New Year's Resolution Updates

I was looking back through this year's posts and found my note from 1/3/11 about the things that we had to get accomplished here at the house this year.  So far, I've made a pretty fair dent in the list! 

get rid of the fire pit/chimnea in the backyard - this is going to a friend's house, just have to set aside the time to deliver it!   DONE three weekends ago.  Got rid of the chimnea, the firewood, AND a park bench! 

replace the mailbox (on order already)   DONE and I love the new box - it's so cute! 

cut down some old trees in the front yard - they're icky and sickly looking, so it's time to go!  It's like a whole different house.  I realized that with all of the over-grown crap in the front yard, our place looked a little like Boo Radley's house (from To Kill a Mockingbird)

build a custom screen door for our ginormous front-door - 42+ inches wide.  Scratched this one.  More on this later... 

paint the bookcases and the door in the dining room (paint chip selections to be posted shortly!)   Still haven't done this.  I have the paint, just haven't made the time.

tile the shower surround in the hall bathroom (this was wallpapered just last year, and is now peeling)  Done.

install mini blinds in the guest room.  I have the blinds... just didn't get around to putting them up.  The blinds are still in the guest room closet. Bah. 

paint the living room, hall, stairwell, and office.  This will finally complete the color transformation in our home... or what I refer to as "erasing the idiots who lived here previously".  2/3 complete, and loving the results! 

general house-keeping and maintenance around the back yard - trimming of trees and shrubs, removal of some older plants.  In progress...

replace the pump in our outdoor fountain yet again.  GRRRRRRRRRR  Solved this problem by removing the outdoor fountain and filling it in with soil for my herb garden expansion. 

paint shutters and front door   After further review, I decided that I didn't like the front door.  We're hiring a company to replace the door (including the jamb, threshold, casing, brick moulding, etc... with a heavy-duty steel door, already pre-painted (powdercoat) with a lovely shade of forest green.  The shutters will be removed and replaced with raised-panel style (as opposed to the louvered)  vinyl shutters in forest green.   

So far I'm quite pleased with the progress we've made on the list!  Not on here, but worth an honorable mention... we're getting a new window for the kitchen (same folks who are handling the door replacement).  I am having a cantilevered garden window installed above my kitchen sink so I can place potted plants there.  Our windows in this house have no sills, so the only practical way to get what I want (plant-growing space) is to get this style of window.   It's been something that I've always wanted to have, so I decided it was time to make the investment to get something I want!   It's going to take 8-10 weeks to get the window and door in (they're being custom made), so pictures to come later this summer! 


Happy Renovating!