I’ve challenged my husband and I to finish EVERYTHING on our house to do list by the first day of summer, 2011. I really just needed to set some sort of ultimatum because otherwise this is just going to go on and on and on, and I’d really like to start feeling like I can hang things on the wall without feeling like I’m putting lipstick on a pig. Here’s the updated to-do list:

Living Room
- new tv & stereo stand
- strip and repaint fireplace
- new armchair
- paint ceiling trim
- paint front window frame
- paint and add legs to record storage

Dining Room
- paint walls
- new sideboard
- new windows
- curtains
- frost windows
- light fixture
- paint hutch
- skim coat walls
- repaint
- new rug
- new basement door

Kitchen
- gut completely and new everything!
- radiant floor heat
- new floor
- new drywall
- brick up north window
- rewire
- new ceiling
- open up archway
- new cabinets
- subway tile backsplash
- paint walls
- paint trim
- paint door
- stain outside of door
- shelf in window
- curtain
- artwork
- mug storage
- reseal counter tops
- touch up paint

Front Entrance/Vestibule
- table for mail, keys, etc
- paint entryway table
- hooks for coats
- retile
- paint/wallpaper vestibule

Hallways
- scrape wallpaper
- spackle holes from wiring
- light fixtures
- paint walls
- paint stairs
- table at top of 3rd floor
- new shelves/table in 2nd floor hallway
- 3rd floor hallway curtain

Powder Room
- wallpaper
- new floor
- new door

Bedroom
- paint
- shelves in closet
- new windows
- quarter round
- new door
- artwork over bed

Dressing Room (now closet)
- scrape wallpaper
- paint
- quarter round
- new window
- rewire light fixture
- dresser situation
- new doors
- get rid of door
- accessories storage

Laundry Room
- more storage boxes
- curtains
- artwork

Guest Room
- empty out boxes
- rewire light fixture
- quarter round
- sand walls
- new windows
- paint
- furniture
- new door
- new outlets
- get rid of old wall air conditioner
- dresser
- artwork

Bathroom
- remove/replace paneling
- vanity & sink
- shelves
- new medicine cabinet
- new window
- new door
- rewire light
- paint trim
- hang shelf
- artwork
- shower curtain
- curtain
- touch up tub

Office
- paint
- wall shelves
- shelves in closet
- quarter round
- re-hang door
- more storage
- new windows
- add more outlets
- get rid of crap
- touch up paint
- hang artwork
- better closet storage
- new filing cabinet
- get rid of old computer
- paint small storage dressers
- new curtains

Craft Studio
- paint
- scrub floor
- paint closet
- storage
- furniture
- put up shelves
- new window
- paint trim
- new trim around window?
- closet storage
- better storage boxes
- new desk/table
- big pinboard
- curtains

Patio
- paint cinderblock
- trellis for privacy
- new gate door

Everywhere Else
- house numbers
- fix wood piece alongside 2nd floor roof
- replace stack pipe
- get rid of old washer and dryer
- clean and reorganize basement
- new storm door
- new front door/paint front door
- paint trim around front entryway 2 years ago

Ugh, I am so grossed out by my house lately. The place is a pig stye, everything is covered in a layer of grime and there isn’t one finished room in the whole place. Living in a house that doesn’t feel “complete” isn’t very conducive to regular cleaning practices. I try to do “Monday night cleaning” but it normally winds up being closer to like, “Every third Monday night cleaning”, and even then it basically just involves vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom and maybe dusting if I’m feeling ambitious.

We’re juggling a lot of projects at the moment, but I’m trying to get a handle on organizing my thoughts and focus. I’m devoting this week to the kitchen, which hasn’t been touched much at all since we had it remodeled two years ago. It’s built up a layer of grime like the other rooms, the storage is all willy-nilly and there’s nothing on the walls.

