So we have officially been in the house for a month now, and I have a lot of feelings about it.  One one hand, I LOVE this new house, its the best layout, a great location, it feels more usable for us and definitely gives me the space I need/want for the way I want our life to be.  On the other hand, it doesn’t smell like us yet.  Is that weird to say? I walk into rooms in our house and they don’t smell like us (I should also say that I have always been strongly affected by smells which this whole pregnancy thing is only making stronger, but I have always associated people with smells and their homes as an extension of that). This house doesn’t feel like its truly ours yet.  I know that it will, and that as soon as we get all of our stuff unpacked, things painted, decorated etc it will feel more like us, but part of me misses our old house and how (most) everything in the house was a reflection of Reese and I. And while I am so excited about all the opportunities to put our own stamp on this house… I’m still being a little nostalgic about our old house!!

But before I go getting all too sentimental about our old house, this post is all about the new house! And new possibilities!! I think I finally have the beginnings of my to do list for this house and so I’m sharing it, along with some photos of how things look now. And let me assure you, like all of my to do lists, this one is a work in progress, in 5 years I’m sure there will still be things undone on this list, and some that I am sure I won’t want to do after living in it for a while, but here’s at least where I am starting.

Also, these photos are of my house in its cleanest state since we moved in, but seeing as that isn’t saying much, forgive the mess… these are before photos after all!

Living Room:

• Hang photos
• Do something decorative with the mantle
• Paint
• Hang Curtains
• Wire up the house wide surround sound

Dining Room

• New Rug
• Hang Photos
• Paint
• Remove MASSIVE mirror
• Replace the flooring (see below in Kitchen for details)

Kitchen (ignore the yellow lighting in the top picture… I was running out of daylight when I took that picture!)

• Paint- its been an ongoing debate in our house about whether to leave the red of replace it, but I think we’ve settled on changing it out for something more neutral/soothing
• Paint the island-the two tone thing isn’t really my style
• Get barstools of some kind
• Put in double ovens (forever on my to do list somehow never at the top of what to spend our money on…)
• Replace the kitchen sink its very small and has chipped down to the metal, so eventually this will get swapped out for something more useful
• Replace the light fixture over the table
• Replace the wooden floors- still debating over going back with tile or wood– we budgeted in to get these replaced when we bought the house because they are in such rough shape, so this will likely be happening this spring

Backyard:

• plant some flowers
• New patio furniture (this was a gift from my parents for Christmas so when it gets warmer out I just have to go pick it out!)
• Buy pool stuff- toys, towels, floats, etc.

Downstairs guest room-

• Paint
• Hang curtains that aren’t bizarrely short
• Put in new shelving in the closet
• Hang Photos
• Swap out desks

Master Bedroom:

• PAINT PAINT PAINT
• Find matching nightstands
• Hang pictures
• Seating area in front of window?

Master Bathroom

• Repair shower and bathtub faucet
• Replace knobs
• Paint trim white
• Paint Cabinets
• New Curtains
• Organize Closets
• Storage Cabinet over toilet

Nursery

• Unpack the boxes
• Baby Furniture
• Paint
• Decorate
• Curtains

Office/Craft Room

• Finish Unpacking
• Build a craft desk
• Paint?
• Hang Pictures
• Swap desk
• Organize Desk

Upstairs Bath-

• Paint
• Figure out a plan for

Downstairs Bath

• New Vanity
• Strip Wallpaper
• Paint
• Shelving?

Misc

• Turn coat closet into a ‘drop zone’
• Unpack/organize garage
• Power wash front driveway
• Spruce up the front curb appeal