Break's Over

Andrew and I have taken a major break from home improvement since we completed our to-do list before Thanksgiving. However, now I'm getting a major DIY itch again. The thing is, we did all of our easy, less expensive projects last year. So 2010 is going to require a bit more planning and moolah. Which is fine because I'm so excited to get started, and these projects are going to make a major difference in our home. We're going to ease back into DIY home improvement this weekend and then really jump in next week when our pantry cabinets arrive!

We technically started last weekend when we finally got our garage cleaned out and organized. At least as organized as it can be because it's technically part of Andrew's man territory and therefore he gets final say. Maybe you don't know the extent of Andrew's organization skills.

Let me illustrate - his senior year of college when he lived in a house with five other guys, Andrew didn't use a dresser to keep his clothes organized. Not because he didn't have one...because he doesn't like drawers. Instead he created two piles on a futon - one for dirty clothes and one for clean. When the dirty clothes pile got bigger than the clean clothes pile, he did laundry. And by doing laundry I mean putting as many items of clothing into the washer at once (no need for color separation!), move them to the drier and then thrww them back into his clean clothes pile. No folding necessary. Right. So, getting Andrew to put things in cabinets, on hooks, etc in his garage was a major win. Someday we'll work towards organizing the cabinets. Slow down, Ali...

So, this weekend's list:

1. Clean house
2. Give Franklin a bath
3. Watch K-State beat OSU
4. Complete cute piggy bank project
5. Finesse shoe closet

Yep, I have my very own shoe closet. I feel like such a grown up.

And, it currently looks like this:



Messy and blah.

We haven't really discussed official plans for the small makeover, but I'd like to paint the walls and shelves. Andrew is going to add dowels so my shoes set nicer. I think I'd also like to add a shoe organizer for the back of the door to hold my sandals/flip flops. We'll see how ambitious we actually get. Andrew has asked if he can maybe have a shelf in the shoe closet once we're done...we'll see. The verdict is still out.

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend to everyone!