I went out tonight, but did spend an hour just doing a general cleaning so I can at least have a jumping off spot for a deep cleaning. I cleared everything off the counters, wiped them down, cleaned the sink, put away all the pots & pans hanging out on the stove, and even cleaned out the microwave, which I might actually have never done before, I can’t remember. My plan for the rest of the week is to clean out, organize and wipe down all the cabinets, clean the appliances, wash the window, scrub the floor, and hang a shelf. Pretty ambitious, actually. Let’s hope I can wrangle my husband into helping me. 2 years ago

I’m having some people over after work tomorrow, and of course now I’m looking around and seeing the house through other people’s eyes. I’m feeling a little discouraged over the fact that not one single room in our house is finished. Sure, everything is more or less livable, but almost every room is no more than 50% done – things need to be painted, hung, cleaned, rearranged, fixed, etc. It’s a very tough choice between focusing on big projects so the rooms can be more livable versus taking one room and doing every little detail. I really go back and forth between the two philosophies, and as a result am pretty much nowhere. Not sure what to do about this one.

FIRST FLOOR

Entryway
- wallpaper vestibule
- retile vestibule
- hooks for coats, etc

Living Room
- hang stuff on the walls
- paint and put legs on record cabinet
- paint fireplace
- finish painting stairs
- hang stuff in stairwell

Powder Room
- new floor
- wallpaper
- new toilet
- curtains

Dining Room
- new rug
- paint hutch
- hang more stuff on walls
- new dining chairs
- new sideboard

Kitchen
- shelf for cookbooks
- organize cabinets
- curtain

SECOND FLOOR

Hallway
- finish painting hallway
- hang stuff in hallway
- paint stairs
- bookcase for hallway
- get rid of desk

Guest Room
- rewire electric
- new drywall
- demo wall air conditioner
- paint
- new futon
- dresser
- curtains
- rug
- new door

Bathroom
- new vanity
- paint
- rewire
- regrout tub
- new shower head
- curtains

Potential Laundry Room
- paint
- put in shelves
- new door

Bedroom Closet
- paint
- put in shelves

Bedroom
- hang shelves
- hang artwork
- curtains
- rug
- paint night tables

THIRD FLOOR

Hallway
- paint stairs
- paint hallway
- hang stuff in hallway
- table for top of stairs

Craft Room
- better storage bins
- paint trim
- curtains
- rug

Office
- hang stuff on walls
- better desk storage
- new filing cabinet
- get rid of old computer

Outside
- new roof
- paint front door
- paint trim around front window and door
- house numbers
- paint back door2 years ago

Hey, I just realized I can cross some things off!

FIRST FLOOR

Entryway
- wallpaper vestibule
- retile vestibule
- hooks for coats, etc

Living Room
- hang stuff on the walls
- paint and put legs on record cabinet
- paint fireplace
- finish painting stairs
- hang stuff in stairwell

Powder Room
- new floor
- wallpaper
- new toilet
- curtains

Dining Room
- new rug
- paint hutch
- hang more stuff on walls
- new dining chairs
- new sideboard

Kitchen
- shelf for cookbooks
- organize cabinets
- curtain

SECOND FLOOR

Hallway
- finish painting hallway
- hang stuff in hallway
- paint stairs
- bookcase for hallway
- get rid of desk

Guest Room
- rewire electric
- new drywall
- demo wall air conditioner
- paint
- new futon
- dresser
- curtains
- rug
- new door

Bathroom
- new vanity
- paint
- rewire
- regrout tub
- new shower head
- curtains

Potential Laundry Room
- paint
- put in shelves
- new door

Bedroom Closet
- paint
- put in shelves

Bedroom
- hang shelves
- hang artwork
- curtains
- rug
- paint night tables

THIRD FLOOR

Hallway
- paint stairs
- paint hallway
- hang stuff in hallway
- table for top of stairs

Craft Room
- better storage bins
- paint trim
- curtains
- rug

Office
- hang stuff on walls
- better desk storage
- new filing cabinet
- get rid of old computer

Outside
- new roof
- paint front door
- paint trim around front window and door
- house numbers
- paint back door 3 years ago

Ugh, we are only a couple of big projects away from being “finished” with the house, as far as contractors go. There’s still PLENTY of painting, tiling, etc, but we can handle that stuff on our own.

