House Bucket List- its a long one!

I don't know if I ever told you guys the story of our house. Originally it was owned by the hub's grandma- and he moved in with her when he came Pittsburgh for college. He always wanted to fix things and do things to it, but she didn't have the money and wouldn't allow him to do anything.

Its a grand old Victorian. Built in the 1890's full of old thick mahogany woodwork, 12 foot ceilings, pocket and French doors, ornate fireplaces, six bedrooms and one (really big) bathroom. Its stucco on the outside, had zero insulation and no air conditioning.

He LOVES this house- and has always had so many ideas of what he would do to it. Once his sweet, sweet Grandma passed away he couldn't really let this place go. So we bought it- and started fixing it up.

We have made some improvements so far. The hubs built some kitchen cabinets- because we had exactly one when we bought it and added a closet in the pantry. We dry-walled and insulated the living room and master bedroom, complete with new paint. We built a master closet. We repainted the bathroom and installed a new toilet. Sodded and mulched the backyard. Ripped up the ugly old carpet and put in pergo floors. Tiled the entry way and painted the foyer complete with a stenciled wall. Put tile in the basement to make it a little less creepy. Installed central AC. Power washed and re-stained the porch. Built retaining walls in the front. Grayson's room was completed with insulation, paint, painted trim, retiled fireplace and carpet installed.  There is probably so much more I'm forgetting.

If you ask anyone, its a vast improvement over where it was- but there is still oh-so-much we want to do. So here's the list- with some before pictures to really give you an idea of what were looking at. Now I didn't attempt to hide any messes in these pictures- it's all real up in here, folks!

 Exterior:

 

-Paint the trim and sides of porch (currently the ugly green)
-Fix porch ceiling
-New lighting/Outdoor Fan
-Repair Stucco where needed
-New flashing and trim on house
-Paint exterior of house (I'm thinking cream?)
-Sod the front lawn
-Landscaping (which someone else will do, since I kill fake plants)
-Trim super large tree

Foyer:

My stenciled wall- love this.

See- I got one drawer painted. Fail.

 

 

-New Front Door
-Finish Gallery Wall
-Paint Cabinet (that has currently been primed for like 2 years-eep.)
-Paint Trim
-Paint or Carpet Stairs and Landing
-Patch the drywall going up stairs
-Paint the upper part of the hallway

Play Room/Dining Room:

Told ya- I keep it real. Didn't even put the toys away.

Water damage on ceiling after bathroom toilet decided to sprout a leak when we were not home.

-Rip out plaster and lathe (which the whole house was, btw) and drywall
-Paint room (don't we all LOVE antique white yellowed after years of a smoker living in the house?)
-New computer Desk
-Toy Storage
-New light fixture

Living Room:

-New ceiling fan
-finish floor trim
-Paint trim
-toy storage (hmm...pattern?)
-Repaint coffee table

Kitchen:

(complete gut/redo)
-New cabinets/countertops
-Backsplash
-Tile floor
-Paint
-Remove pocket door and finish wall
-Box in fireplace
-Move door to pantry/mudroom to line up with exterior door

Pantry:

-Take out current shelving system
-Fix ceiling leak (when it rains really hard, we get a leak)
-Fix window
-Remove old exterior door
-Convert pantry to three piece bath (sink, shower, toilet)

Mudroom:

-Side note- this used to be the back porch that we closed in this spring to make a mudroom.

- remove stucco and old doorframe
-build up the floor
-insulate and drywall walls
-install washer/dryer hookup (hellllo first floor laundry!)
-tile backsplash behind washer/dryer
-tile floor
-add shelving/storage

Bathroom:

-Paint (I'm thinking a mint green)
-Remove wainscoting and install batten and board
-New tub and fixtures
-Retile shower
-Create a new vanity
-Trim mirror
-New lighting fixtures
-Retile floor?

Upstairs Landing:

-Remove wallpaper
-Paint
-Paint Trim

Master Bedroom:
-Paint trim
-Armoire for Hubs
-Hang Artwork
-New Rug?

Guest Room:
-Rip out plaster
-Insulate and Drywall
-Create a closet
-Add vent for heat/ac
-Get rid of nasty drop ceiling
-Lighting
-Paint
-Flooring?

Grayson's Room:

Before

After

 New tile on fireplace

 Carpet, insulation and pretty yellow walls

 Trim painted a nice chocolate brown

No improvements- Its the only complete room in the house :)

Basement
-Folding Station
-Purge
-Build Walls
-Slop sink

Attic (three bedrooms on the third floor)
-ORGANIZE.

Now obviously, this list isn't going to happen overnight.  The hubs is a contractor- so getting him to do work on our house after he does it in other peoples all day is sometimes a bit tough. But we'll chip away at it and get it taken care of.