list nineteen: the home improvement list

{country home}

Happy Memorial Day! This is a special day and, first and foremost, I want to thank and remember our servicemen and women, to those who gave their lives for our country + those who serve us all proudly today. Thank you for preserving the nation that I love, in all its imperfections. Thank you for protecting us and preserving our freedoms, allowing me to live the life I choose, actively and fully.  
God bless all of you -- here and gone. Thank you.

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 So it's the unofficial start of summer and we all  know what that means...home improvement! Yippee!

There's been lots of talk around our house about getting back on the home improvement wagon. We accomplished so much last summer; I'd like to keep that momentum going. Here's the ongoing list...most of which we'll tackle slowly, but surely, and certainly, within the next few years.

1. Finish painting exterior front door (last year, we did 2 coats of black, but it wasn't enough!)
2. Powerwash the house, front porch, and back deck
3. Replace the windows
4. Improve roof/attic insulation
5. Build a garage
6. Until that happens, find or build a suitable shed for mower, bikes, and gardening tools
7. Upgrade kitchen countertops
8. Stain or seal deck after powerwash
9. Paint stairwell walls
10. Sew kitchen banquette cushion covers
11. Build a new dining room table
12. Finish kitchen nook table
13. Replace kitchen pendant
14. Full bathroom remodel
15. Paint front porch
16. Repaint exterior trim
17. Look into partial-house solar panel systems
18. Consider addition of whole-house gray water system
19. Update wood blinds to new blinds or plantation shutters
20. Cut down dead tree in back yard & plant a new one

Though this is a daunting list, rather than let it get me down, I'm keeping positive and forward-moving. Baby steps. That's all it takes! I especially am eager to power wash something. I think it looks like fun! And building anything sounds impressive and incredibly overwhelming, but the visions of grandchildren rolling out cookie dough on a table that my husbie and I made, with our  own two hands the first year of our marriage? That brings out the little Bob Villa in me.

What fun, thoughtful, and wonderful plans to do you have going on today?