Project 24: Hang subway art.

Who would have thought that having a list to work off of would make me so productive?! I should have made a list a year ago.

So, if you haven’t figured out by now, the Subway Art is hung, so I can finally show it to you!! And it’s ca-ute. You are forewarned.

Jessica from Craftily Ever After use to make these cool printables. She even had a little shop where she sold custom prints. She was so kind and made me this custom Subway Address Art using all Ben and my addresses we’ve lived since tying the knot almost 13 years ago.

I uploaded it to Costco and had a huge poster printed of it. The poster was around $9 I think. I rummaged through my stash of crap I should probably give to goodwill and found this picture frame that I took out of my friends trunk while she was on her way to drop it off at goodwill. One man’s trash…

All I did was print the art from Costco, spray paint the frame, and then put the two together. Easy peasy.

I primed the frame first, then gave it a coat of yellow. I don’t remember the name of the yellow because I painted the frame months ago. Yes, it has taken me MONTHS and months to put a nail in the wall and hang the art. Totally pathetic.

The print was a tad too big, so I just cut it down to size. Again, pretty easy.

Now, just put the two together, and voila. Custom artwork. Why this took me a good 8 months or more to hang is beyond me. I guess I just didn’t know where I wanted it.

* There isn’t really a blur through the middle of my art. I blurred out my address to keep all my stalkers at bay. It’s no fun trying to stalk someone when they just give you all their info. Gotta make ‘em work for it.

I found a perfect spot in our gameroom for the art.

I almost didn’t show you because of how much of a disaster the gameroom is, but I’m all for keeping it real.

When I get around to Phase 2 of to-do projects (oh yes, I have a new list starting for yet another list of crap I need to finish around the hood), this window will be top 5. I just forgot to add it to my first list. Thank goodness, ’cause that list was too long anyway.

Here’s a wider angle of this little desk area I’ve created in the corner of the gameroom.

Total mess, right?! I know. It’s awful. I hate showing you guys this room. It’s a hot mess fo’ shizzle.

Well, if I’m going to expose myself, I may as well just do the Full Monty.

It’s a “home decor” bloggers nightmare. I lose all credibility in this blog when I show you guys this room.

Besides being a complete mess (kids!), the decor, or lack thereof, is awesome.

Unfortunately money doesn’t grow on trees, so this room will just have to wait. But anyway, doesn’t the subway art look good?!

Well, whatever. I’m pecking away at my to-do list and I’m feelin’ so productive anyway.

So, how is YOUR to-do list coming along? I know you have one. Tell us how much (or little) you’ve done lately.

Source: saturatedcanary.blogspot.com

I’m really good at starting projects. It’s the “finishing” them that I have a hard time with. Are you like that?!

It’s fun to start a project. You’ve got momentum and are excited to transform something from the basic blah that it currently is.

The problem is, once the project is *almost* done, I have had my fill of it and just don’t want to finish the last 10%. And so I move on to the next exciting project, ready to transform something else.

Source: biancanaufel.blogspot.com

Well, after a year in this house, my *almost* finished projects are taking over! I actually sat down and wrote out all my incomplete projects and compiled a list far longer than I was anticipating. The list was so long, in fact, that I’ve officially declared…

I’m not starting any new projects until this list is finished!

So, bear with me as I go over my overwhelming to-do list. This is me declaring to you that I’m going to finish these projects!

Source: primitivesbykathy.com

And now, in no particular order, here are the current partially finished projects I’ve got going on in the house, and what I need to do to finish them.

I’ve tried to organize them room-by-room, so I’ll start with the dining room.

Project 1:

Finish all 10 dining chairs.

(photo via)

It’s a big project, so maybe I should divide them into sub-projects. To finish these chairs I need to:
a) sand them down a bit
b) hook up my paint sprayer and spray them all with a few good coats of primer and paint
c) and finally, upholster them.

Project 2:

Make and hang curtains.

DONE! You can see the awesome curtains here.

This involves:
a) sewing the curtains (Aviary fabric in Tangerine by Thomas Paul)
b) hanging a curtain rod (that I need to purchase still)
c) hang curtains on rod

Project 3:

Finish the table centerpiece.

I was originally going to copy Thrifty Decor Chick‘s centerpiece, but I’ve decided to go a different direction. Now I just need to finish it.

Project 4:

Hang two long shelves.

* Finished! You can see the shelves here! *

(They are leaning against the wall on the right)

They’ve already been purchased. Now I just need to actually hang these long floating shelves along the long wall in the dining room.

Project 5:

Frame my Chair Artwork.

The Chair artwork is going to be framed and set on top of the top floating shelf. I’m thinking of doing 4 extra-large IKEA frames, but am not 100% married to that idea. (If you check out the Chair Artwork post, all the photos were accidentally deleted and haven’t been recovered yet. Sorry.)

The next room on my long list of projects is the Piano Room. Here’s what needs to happen in there:

Project 6:

Finish and hang curtains.

Mostly DONE! You can see the updated post here!!

To complete the curtain project, I need to:
a) Attach additional fabric to the bottom of each curtain panel
b) purchase and install curtain rods
c) hang curtains on new rods

Project 7:

Paint music shelf.

(To the left of the piano. photo via)

I’ve had this shelf for years. I painted it white for my son’s bedroom when he was a baby, but when he was about 3 he took a sharpie to the entire shelf. Now I need to give it a new coat of paint to fit into the Piano Room space better.

Project 8:

Paint lamps.

(The ones on top of the piano. photo via)

The lamps were a score at Goodwill months ago, but have a little rust damage on them. I need to pick a color then paint them.

Project 9:

Hang Plate Rack.

