We have many projects we would like to accomplish this year on our home. With last year being primarily dedicated to two areas, this year we are focusing on a large number of smaller projects.
1. Complete Taylor’s bedroom. We are slowly but surely changing our trim and doors to white versus stained. Taylor’s room is also the last room to get new cable, phone and LAN lines ran to it. I’ll be happy when that is over with as we under estimated how much CAT5e cable we would need and have paid through the nose for 100 ft sections at a time. When we’re done her room will look like Amelia’s room, except Taylor’s room is pink.
2. Refurbish foyer area. This area needs a lot of love. Our home is a bi-level, which means when you enter the front door you are faced with a decision – up or down. Our stairs are covered in carpet, which I’ve tripped on several times. My neighbor removed his and underneath was hardwood and I believe mine is the same. If so, I’m going to stain the treads and paint the risers. We are also going to lay down a new floor for the foyer. The current floor is horrible at best. It’s a fake parkay and very dark, we plan on replacing it with laminate wood of some type. Last but not least is the stair railing. What we have was mainly used for outside hand rails. It’s a solid metal piece that doesn’t really go with the rest of the home.
3. Remodel master bathroom. We have a 1/2 master bathroom, at 4′ by 6′ it’s quite small. It’s also in need of a lot of work. When we moved in, the room had some hideous wallpaper. We removed it to find the walls had never been painted. We plan on replacing the vanity, medicine cabinet, toilet, re-finishing and painting the walls and replacing the entry and closet doors. We should be able to do this for around $500 on a long weekend.
4. Change coat closet door. Our coat closet door is not level and obtrusive. We plan on replacing it with a closet door instead of an entry type door which is what is currently installed. It’s the door on the right in the picture.
5. Replace moldy insulation and replace drywall in garage. Our home had from what I can tell many water issues prior to us moving in, and some after we moved. Not too long after we moved in I (with my helper) removed a vast majority of the drywall sealing our home from the garage. See the black areas? That’s mold folks! This needs to be replaced to help keep our home sealed from the elements. We will also be replacing the door separating the garage from the living area of the house with a steel door, something our home inspector noted should be done.
Now onto the smaller stuff
6. Remove cat door on garage door, seal and insulate it. Pretty much self explanatory – I’ve used this access to get myself back in the house when I was locked out by our Roomba. It’s something a thief could do as well.
7. Create self sealing door in attic for whole house fan. We have this fan, it’s great – but we never use it. I need to create a door that will seal it when not in use, but open automatically when in use. Hopefully this will keep our heat and air from escaping through the attic.
8. Landscaping. This is work I have done before and really don’t enjoy doing. I would hire it out if our financial situation was better. I only plan on fixing some grading issues in the backyard. My neighbor is going to lend me his roto-tiller so I can cut down the hump left where our pool was. I will also do the same for where our shed was.
Whoever told me that a homeowners work is never done was sure right! There is an amount of self satisfaction that I get from doing all of this work. I think the fact that I’m turning this place into mine and not what some builder planned, is the biggest factor. These builder neighborhoods with HOA’s really drive me insane. That’s why I love where I live.
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