Still, getting through our laundry room project is starting to feel like it’s going to require mass amounts of fortitude (and possibly money). I feel exhausted already and it hasn’t even started yet! Dealing with contractors is the WORST and I can’t wait to be done with them all. 3 years ago

I put together a list of everything that still needs to be done for the house. It’s a pretty long list, but as long as we can keep checking things off we’ll eventually get there. I wish I could set a goal of having all this done by, say, the end of the year, but I doubt that will happen. As much as I hate to say it, our house will probably just be perpetually unfinished.

FIRST FLOOR

Entryway
- wallpaper vestibule
- retile vestibule
- hooks for coats, etc

Living Room
- hang stuff on the walls
- paint and put legs on record cabinet
- paint fireplace
- finish painting stairs
- hang stuff in stairwell

Powder Room
- new floor
- wallpaper
- new toilet
- curtains

Dining Room
- new rug
- paint hutch
- hang more stuff on walls
- new dining chairs
- new sideboard

Kitchen
- shelf for cookbooks
- organize cabinets
- curtain

SECOND FLOOR

Hallway
- finish painting hallway
- hang stuff in hallway
- paint stairs
- bookcase for hallway
- get rid of desk

Guest Room
- rewire electric
- new drywall
- demo wall air conditioner
- paint
- new futon
- dresser
- curtains
- rug
- new door

Bathroom
- new vanity
- paint
- rewire
- regrout tub
- new shower head
- curtains

Potential Laundry Room
- paint
- put in shelves
- new door

Bedroom Closet
- paint
- put in shelves

Bedroom
- hang shelves
- hang artwork
- curtains
- rug
- paint night tables

THIRD FLOOR

Hallway
- paint stairs
- paint hallway
- hang stuff in hallway
- table for top of stairs

Craft Room
- better storage bins
- paint trim
- curtains
- rug

Office
- hang stuff on walls
- better desk storage
- new filing cabinet
- get rid of old computer

Outside
- new roof
- paint front door
- paint trim around front window and door
- house numbers
- paint back door 3 years ago

We’ve been getting estimates for having one of our bedrooms converted into a laundry room/linen closet/clothes closet. This is a pretty major project, which will hopefully change our lives for the better in many ways. First off, our dryer died a few months ago, and we’ve been waiting to get a new one because normal sized ones won’t fit in our basement, so a new dryer is contingent on this room. Secondly, our house has very few closets, and this will give us desperately needed storage to get a ton of crap out of the open. It might just be my ultimate dream of “a place for everything and everything in its place.”
Thirdly, putting money into the house and getting a brand new nice room out of it will give us more incentive to make the rest of the house nicer. 3 years ago

I’ve realized that a good way to approach working on the house is by breaking every big job up into minuscule tasks, each of which can be done in one evening. So now “painting a room” becomes clearing out the room, dusting the walls, taping everything off, spackling, sanding, priming, painting, priming the trim, and painting the trim. True, it spreads it out into a week-long process, but at least each bite is a bit easier to chew. It’s a lot less overwhelming, and it makes you slow down and do each step properly. When the task is “paint the room”, I tend to get impatient and cut too many corners because I’m only focusing on the “painting” part. When the task for the evening is “caulk”, that gives me a whole two hours or so to make sure I do the job right, and I don’t have to think too much about it.

Somehow we never painted the trim in the dining room, and it’s bugging the crap out of me. So the other day we cleared out the room, last night I taped everything off, tonight I have some sanding to do, tomorrow I’ll prime, and Thursday and Friday I’ll paint. I’ll be done by the weekend, and it’s not this huge thing that’s stressing me out.

Of course, when I think about everything ELSE that needs to be done…THAT stresses me out… 3 years ago

Tore off my old front deck. New deck designed. Applied for home equity loan for fundage. Laying out deck, digging holes, pouring concrete this week.

After this is done… finish laying trim in kitchen, put up pantry doors, do something with the ceiling.

After that… hardwood floors in 1st living room and computer room, upper stairs, and hallway to kitchen. 5 years ago

My house has been under construction ever since we moved in back in October of 2004. We have a few rooms mostly done, but I just want to get the damn thing finished. It’s sapping my will to live. 8 years ago