Remember this TO DO list from a few days ago? Yeah. I’m chuckling too.

After the fiasco with our lovely risers, I’m remembering the truth I already know. It will always take longer  &/or cost more money than originally expected. With our Work Weekend rapidly approaching, the summer dwindling, and that in mind, we’ve reevaluated our priorities. Yeah our lofty goals sound all well and good but, when you get right down to it, there’s only so many hours in a day. I believe my mother would call that high apple pie in the sky hopes.

First we need to be realistic about our timeline. Our current lease is up October 2nd but October is an insanely busy time for me at work. That basically puts our actual move – as in boxes and furniture andheavy lifting – sometime in September. Luckily there are 5 weekends in August but 2 of them we already have weekendplans, as does the last weekend in July. Therefore, we have about 4 weekends(including this coming one) to get our new home livable. This has been the most recent discussion.

What is liveable? What absolutely-without-a-doubt MUST be done before we move in? What can be in progress? What can we live with for a while?

What’s getting axed off the immediate TO DO?

1. Both bathrooms
   
   They’re livable. The water runs, the fixtures don’t currently leak, they are – for all intensive purposes – structurally sound. They are staying in the current state of chaos and getting no more attention until after we move in. Both need to be completely gutted anyway, but that’s not at the tippy-top of the list.
2. The Kitchen
   
   The kitchen is gross. There’s tin foil patching a hole, the granite in the island is cracked in half, and there’s only about 4 cabinets. Like the bathrooms, it needs to be completely gutted. Realistically, it’s not happening in the next 4 weekends. There’s just not the time or money. We’ll live with it.
3. The Hallways
   
   Oh the hallways. How I truly truly hate the color of them. But, in an effort to downsize the immediate TO DO list, they are getting put on hold. It’s not like you live in the hallway. As long as we don’t put any art up yet, it should* be easy enough to repaint them while we’re living there. Hopefully we can get this done withing the first few months of moving in. (*Famous last words)
4. The TV Room
   
   (that’s not our couch, btw)
5. What’s Formerly Known as the Sound-Proofed Room
   
   #4 & 5 = our entire 2nd floor. Why are we skipping this whole floor?? The biggest reason is the wall that divides the 2 spaces.

   Said wall currently houses a closet, a walk-though, and closet/cubby. Said wall is also in rather bad shape, especially around the closet/cubby. We are toying with various solutions right now. While we haven’t decided which way to go with it, all of the choices involve dust, debris, & some form of construction/renovation. It’ll be easiest to keep it free from furniture & stuff while that happens.

So now that we’ve decided eliminate the focus on 3/5ths of the house, what will be be getting our attention??

1. Our Bedroom
   
   (This photo was taken before the floors were redone.) This room needs to be primed & the trim painted before we move in. Dare I think of picking a wall color to? No; that might be too much.
2. Walk-In Closet
   
   (This pic was also taken before the floors were redone.) Primed & painted white all the way around. Maybe one of our big purchases will even be a dreamy free-standing closet organization system?? A girl can dream.
3. The 3rd floor back bedroom trim
   
   (pic was taken before we purchased the property, that’s the previous tenant’s stuff) We’re not 100% settled on the purpose of this room yet and it’s in pretty good shape. The only thing that really needs to be addressed is the color of inside of the closet door. Quick paint job should spiffy it up in a jiffy.
4. The Parlor (1st floor living room)
   
   The plaster on the walls needs to be re-secured to the wall. After that happens and we go through the spackle, sand, repeat drill, we can prime the walls and paint the trim. Wall color won’t be picked until much later.
5. The Dining Room
   
   If only to rid myself of those colors. Spackle, sand, repeat + prime the walls + paint trim = good enough. Again, wall color TBD (probably when we’re ready to do the kitchen reno, if I’m being honest)
6. The Garden Apartment
   
   With kitchen & bath renos, masonry to be fixed, new windows to be had, anda plethora of other things, having a tenant would be ideal. That extra few hundred bucks per month can hopefully keep our grand plans in motion. But we certainly can’t rent it out looking like this. Time to step it into gear.

So that’s the new plan. We’re going to focus on these 6 locations from now until the end of August. It’s still a ton of work but seems slightly more manageable.