While Chris and I were stuck in the airport for endless hours yesterday (we’re STILL not home), we started making a list of allthe projects that need to happen before Christmas. Need is a strong word, because Christmas is going to come regardless, but our contractors are very confident they will be done with everything within the month and while they have been working hard, I told Chris, all I want for Christmas is a quiet house with no contractors. (haha no offense guys!) so we started thinking, wait, this is all going to be done?!
THIS is the to-do list:
• Lay Heated Flooring System in Dining Room
• Lay Tile in Dining Room
• Epoxy the new Balcony
• Add Railings to the Balcony
• Add Spiral Staircase from Balcony to yard
• Install new windows and doors in Living Room, Dining Room, Bedroom, Closet and Breakfast Nook (We just got word these will be arriving December 4-5 so we won’t be hosting Thanksgiving at our home this year but now we’re looking forward to a grand Christmas dinner!)
• Add double-sided gas fireplace in between Living Room and Dining Room and build out the fireplaces
• Add built-ins to living room
• New electrical in dining room, living room, music room, hallway and master closet (We met with the electrician last week and I never realized how much brain power went into placing lights and switches. We spent a LONG time with him and are excited about this one. #adulthood)
• Add sheetrock to dining room, Master bedroom, closet, music room, hallway and living room
• New siding on exterior addition (We’ve decided to wait until Spring for any further exterior upgrades besides this)
• Order and Install lighting (the ordering is on me and I have an extensive list I need to tackle and decisions to make! EEee!)
• Trim out Dining Room
• Add beams to Living Room ceiling (and possibly dining room)
• Paint Master Bedroom and move back in to our room! We’ve been sleeping in Faye’s room and she’s been in the spare bed in Greta’s room while they work on our bedroom.
• Lay new wood floors in entire house. Eeeeeek. This one is a really big last minute addition. But we heard from so many of you that if we want to do the floors we should 100% do them before we’re settled in and while we have minimal furniture. So here we are. The whole first floor, stairs, hallway, playroom, master bedroom and master closet will all be getting new wood floors. They will eventually extend into the kitchen when we do a big renovation there, but we’ve decided to lay it just up to the kitchen (but extend it into the breakfast nook) and then feather it in down the road as the layout is completely changing in there.
• Lay new carpet in the girls’ rooms. While we’re doing Greta’s room, might as well re-carpet Faye and Polly’s room so it all matches!
• Extend stone fireplace to ceiling in Master Bedroom. The tray ceiling is out and we gained an additional 18″ of height in our room so we’re using the stone we saved from our exterior (it matches) to carry our fireplace to the ceiling).
• New Railings on stairs inside. This is not one that we wanted or budgeted for, tbh but with new wood stairs, now is the time for a new railing too.
• Organize Garage. One of these things is not like the other. Haha. But a couple weeks ago we completely purged our garage and donated a ton of stuff so that we could get our cars inside. Success on that front! But everything that we actually need and use is kind of just piled in a corner now because there’s no organizational systems in place. And we know first hand, if something isn’t organized, it’s very easy for it to multiply and get messy again. So before our extremely long winter, Chris is determined to get a system in the garage.
• DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS! I am trying to get creative in small ways to bring Christmas spirit into our home without being able to decorate fully for Christmas until quite late this year. We had a lot of our Christmas decorations at the cabin since we spent last Christmas there, so I need to purchase a few things including stockings. I think adding small Christmas trees or decor to their bedrooms will really help.
It’s going to be a crazy busy month, but with Christmas in sight, we’re more motivated than ever.
Can you pls share/link your outside Christmas lights? I have a new home with high peaks and have no clue what to put up there! ❤️
Julia, would you give us a weekly update of completed tasks as they are crossed off the list? Although it is a lengthy, it would be interesting to see which projects can be done simultaneously in different parts of the house and which are dependent upon others before starting.
That would be fun!!!
Wow, that’s so exciting! Lots of projects to complete. I love the idea of a spiral staircase to the backyard, that is super neat. Thank you for sharing!
What a list!!!! You guys are crazy! But I can’t wait to follow along! It’s going to be AMAZING!
Wow! I thought my list was long. ????