House Project Goals 2019

Two whole months (and a couple of days) into 2019. Is anyone besides me still talking about goals for the "new year"? Most likely, not! But a promise is a promise, and so I am back to finish this little series that I began in January . . . before Kati got engaged and before a spring wedding was planned! 

These are the House Projects that we're planning for 2019:

BATHROOM REFRESH  This is not a complete remodel, but we're tackling a few things in our main bathroom, the one that the girls share and that most of our guests use.

We have two and a half bathrooms in this house and they all have pastel tile. Hello, 1950's! The sage tile in the main bathroom, however, is pleasing to my eye and it blends with our color palette in the rest of the house, so we're going save ourselves a big remodeling project and leave it alone.

This is what we are going to do.

• Paint the walls and all the trim. We are using the antique white that we use on all the walls in the house, only this time we'll use that color on the trim as well. With all the green tile, it would be too "busy" to introduce another accent color, so white it is. 
• Hang a new ceiling light. You cannot see the old fixture in the above photo (bad blogger), but we have chosen a four light saddle light something like this. 
• Remove the fluorescent light above the vanity. We haven't found vanity lights that we love, so we're not going to put any for now. If there is not enough light, we'll come back and add some later. (Bekah never turns on the fluorescent light that is there now, so she probably won't miss a vanity light.) 
• Make shutters for the window.

That's it. The project is already underway, but we have not made a great deal of progress so far. (So many other irons in the fire.)

SOUTH WALL of the KITCHEN  You've heard me talk about this before! It's been in the plan ever since we've lived here. We have made a lot of progress in the kitchen, but this south wall still needs some work.

• Move the washing machine down to the basement. 
• Move the refrigerator over to where the washing machine sits now. This will involve some re-configuring of the upper cabinets, but it will allow space for a longer section of countertop instead of two short sections on either side of the fridge. 
• Build a drawer and cabinet unit to fill in the empty space. 

LANDSCAPING  We are planning to tidy and replant some of the beds around the house. We'll start with the front this spring and move clockwise as time/budget allows.

We're also considering putting a fence across the back of the property. For thirty-eight years, we lived in the country where our views were farmland and woods with houses in the distance. Here at Pineapple House, the spring and summer views are fine with our large forsythia hedge and a big oak tree on the lot in back of ours. But during the winter, we look out of our big picture window in the living room and see the next street and cars coming and going and, well, we're hoping to create a little backyard oasis. Maybe some evergreens or shrubbery. I am picturing hydrangeas and boxwoods. (We're open to suggestions!)

GUEST BEDROOM  This is a surprise project for this year, but it's one that I am quite excited about!

I am calling this bedroom my "consolation prize." It is actually Kati's bedroom now, but as you know, very soon she will not be living here. (Cue the lump in my throat.) I will miss her terribly. But you all know how much I love house-y things, so I am consoling myself with plans to decorate her room a new guest room!

This is the photo from the ad.

I have already purchased an antique pineapple post bed. I am planning to use a matelasse coverlet, either one that I picked up at a booth at an antique market a few years ago or a newer Martha Stewart one that my mom offered me. I am looking for a dresser. I have an old Windsor rocking chair that I will bring down from the attic. (I may replace it with a wing chair in the future.) I am considering repainting the bamboo table that is on my  sun porch (it belonged to my paternal grandparents) to use as a night stand or I may just keep my eye out for something else. I am also thinking about a rug.

I've never had a dedicated guest room before. Because all our bedrooms were needed, having guests simply meant that someone gave up their bed or their room for a time. But it will be fun to have such a room (we anticipate Kati and Andrew using it the most!) and it is super fun to plan and decorate it.

PAINT MASTER BEDROOM  This is the project that I am the least excited about. Let me explain.

I am so excited about decorating the guest room. I was planning to start as soon as the wedding was over. But then I realized that all of Kati's things will still be here. Other than what she has packed in her honeymoon suitcases, everything will remain here until she and Andrew visit for Bekah's graduation. Then her earthly goods will be loaded up and make the move to their new home. (Actually, it will be Kati's "new" home; it is Andrew's home now.)

I decided that I would have to begin to decorate the new guest room in June.

But then . . . Ron tells me that while Kati's room is empty, it would be the perfect time for us to temporarily move into it while we paint the master bedroom. Ugh.

He's right. (I hate that.) Our bedroom walls are paneled and a couple coats of white paint will brighten it considerably! It also needs a new ceiling and we'd love to take up the carpet. But those are bigger projects for another time. Paint will make a big difference.

(It's only that I am chomping at the bit to get at that guest room. But I'm a big girl. I can wait.)

(I guess.)

Those are our house-y goals for 2019. 

Since the year began, we have had changes in our time and in our budget. #wedding

So we will just do what we can do, chipping away at our goals. Making concessions. Making adjustments. Taking it one step at a time. Moving forward.

I am reminded of these words of truth . . .

"Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'" 

(James 4:15)

And I say "amen."