The Little To Do List: Summer 2012

Since I wrote the Winter To Do List, priorities have changed. The biggest by far, of course, is the fact that we're now focussed on getting out of debt as quickly as possible. As a result, anything I want to do has to be able to be done with whatever we already have on hand: or with minimal expenditure. So, the list is full of littles (and one big).

Curiously, the Nester recently crafted a small post on how satisfying it was to her to get the little things done. I hope she's right. I tend to prefer the adreneline rush of a big project, though.

I have big projects in mind, too. I'd love to repaint the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, and the master bedroom. I want to slipcover our couch, beef up the bookcases and finish trimming out the livingroom, properly. For that matter I want to redo our hardwood floors, sand and restain the stairs, finish insulating the basement and rewire the house. And, more than any of that, I want to take my family to Europe before the oldest turns 18 (in four short years!) So, this list, in the context of the real big list right here is "little."

So, without further ado, here we are:

Living Room:

The Rocking Chair. Embarrassing, actually.

--Slipcover the rocking chair

--Turn Ritva curtains in living room from hidden tab tops to pinch pleated drapes. Hem them. Put trim on leading edge.

--Sew zipper on pillow
done! May 31:
William Morris and Four Small Projects.


Kitchen:

--Paint second coat on baseboards behind stove.

Back Hallway:

Enjoying a bit of a neutral look for now.

--Paint the back hallway (grellow) to match the front hallway, BM Edgecomb Grey (already on hand).

--Finish painting trim and doors BM Cloud White. (Mostly on hand)

--Scrape "popcorn" off of ceiling.

--Decoupage the dresser top. I had been thinking of painting the old IKEA melamine workhorse (above). I've collected all sort of images to pinterest and I've been thinking about all sorts of cool colours. Then, I saw this:

addicted to decorating

The damage on my dresser is confined to the top--and a little bit around the holes for the hardware for the top drawer, that's all. I have scrapbook paper and modge podge (and acrylic sealer, too.) I'm thinking about it.

Downstairs Bath:
--Paint trim, ceiling and door.
done! Though not all at once--or even in the same month!
William Morris and The Bathroom

--Sew window shade.
I made curtains instead.
The Bathroom Curtains

Master Bedroom:

--Make a drop cloth slipcover for the love seat.

--Move my curtain brackets further away from the frame, and put them at the same height! Iron and hang curtains.

Outside:

This is really an annual thing, but we only planted the boxes for the first time last year, so it still feels new. Hubby and I have to:

--Plan what to grow where.
done.

--Dig out the even numbered beds and add compost.
done!

Those are my tulips coming up ever so slowly. I have to transplant them in order to use this bed for vegetables. Not sure when or how to do that!

--For the front flower pots, I think I'll just plant yellow pansies this year.
done!

My house has been my hobby for a long time. May be too long? I don't know. But, I ant to finish up these projects as quickly as possible and see how I feel. I will be antsy, I will  have itchy patches and I ill want to scratch. The question for me is: do I want the scratching to continue to look like decorating and organizing--or something else?

I'll keep you posted.

PS: I'm working on something special for a final wrap up of the Spring Cleaning project. Hopefully, I'll have it together, soon!