The Friday 4: House Projects 2012

So, 2012 is going to be a nutso year. But in a good way :). Even so, I've got some projects on my radar. Actually, a bunch of projects, but I've included the four most pressing below. Some are before-baby projects, and others are fine to be after-baby projects if that's how the cookie crumbles. 

Here goes - in the order they need to be tackled, not the order of importance: 

4.  Turn the second bedroom into a nursery. 

This is a continuing project over the course of the next few months. And there's lots to be done! 

The floor's finished, but we haven't moved all of the stuff back in yet b/c we wanted to give it extra extra time to dry since the weather is so brrrrrrcold. We did put the crib together in there tonight, though, which is so exciting! 

Next comes painting the walls (I have a color in mind, but right now it's a secret!) and painting the thrift store dresser we bought a few months back. I've got plans to revamp two of Brad's old bookcases (and make them into one bigger bookcase if possible - ?). Plus I've been doing some online searching for ideas about bedding/window treatments/etc., and Brad ordered the quilt for the crib today. And of course, there are all the little things like lamps and wall hangings. I even got an adorable old-school garbage can from the ReStore yesterday for a buck. So much fun stuff! 

3.  Refinish the upstairs hallway floor and replace the dangerously unsafe wrought iron banister with a new oak one. 

This is going to be a massive (un-fun) project. 

Our current banister is not suitable for man nor beast (well, Cookie actually loves it; she does a little gymnastics routine that Brad fondly calls "the bar routine"), and certainly not for baby. It's loose, too low, and the spindles are too far apart. So, yes, it's going to be replaced. We're not in any way equipped to do such a task ourselves (believe me, I've researched it quite a few times but I usually get lost at the word joist), so we'll be biting the money bullet (hopefully with the help of our tax return) and bringing in a carpenter, likely sometime in February. 

Before that, we're going to remove the old one and have our floor guy come back to sand the hallway, then Brad and my mom will undertake the same (arduous, absurd, agonizing) process they engaged in with the nursery floor. (Cue: collective weeping.) This will probably have to happen over spring break so we can be uprooted and scoot over to my parents' house with the least disruption to our schedules. Hopefully by the time baby arrives, our upstairs will look less like "hovel" and more like "home." 

2.  Remove the hall/stairway wallpaper and paint the walls. 

Gag. I already started this. Months ago. Nevermind the fact that it was part of our plan for summer 2011 . . . . Anyway, a few weeks ago, I scored a ton of the wallpaper, making it even uglier. But my sister's steamer stopped working about 35 minutes into the removal project. So now the wall along my stairs looks . . . about as ugly as you can imagine. 

Yes, this is really what we've been looking at daily 

But it has to get worse before it can get better, right? RIGHT? 

1.  Get frames (with things inside them) behind my couch. 

Until this summer we had two large frames behind our couch. But the wall is hugely long (something like 19 ft.) and two frames just looked lost. So I moved them to the left of the TV piece, where they look a lot better. They've still got the stock photos in them, but . . . things take time . . . sometimes, lots of time. 

Anyway, now we've got this (don't mind the mess). 

You know, a big empty wall that stretches on and on and on. There's even about four empty feet to either side. 

I searched and thought and searched and thought some more about what to put there that would be nice and cost-effective. Big picture frames ain't cheap, and I was having a hard time parting with something like $125-$200 just for six or seven frames. Add the matting and stuff to put into the frames on top of that, and the price tag could come in at well over $200. (And we're not even talking first-rate frames here.) 

Then my beloved JoAnn's had one of its million sales, and I had a few of their million coupons, and I hatched a picture frame plan. B/c my plan involves spray paint, we've got to wait till the weather warms, but those babies should be hanging in my living room by the end of spring - hopefully by the time our baby arrives in the living room!