The List

Week two of the William Morris Project and it is time for a plan.  Time to put all those things to be done on one list  - The List.  I have partial written lists all over the place (that is me, all over the place) and lots of items I would like to complete, but never dared to put on paper or just don't have the money for.  Jules wrote out her list by room and I have to admit that I had a bit of a "Ah Ha" moment when I read it.  A list by room, how totally elementary and yet it never entered my mind to do so.  I did a walk through of our house and property and here is what I came up with.  Feel free to skip to the picture of the roses my mom brought me from her garden last week (as in January).

Entry

• Find the perfect round mirror and hang by door
• Hang exit sign
• Organize and purge closet

Powder Room

• Sew ribbon on towels  (couldn't resist)
• Replace trash bin (I dream of this)

Living/ Dining Room 

• Purge books
• Replace IKEA Bookshelves with custom built-ins
• Purge CDs and DVDs
• Finally decide on window treatments, buy and install them (yup, three years of living here and not a single window treatment is up)
• Install that missing piece of floor moulding
• Buy a new TV cabinet
• Minimize all those cables
• Move outlet by couch
• Paint that stool
• Artwork (I need something big by the couch)
• Replace IKEA unit with a proper buffet
• Replace crap knock-off Eames DSW with real ones (maybe one at a time)
• New floor (yes we have only lived here 3 years, but ours drives me crazy)

Kitchen

• Purge and organize front bottom drawer
• Hang knifes
• Hang utensil rod
• Re-organize flatware drawer
• Get rid of bread box and find a different place for bread
• Buy kitchen clock (dreaming of this)
• Re-organize lazy susan cabinets
• Move outlet by coffee machine
• Repair or replace built-in waste receptacle
• Clean under, behind and top of refrigerator

Upstairs Hallway 

• Re-hang picture wall

Sam's Room

• Purge & organize toys
• Purge books
• Purge & organize IKEA cabinet
• Purge & organize closet
• Decide on window treatments, buy and install
• Remove the circle appliques 
• Hang map

Bedroom

• New mattress
• Decide on window treatments, buy and install
• New chairs for balcony
• Paint silent waiter
• Figure out what to do with my Grandmother's mirror
• Clean, buff etc. Eames (?) ottoman
• Purge handbags
• Replace bedside cabinets with ??
• Replace bedside lighting with wall mounted fixtures

Master Bath

• Finally buy lighting fixture for above mirror
• Wallpaper  side & back wall

Office

• Purge cabinet
• Hang pictures
• Decide on window treatments, buy and install

Extra Room

• Sell or give away bookshelves

2nd Bath 

• Have tiling finished (it is actually "done", but I decided to add some more. I think)
• Have bathroom fixtures hung
• Buy wall mounted cabinet (something like this)
• Decide on lighting fixtures, hang
• Buy shower rod & curtain, hang

Basement

• Desk back to my Aunt
• Sell or give away bookshelf
• Purge shelves
• Rod/Shelf system for diving equipment 
• Wood to garage
• Re-paint floor

Pantry

• Cabinet for refrigerator
• Purge & organize shelves
• Re-paint floor 

Garden 

• Plant white rose (maybe Claire Austin)
• Plant hydrangeas along garage
• Plan/build water feature
• Re-design herb/kitchen garden
• Expand plant bed by magnolia
• Add plant bed by pergola
• Hang wrack system for garden tools in shed
• Paint garage back door
• Paint garden shed doors
• Install threshold to front entry of garden shed 
• Buy/Install Deck Parasol

No particular room

• Finish Sam's baby album (I am such a loser)
• Remove all of those finger prints off of the walls
• Replace thermometers (if I win the Lotto it will be these) 

Next week one of these items will have a line through it and I hope to find an exciting way to write about it.  At the moment I am thinking of tackling the entry closet.  Exciting stuff for sure.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris

Those Little Things (That Nag)

Sometimes it is those little things that just never get done. You know, those things that don't deem important enough to be put on a to-do list.  These are the things that end up nagging me tenfold the amount of time it would actually take to just get them done.  Enter the hand towels in our guest bathroom.

Like the towels, the towel loop not so much.   When a loop came off of one of the towels I knew I would have to do something, eventually.

Eventually came a few months later when I found this ribbon while Christmas shopping.  The picture above almost makes it look like I know what I am doing, but I don't really. 

I winged it and am hoping the ribbon holds the strains a seven year old will undoubtedly put on it.  This is going to be one of the things that I will add to my to-do list just to have the self satisfaction of crossing it off again.

Speaking of lists, I have been working on a major one.  Jules from Pancakes & French Fries is continuing The William Morris Project with a post every Thursday and a link up.  She created an awesome list describing her intentions for each room with all the things she would like to accomplish.  A list broken down by room is exactly what I need to keep me focused.  I will be joining her Thursdays with something that I have accomplished.  Most of the time it will fit under the header of my (slightly withered) More of Less series, but sometimes it will be just be something that I needed wanted to get done for our home (like today).  So, here goes.

Replace loop on guest towels

I am still tweaking my list and will be posting it sometime in the next week.  Today I plan to spend a good part of the day over in the comment section at Jules and visiting all the blogs that have linked up.  Should make for an inspiring day.  Thanks Jules!

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris

2012

January 5th 6th isn't too late for a Happy New Year post, is it?  I desperately needed to update here because I was still wishing everyone a Merry Christmas with my last post.  Here I am and here is 2012.  Happy New Year!  Hope everyone has had a good start.

I have spent the last few days filling in my new calendar and writing down thoughts on the last year and thoughts for the new.  Kind of sounds meditative, but it was really more of an obsession fest about the shoulda, coulda, woulda of everything.  I have calmed down now, some.

Let's talk goals, ok?

• I  am continuing with the More of Less project I started last year.   There was a little break over the holidays, but I did a few mini projects around the house back in November that I never posted about (you know shoulda, coulda...).
• I also want to find a place for everything in the house.  Not so much to end the search for stuff, more to end the piles of "I don't know where else to put it".
• Read more books (Jules at Pancakes & French Fries is helping out with that with the Book Club she is starting).
• Photography - I will learn to use that SLR (that I gave my husband for Christmas 2010).
• I am doing something with that Thonet stool (can't believe I first posted about it in June).  Still pondering yellow, thinking about black (crazy, no?) and am now seriously considering gold.  Gold would be awesome, right?
• Then there is the usual eating better (am on track), exercising (started again last week), blogging more (first post since Christmas so we will see how that goes), going to bed earlier (writing this at 12:17am - sigh).

How about you?

Anyway, I kind of think that 2012 might be good year.