Project Examples

This is a continuously updated list of projects for each room of my home, as well as some more general projects, ranging from the mundane to the extraordinary. Its purpose is two-fold:

1) Because my house seems to need to see things in print before they happen, and,

2) So that you can see my ideas of progress, with struggles and changes of plans included. It is my hope that this will encourage you to undertake a transformation of your own home, and to look at progress in perhaps a new light, not relying on huge accomplishment to make you feel like celebrating.

 

Before You Start

If you care to make your own such list, I have some recommendations for you.

First, decide why you want to list your projects. Is it for the good feeling of being able to check off or erase completed items? Is it for the sake of prioritizing and organizing? (I know very few of us who couldn’t use more of that.) Is it because your house, like mine, is reluctant to embrace change? I am sure there are other reasons I haven’t thought of yet, but whatever it is that makes you itch to put a pen to paper, identify it.

Next, decide what you are going to do with your list once it’s written. I have broken mine up by rooms, rather than by types of projects or some other method, because certain rooms (the ones in my basement, especially) like having the lists where they can stare at them. (I will add some posts about rooms with opinions and personalities, soon.) Depending on you and your home, it may work to tuck the list(s) into your planner or desk drawer, post them on the inside of a kitchen cabinet, or create a document on your computer for them. But whatever you decide, don’t get so stuck on the location that you can’t change it, and do put your lists where you will see them on a regular basis.

Update your list(s) regularly. There is little that is less motivating than continuously staring at an outdated (aka completed) list. Even if only part of the projects are done, regularly cross off or black out whatever gets completed. Also, you may want to keep a record of what you have accomplished, so you can look at it occassionally and feel accomplished. Take before and after pictures. Keep a journal about your house. Get creative, and find something that will motivate you to keep going. A busy life may make transformation slow, but rest assured, you will reap what you sow.

As far as your projects are concerned, be precise about what you want. If you write, “storeroom shelves,” neither you nor your house will be motivated to work on…whatever that means. Try something like, “Paint storeroom shelves blue,” “Wash storeroom shelves thoroughly,” or whatever it is that you actually mean to do.

Also, when planning projects, break larger ones down into manageable pieces, aiming for segments that will take anywhere from ten minutes to two hours. This will allow you to celebrate more victories per project, and feel you are progressing, sooner. It will help to keep you from feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of some projects, and give you a way to use small windows of time in a potentially scattered schedule. On my list, I have put projects in approximate descending order of importance, or, in some cases, ease. In other words, I have listed the ones I think I have the best chance of getting to soon, first. In deciding what to list, I have included anything that is not routine, or anything that should be routine, and isn’t.

Now, for my list.

 

Goals For My Home’s Transformation:

Living Room -

• Clean blind on front door thoroughly
• Paint all walls and ceiling white (for now)
• Paint laundry room door white
• Shampoo carpet
• Insulate walls properly, with blower and cellulose insulation
• Replace front door with one that seals well and looks beautiful
• Update electrical
• Install new windows (3)

Children’s Room –

• Wash, iron, and re-hang curtains (2)
• Paint wardrobe white (for now)
• Paint all walls and ceiling white
• Shampoo carpet
• Insulate walls properly, with blower and cellulose insulation
• Update electrical

Laundry Room –

• Wipe down dryer
• Install shelf on east wall (for books, so far)
• Paint all surfaces (walls, ceiling, cupboards) white (for now)
• Update electrical

Bathroom –

• Install shower filter
• Insulate walls properly, with blower and cullulose insulation
• Update electrical

Kitchen –

• Thoroughly clean electric stove
• Scrub all walls and ceiling thoroughly
• Jack up west end of kitchen from crawlspace, and install posts under joists (cookstove is too heavy for current structure)
• Paint ceiling white
• Paint west wall white
• Paint south wall white
• Paint part of bedroom door dark red (non-blue parts)
• Further insulate walls?
• Update electrical
• Install new window (at least one)

Master Bedroom –

• Wash all walls and ceiling
• Paint part of bedroom door white (non-blue part)
• Shampoo carpet
• Update electrical
• Install new window (1)

Stairwell –

• Sweep storage ledge, re-organize
• Scrub walls and dust maps, etc.
• Paint all surfaces and walls (walls, ceiling, cupboard inside and out, doors – both sides) white (for now)
• Hinge crawl-space accesses at tops
• More hooks or nails for hanging things in storage, on stairwell wells

Stove Room –

• Build storage shelves next to wood room door (matching intervals of existing ones)
• Wipe down main storage shelves
• Sweep out thoroughly under main storage shelves (in process, identifying and cleaning out spirits and emotional uglies, as necessary)
• Organize thoroughly all reloading shelves and storage surfaces (husband’s project)
• Seal all known cracks on walls, from inside and outside, as necessary
• Apply blacking to stove
• Find out what is hanging out around the furnace area, and in the pipes –why is it there, what is its identity, what can we do about it/what needs to be done about it?
• Set up furnace to circulate wood-heat air on especially cold days
• Update electrical?

Wood Room –

• Seal up all known cracks from inside
• Properly seal up drafty area around grate in ceiling (insulation, etc. – husband’s project)

Cellar Room –

• Seal up all cracks, from inside
• Fix draft problem in ceiling, as seems appropriate (or as God instructs)
• Make and install storage shelves, to line east wall
• Paint all walls and ceiling white (for now)
• Make window dressing of some kind (small)

General -

• Deer hide(s) properly tanned.
• Pattern for moccasin-boots worked out.
• Copywriting – Part Two – Rought Draft of Vitamin Exercise completed
• Tyra’s boots made.
• Cody’s boots made.
• My own boots made.
• Recipe organization (lose cards and clippings) – one hour a week spent organizing in electronic files.
• Old Hotel – thoroughly re-deck bad places in utility room (fasten plywood down properly)
• Old Hotel – Patch floor in utility room, where water heater falling made new hole
• Old Hotel – rebuild stick-frame wall between first and second levels
• Old Hotel – jack up roof, stop leak(s)
• Old Hotel – Find out who the Old Gentleman in the Hall Chair is
• Old Hotel – Find out who The Caretaker really is, and why he’s there
• Establish – Is there really a “puppy” barking in the Hotel, in southeast room upstairs?

As you see, some of my projects are repetitive, some are long term, some are short-term…some will need to be repeated every month or so (removing cobwebs, for instance). The point is, I have laid them out in a way that makes sense to me, so I can use my energy to accomplish something, rather than using it to decide what I’m going to do next, and how. I can add to or subtract from my list as I see fit, and so make it a helper and a servant, not a master.Not everything is as clear as I would like it to be…but I know from experience that taking steps, no matter how small, gives more liberty for picturing a future leg of the journey. Some projects will require focused, sit-down thinking to get them straight in my head before I start, and others may require experimentation (such as how I want to arrange items in my cellar room). Ultimately, though, I have a kind of roadmap with which I can plot my course, and build a generalized idea of how my home will be effected.

 

Look to the future, and enjoy your own transformation process.

This page has the following sub pages.

• Outdoors Projects List