pushin' up our sleeves, gettin' a little dirty!

Our ambitious but do-able homeowner to-do list:

1. Landscape everywhere!
I plan to pull those ugly holly bushes out of the front yard on closing day. Well, I plan to make Rick do it, being that bending down is quite the challenge these days. I would like to plant some hydrangeas throughout the front and back yard. I really want lots of color, especially for the spring and summer so we can just clip a few buds here and there and have fresh flowers inside all the time.

There is already a lot of ivy around the backyard which is mostly pretty (especially covering up the chain link fence) but in some spots a little out of control. It needs to be tamed a bit. I also reeeally would like a hammock somewhere so we might have to look into our tree placement or might just have to purchase one that doesn't hang on trees! We also plan to eventually rip down the chain link fence and put up a 6ft wood privacy fence, but this will effect the neighbors' fences so we aren't planning on doing this immediately.

2. Plant an edible garden.
I have been wanting to go organic with my produce especially since I am allergic to a lot of the pesticides used on fresh fruits and veggies. Growing my own organically will save the money in the grocery store and I just think its cool, especially when raising a family! I am thinking we will start with zucchini, squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Obviously, I have lots of reading to do so I can actually do it right and it doesn't turn into a mess. I would absolutely LOVE to have my own peach tree, but I hear they attract bugs more than the average citrus tree, so it would require lots of attention (and chemicals) that I am probably not ready to give anytime in the near (or far) future. It is not ruled out, just put on a back burner until more research can be done.

3. Start a compost bin.
This is going to take some convincing of my husband! He isn't quite on the green train as much as I would like. But I have read edible gardens are a lot more fruitful when using compost, plus the more organic the better! Plus it isn't like there aren't a ton of easy ways to start compost bins without taking up too much space! I have even seen some DIY bins that are made from plastic bins from target which we could get in any color for wherever we are going to tuck it away.

4. Renovate, renovate, renovate!
There are a few things we plan to do immediately. For example, there are 2 doors in the nursery (which I assume used to be a formal dining room) One leads into the kitchen and takes some vital wall space and the door swings into the nursery and takes a lot of the floor space. We plan to remove the door and plaster it up, creating better space in both rooms. Obviously with the baby almost here this is going to have to be done immediately. Maybe we will even turn the door into a vintage style headboard like Whitney did with shutters over at Yada Yada...

As for other renovations, they may take some time since we only have 4 weeks before Bebo arrives. But the bathroom needs a new shower and new floor tiles, the kitchen needs some additionally lighting and could definitely use some new cabinets, maybe a few glass ones to display our colorful dishes. And all the walls need a spruce up of paint that match the airy, beachy style we love.

I am so excited about picking out fabrics, pillows and curtains. I have even found a cool start that recycles old furniture into new items. The last time I went, there were some reupholstered vintage chairs that were to die for! I plan to continue my etsy searching but to also add thrift stores and yard sales into my renovate quest, because you can find gems at those places! Plus between Rick's handy man abilities and my artistic talent, we could renovate our whole house way cheaper!

I am obsessed with DIY blogs and magazines that give me more ideas than my poor preggo brain can hold. My dear husband is probably getting extremely tired of all my ideas! And don't worry, I know how completely unrealistic it is that any of this stuff is going to be completed anytime soon since we are going to have a brand new addition. I guess my nesting instincts are really kicking in now that I have an actual canvas to visualize.

I think we will start with the nursery and renovate one room at a time, the bathroom probably being last seeing as how it is hard to go without one. We do plan to eventually remove the attached shed on the back and add a master bath off the master bedroom with a spa tub, extend the nursery to be a larger bedroom and create more of a mudroom area off the den, which could potentially be a laundry room as well.

Rick also plans on building  a shed for his music playing and a deck for cookouts but we shall see. I love our huge backyard, not trying to lose all of our space. Plus, we need to save some space for a swing set down the road.

I cannot wait to get started. We are soooo excited about pushin' up our sleeves, gettin' a little dirty and making this house, a home. :)