What to do next?

My restlessness and DIY interests have me spinning around trying to decide what to do next as I seek to stake a claim in this house and in my life, embracing change within and without. I've been spending inordinate amounts of time trolling the aisles at Home Depot and reading an ever expanding vortex of DIY blogs and Web sites.

On my to-do list at the moment:

• painting the interior hallway on our main floor, which for reasons I've never understood, was painted seafoam green by the previous homeowners
• painting our bedroom, which has a dated wallpaper border at the top and a neutral but tired existing paint job
• painting the master bath, which is wallpapered with a not-offensive-but-nevertheless-tiresome ivy-patterned wallpaper.
• rearranging and reorganizing my art studio, which has become cluttered and inefficient. This will involve finding storage solutions on the cheap and balancing my need for easy access to my supplies with a desire for less visual clutter and more horizontal work space.

On my researching and thinking about list:

• ways to update and brighten the kitchen without sacrificing the elements that give it character and set it apart from every suburban kitchen in America
• whitewashing the brick on the enormous fireplace in the basement family room. I think it would enhance the space tremendously.
• replacing light fixtures as our budget allows. Lighting is the weakest link in this house in terms of style and functionality.

On the long-term list:

• renovating the kids bathroom in the basement
• replacing grout and resealing the master bath shower
• redoing the tub/tile in the main bathroom.

Those are projects we're inclined to do once our kids are off to college and out of the house. They are avid cultivators of soap scum, mildew, and grossness. We don't want to renovate a bathroom and watch it slowly lose its gleam due to teenage use and neglect.

What home improvement projects are on your radar? Wish list? 

Comments

[Brian]

We are going to need new carpet soon. And that is most certainly NOT a DIY thing . . .

[V-Grrrl]

We invested in a nice quality plush carpet for the family room and kids bedrooms because the kids are frequently sitting on the floor, have friends sleepover (on the floor). I wanted something dense that wasn't scratchy. I found what I was looking for but hasn't been well cared for (or appreciated) by them. Now I wish I'd gotten the cheaper, more durable, itchy berber stuff that.