The Big House To Do List

G and I have started entertaining the idea of moving closer to work. It's a 45 minute commute and it made sense when our house was a middle point for us. But now that we both work at the same place and all our friends are there it would make more sense to move closer. 

I absolutely love our house. Our neighborhood. The fact that we are only 30 minutes from my parents. G and I both agreed if we ever moved again in Michigan our house would have to back up to a lake. I would also like a hot tub. And a renovated house. I already redid one kitchen. I'm not sure I want to do another. So it would probably take a long time to find that dream house. In the meantime, here is the list of things we plan to do to our current house before we would even think of putting our house on the market.

• Touch-ups on the trim and cabinets in the kitchen.
• Paint the cabinets and trim in the main bathroom and the 2 upstairs bathrooms.
• Paint the mirror frame in the main bathroom.
• Spray paint the knobs in all 3 bathrooms.
• Hire a plumber to get the basement bathroom working again.
• Paint the laundry room a fun, happy color.
• Stain the back deck and the front porch.
• Paint the front door.
• Power wash the entire house.
• Remove the stump from the front landscape.
• Deep clean the carpet in the living room, stairs and upstairs.
• Paint the trim in all 3 bedrooms upstairs.
• Paint the stair railing.
• Organize the office and guest bedroom closets.
• Repair the drywall ceiling in the garage.
• Paint the floor in the garage.
• Add frames around the two upstairs bathroom mirrors.
• Spray paint the gold panels on the fireplace.
• Spray paint all the gold knobs on every single door.
• Replace light fixture in master bathroom.

Whew. That is quite the list. It doesn't look that long, but some of those tasks are really big projects. I always joked that when I left this house there wouldn't be any gold or oak left and if we accomplish this list that will be the case. I know we can do all this. Well, except the plumping in the basement. Not going to mess with that. I even kind of enjoy these projects. But they are hard work and they are tedious. But the end result has always been worth it. And I think it would pay off in the long run if/when we sell. 

There is a lot left to do. But we have done a lot too. Here is a list of what we have done so far since we bought the house.

• Hired a professional to repair the garage door springs
• Installed a new garage door opener
• Installed a new kitchen fan/light
• Installed a new sink
• Purchased all new kitchen appliances
• Painted the trim white on the main floor
• Painted the fireplace mantel 
• Spray painted the gold hallway and kitchen lights nickel 
• Painted the trim in the master bedroom
• Built a bar in the basement
• Repaired the master bedroom toilet
• Painted the kitchen cabinets
• Repaired the garbage disposal
• Hired a professional to repair the washing machine
• Built a work bench in the garage
• Calk the painted trim
• Organized the garage
• Organized the master closet

This is the year of the house so we are planning to paint the bathroom cabinets. We already have the paint! I would also like to spray paint the gold panels on the fireplace and repair the drywall in the garage. If we can organize the upstairs closets and spray paint the knobs on the doors as well I would call this year a good one. Productive.

I think Young House Love says it best, "We are not house flippers. We are house lovers."