Winter To Do List 2019-2020 : Let’s try this again!

I didn’t “quite” complete everything on last years winter to do list but, to be fair, I didn’t really think I was going to LOL – it was A LOT. I did get ALL but one thing done on that list though! I completed My Workshop, My Laundry Room, My Entryway/Dining Room AND My Kitchen! Moving on now to the rest of my home this winter!

As I’m typing this I’m currently attacking my living room. It needed a makeover SO BADLY. Just like the rest of my house it got just hammered by that horrible wood stove. The trim had popped and warped, everything needed to be repainted and the floors needed some TLC badly too. (It was the last of the worst of the smoke damaged rooms so it was first on my list!)

Pretty much the routine I did to the rooms I finished and the routine I still need to do to the rest of the house.

(To be fair though, the rest of the house just needs to be repainted because I insisted on using satin paint and its been a few years and none of it got enough coats initially either so the whole place just looks dingy. Winter means indoor work which means lots more paint in my future…)

I’m SO EXCITED to get the living room done! I sent my old couch to the garage and bought myself a new sofa just for me! Can’t wait to show you guys!

From there I have some more ideas for my master bedroom which is next on the list.

Its funny how everything is so clearly a process with home design. I thought my master was “done” but clearly that’s no longer the case! Its a touch too “fancy” for my taste now, I want to give it a little more of a boho vibe and more of my personality.

Currently my basically unused guest bedroom and library is housing all of my books but I really don’t like that idea anymore. I plan on adding a wall to wall book shelf above my master headboard so I can have all my favorite books where they belong and, also, where I do most of my reading.

I also plan on building custom storage in the smaller of the closets up there to utilize it a lot better for clothes and shoe storage as well.

(And, of course, my entire master floor, the bedroom/closets/bathroom all really needs to be repainted too UGH.)

This means my plan for my guest bedroom/library is changing. I’ll be taking down all the shelves and rethinking/rearranging the whole space. Any books that I don’t have room for upstairs won’t be staying here so it will become a full on bedroom.

I kinda like the idea of bunk beds or a bed and a hammock… I really would love to be able to utilize the soaring ceilings in the space and when I was a kid I ALWAYS wanted bunk beds so… yeah that might be on the list for my guest bedroom. And extra beds is always nice to have!

When I redid my guest bedroom a couple years ago I didn’t repaint it so I’m going to do that now. Over the years the floor now needs to be repainted too.

The room needs to be cozied up, I loved it when I gave it a face lift and put it together in 2018 but it really needs more softness for a guest bedroom. I’m thinking a big rag rug, a different color on the walls etc.

What I did not complete on my to-do list last winter was creating a book nook/day bed area in my big hall closet. Well, circumstances this summer/fall changed my thinking there a little bit.

I created a “dog spot” out here by adding a gate as this hall also includes my backdoor/doggie door which goes out to my big privacy fenced dog run.

I added the gate simply for parties this last summer so I had a safe place to tuck my friends’ doggos. Well now that I have Lodi in my life with doggo Annie I’ve been using it all the time!

So YES I do plan on still creating a happy little book nook day bed area out here but now, more than ever, it will need to be seriously dog friendly. I’m going to be keeping the gate but its going to require some modifying to get it looking how I want it.

What’s kinda cool is with some tweaking the gate will open to cover the majority of the closet like a dual purpose closet door. Above the day/dog bed in the closet I’ll be adding a bunch of storage shelves as well as book shelves to accommodate the extra books I won’t be keeping in my master bedroom.

Idea I’m throwing around: I’m thinking of building a platform a couple of feet off the floor for the bed to sit on top of. Then any dogs I have here can go into it like a happy little dog cave to feel secure and safe in. They can also use the bed too of course if they would prefer.

There’s also a wall heater out here I need to uninstall, throw out and eventually replace.

And, of course, this whole area also needs to be totally repainted etc. The exterior door even needs to be replaced (which is why I never bothered painting it) so I’ve got a lot to do out here!

I doubt with those four rooms and so much painting and floor refinishing to do that I’ll get much beyond that list this winter but I’ve needed to finish my main floor bathroom since I moved in in 2015. This is what it looks like so its not exactly “unfinished” but beyond paint and the basics I’ve literally done NOTHING in there.

It is TINY.

I want to add storage in the wall behind the door between the studs, do something ridiculous and dramatic on the walls and really run with the little room.

But, like I mentioned, I doubt I’ll have time to tackle it so that might just be a next winter project!

I used to grumble at the idea that a house is “never done” but now I find this strange comfort in it. Knowing I always have this place to work on, to dream about, to look forward to. This home to take care of and to always make better as I go here.

I absolutely love it!