House List 2013

I’ve been inspired by Centsational Girl’s yearly Home Goals post.  I thought I might take a stab at where we want to be this time next year. We looked at great homes at new homes in lake worth, and recommended to friends of mine who needed to a house to live. They are very cozy to live in and they are very affordable. We also have so many anticipated changes over the next few months. I’m excited to write this post and fantasize about my clean dust-free living space.

Here are 13 goals for 2013!

1) living on the 2nd floor

We are currently in this large bedroom on the 3rd floor and it’s a little too far from the bathroom for comfort…especially since we keep the house at 54. Note: The room hasn’t been this neat since we took this picture. It’s actually usually a crazy mess.

We are going to be living in that room with paint and decorations and clean sheets.

2) bathroom adjacent to our bedroom.

I have wanted a bathroom adjacent or even near our bedroom for soo long.  Our first apartment our bedroom was off the kitchen and the trip to the bathroom involved crossing every room in the apartment.  Not really all that bad except for the cold floors on bare feet.  Non-optimal.

This is our current bathroom but it’s now messier and has lost of holes in the walls… Exploratory bathroom surgery you know. I’d take a picture of it in it’s current state but posting our messy bathroom on the internet is past my share-threshold.

The bathroom is functional but it is a full 2 flights of stairs between the bedroom and the bathroom….2 flights of bone-chilling cold stairs.

3) Glorious Closet space!

We will have a closet bigger than the bedroom in our first apartment.  It’s got a ways to go but I’m sooooo excited!

4) No more tools in my den

Powertools will be kept in the basement until needed and put back in the basement upon completion of a project.  I can’t wait!

Maybe we’ll even have a den without a bathtub in it. oh, the luxury! The den will not be done and I’m skeptical that we’ll get any built-ins done in the next year but we will have a TV and a couch. I will hopefully have settled on a paint color and with a rug on the floor, this room will be living and not working space.

We finally broke down and picked up a nice slipcovered sofa and loveseat and the loveseat is in our current bedroom.  Having a cushiony place to sit was novel but having a couch long enough to lounge on is going to be amazing even if the room isn’t done yet.

5) start of a privacy hedge

First thing this spring we’re going to be planting that arborviae hedge to block our view of the neighbors.  It’ll be more than a year before they are large enough to block anything but it’s a start. I talk about that and the plan for the yard here.

6) Host something!

I want to have a party where people don’t have to assemble their own furniture.  We hosted a burger feast in 2012 but the Ikea chairs for the deck had to be assembled.  I will have a dinner party where I have seating pre-assembled for everyone.  I’m also going to have that Open House I wanted to have last year.  We met the neighbors at a neighborhood party before Christmas and it was great to meet everyone!  The neighborhood is great.  Everyone is so neighborly.  I wasn’t expecting it.  Anyways, I’m sure they’re going to be so excited for a chance to see it.

Not to mention our friends have an unusual penchant for the dinner party:

7) Insulation and Paint

I’m refraining from painting and doing too much plaster repair work until we have the insulation blown in.  The insulation requires a bunch of holes to be drilled in the plaster and lath. and those holes have to be patched.  We’re planning on patching and painting the whole house at once to minimize and duplication of work. The stairwells are going to be the biggest challenge. We may not get to those.

8) Rugs Unfurled

I have so many rugs.  You can see them here and here.  I have rugs for the dining room, piano room (or den), and 2 upstairs bedrooms.  I’m slowing down on the rug search but I keep my eyes peeled on craigslist still.  I even recommend rugs to friends at this point.

9) Decorate for Christmas

A tree, a vintage ornament wreath, garland on the stairs and front porch.  Christmas will come to this house next year!

10) New Water Supply

We need a new water main put in from the street to the house. Blah. They are going to have to dig up the front yard and it’s going to be a pain. I’m also going to take that opportunity to work some lime into the soil. It’s quite acidic from years and years of yew bushes. I’ll also get to landscape the front yard which is always a fun challenge.

11) Kitchen Moldings

Well, first we’ll actually attach the counter top to the cabinets, and put in those last few cabinets, and the vent hood, and the backsplash, but after all that, we WILL get moldings on the kitchen cabinets. It’s going to be awesome!

12) Situate the Card Catalog
All the drawers, with labels, new feet with heavy duty castors. It’s going to happen.

13) Not do work

We are going to spend much of this summer hanging with our friends, enjoying being young, and not working on the house. I want to go to cape cod. I want to take a group of people to Stefan’s parent’s camp. I want to rent jetskis in New Hampshire somewhere and be a river rat once again. I want to sit on the front porch and sip gin and tonics and invite the neighbors passing by up for a drink.
It’s going to be a great year.  I’m looking forward to the work.  I’m looking forward to the relaxation after the work.  It’s going to be great.

Sarah