(on far left leaning against the wall. photo via)

When we purchased our very first home, the only thing I wanted was a plate rack; and I bought one. I’m not so obsessed with it anymore, but I still like it so I plan to hang it on an obscure wall to show off my Astrology plates I picked up at Pottery Barn years ago.

Project 10:

Make and frame large family portraits for long neked wall.

DONE! You can see the updated post here!!

(photo via)

Lucky for me I’ve already started this project, otherwise I’d have to put it off. I can’t wait to fill that big blank wall with large portraits of my family.

I’ve got other ideas for the room as well, but for now, I must finish these projects first.

Next up, the Family Room:

Project 11:

Finish hanging the chair rail around the entire room.

(photo via)

I had some leftover chair rail from the Dining Room project, so I added what I could to the family room. Now I have large gaps where more chair rail is needed. It looks pretty ridiculous and I’ve lived with it half finished for long enough.

Project 12:

Paint window moulding.

DONE! Check it out here!!

(photo via)

When I hung the random chair rail pieces, I also added moulding around all the windows. Well, here they sit, months later, just begging to be painted.

Project 13:

Paint side table.

(Photo via)

I picked up this ugly side table on Craigslist when we first moved here. I’m hoping that a coat of paint will make it a little easier on the eyes.

Project 14:

Finish tall fireplace candlesticks.

I started these candlesticks when I lived in Beverly Hills. That was a year and a half ago! All they need is a top plate and a coat of spray paint. Why have I never finished them?

Project 15:

Mount TV on wall.

DONE! Check it out here!!

(photo via)

It should only take an hour at most, so why have we been here a year and still haven’t done it? Well, I’m making it a priority to get ‘er done once and for all.

And finally, here are the ample other projects I’ve got going on around here.

Project 16:

Finish sheetrock in master closet.

(Photo via)

Remember a long time ago when we had that flood? I know it’s hard to remember, considering we haven’t even had rain in months. Well, that flood came through the ceiling in our closet. I’ve got the sheetrock hung, now I just need to tape and float it, then add texture. Grumble.

Project 17:

Replace light fixture in foyer.

DONE! Check it out here!!

Just the other day I pulled down a perfectly decent chandelier in my Dining Room and replaced it with my new Capiz one. Well, that old chandelier is still pretty dang nice, so I’m going to give it a new life and hang it in our foyer. Don’t be surprised if you see the current little one pop up somewhere else in the house eventually.

Project 18:

Finish painting foyer.

DONE! Check it out here!!

Yes, it’s embarrassing. I still haven’t painted the 2nd story of our foyer. I can’t reach that high and I’m waiting on something (or someone) that can help me out.

Project 19:

Finish painting stairwell.

DONE! Check it out here!!

Same deal as the foyer. I can’t reach the top part of the wall, so I just painted as high as I could go. The stair step look is the new black, you know.

Project 20:

Finish updating the stairwell gallery wall.

DONE! Check it out here!!

(before picture. photo via)

I’ve taken down all the frames and am painting them white. Plus, I want to add a few new frames to the mix. Hopefully when I’m done it will look more cohesive.

Project 21:

Spackle and paint corner wall in Game Room.

This was a total disaster. I had some issues with letting the paint dry to much on the tape edge, but not enough to be fully cured, so when I pulled the tape off, it took most of the sheetrock with it. Now I’ve got to spackle the edge and repaint.

Project 22:

Replace light bulb on front porch.

DONE! Check it out here!!

(light on left is burnt out. photo via)

How dumb that I have to actually put this on my to-do list! I can’t reach the bulb with the step-stool, so replacing the burnt out bulb is going to require busting out the big daddy ladder. I need to just DO IT. It’s been burned out for a few months now.

Project 23:

Finish the King Size Headboard project.

DONE. You can see the finished headboard HERE.

I have this headboard that’s getting a royal makeover. I can’t wait to show you and tell you all about it… once I actually finish it. It’s only been half finished for a couple months now.

Project 24:

Hang subway art.

** DONE! See the finished project HERE! **

Jessica from Craftily Ever After made me a printable about a year (yes, that said YEAR) ago of all our previous addresses we’ve had since we tied the knot. It’s finally printed and framed, now it’s just waiting to get hung. Maybe tomorrow?

So there you have it. My list of 24 things I wish I’d completed sooner.

Should I walk on the wild side and give myself a deadline of December 31, 2011? Is it even possible to finish all these things in just a little more than 3 months?!

How many items do you have on your half-finished to-do list? Please tell me there are others out there who procrastinate as much as I do.

I’m not going to beat myself up for letting these projects get so out of hand. I’m just going to start today and finish them.

Source: boozebagbettygoestorehab.blogspot.com

Like, oh mah goshhh. Can you believe We’ve officially lived in this house for a year now?!

Where on earth has the time gone? In some ways I feel like we haven’t done anything to the house, but when I actually look back at my archives I’m shocked at how much we’ve accomplished around the ‘hood.

I swear, I’m not planning on boring you to tears or anything. I just want to show everyone how far this little house has come in exactly one year of us moving in.

2010:

2011 progress:

2010:

2011 progress:

2010:

2011 progress:

Oh, and don’t freak out on me. Those chairs are.not.staying. in this room. Yikes!

2010:

2011 progress:

2011 progress:

2010:

2011 progress:

Family Room & Kitchen 2011:

2010:

2011 progress:

Breakfast Nook from Family Room:

2010:

2011 progress:

2010:

2011 progress:

2010:

2011 progress:

Overall I’m quite pleased with our progress. Obviously I wish I were even more finished than we are, but at least we’ve come this far. Here’s to another year full of home renovations, painting, and projects!

Thanks everyone for sticking around and watching this house transform into our home. I’ve had a great time and I hope you have enjoyed the ride as well.