we finished the carpet downstairs.

This year our focus has been to move outside and work, primarily to do some more in-depth maintenance and improvements on our vehicles.  You've been following along as we detailed the insides of all of our cars, then fixed my daughter's hood, the roof and the headlights on her car.  We even repaired the faulty wiper switch and replaced the wiper blades.  I still have some paint repair to do on my truck and plan to tackle that very soon.

Along with the vehicle work we did a big fence repair project, trimmed our neighbors hedges that were encroaching on our driveway and have been keeping up our yard although I'm still not thrilled with how it looks at the present time.  Along with that we picked up a BBQ off of Craigslist, updated said BBQ, built a BBQ station to go with it and picked up some patio chairs off of Craigslist all for a graduation party for my oldest daughter.  Somehow we even managed to throw in a week long family vacation.  And boy oh boy was that ever fun!

So you might be thinking that home improvements are probably not high on my list at this point, but that is not entirely the case.  I still have a laundry room, bathroom and bedroom downstairs that haven't been touched and a stairway that still needs some final touches.  Plus there is a bathroom, two bedrooms and a hall space upstairs that need to be updated as well.  Still plenty to do and I'm anxious to get back to it.

Our downstairs bathroom is in really good shape.  The paint is still nice and new looking and a few years ago we updated the vanity so for now I don't have any new plans for that space.  Our laundry room is in pretty good shape as well.  I really love the laundry themed wallpaper border I have in there and plan to keep it, we've repaired the damage created by our tenants so that is no longer a concern.  I'd like to give it a fresh coat of paint and I have a couple updates in mind to make it even more usable than it already is.

The downstairs bedroom, my bedroom at present, is going to be last on the list for any updates as it is in need of a complete makeover.  That room took a beating by our former tenants and I've not done much in there other than to replace the light fixture they broke, in fact we've replace it twice, and to give it a good cleaning.

Upstairs I want to paint the hall space, possibly add a linen closet and some trim, replace the carpet and if at all possible bring in new doors.  The bathroom is in need of a revamp as well as the master bedroom.  My youngest daughter is on the fence regarding whether or not she wants to do anything in her room so for now we are in a holding pattern on that space.

So that is where we are at currently with our home improvements.  We also have a long list of things we want and need to do outside to the exterior of our home.  Our deck is showing its age and I've always dreamed of a pergola out there.  I'd also very much like to give our backyard a complete makeover, but that will have to wait until next summer as we are literally running out of time.

What big projects have you tackled this summer?  Do you have any big plans for home improvements?