Our LARGE To-Do List

I sit in a very small room every day. I haven't lived in my house or had any of our stuff for almost 6 months. It has given me a TON of time to think about projects, decorating, cooking, and landscaping. Now that we have officially closed on our house and hotel living is almost to an end, pinterest is an addiction. The end is near and crafting is about to begin. I have a blank slate of a house. IT'S AWESOME! Sort of. Not on the budget.

The problem is, my head is exploding with ideas and excitement. I started to not be able to sleep because I was stressing that I was going to forget something. So I made a list. I am a list person. It helps me be sane. I wrote it all down. And I know I will be adding to the list or taking things off as I realize some things won't work or others that will. Here it is. Avery got excited too and kind of grabbed it and started waving it around. And crumpled it. And took a bite out of the top left corner. But it's ok. I can still read it. And now if something happens to it, it is now documented for all time via the internet. Go technology.

I just wrote things down as I thought of them, not necessarily in order of importance. While I was at the gym one day, Troy happened upon my list. I'm pretty sure he almost had a heart attack because I put a family room rug up higher on the list before getting a gas dryer.

Sidenote - Apparently, most of Nevada uses a gas dryer and very few homes have electric hook ups. WHAT? I have never heard of this. Maybe because I have lived on the east coast most of my life. Do you have a gas dryer? So yeah, we need to buy a gas dryer and Craigslist our old one. So sad. I love it :(

So Troy grabbed my list and numbered things so I was aware of where the priority of purchase lies. I know TROY! Many of the things on the list are DECOR choices not necessity, but things that down the road may be purchases for tracking down on Craigslist, thrift stores, or things that we DIY. And sometimes (ok lots of times) pretty trumps function. For example, jewelry. Doesn't do anything except look pretty. But everyone wears it. A watch does not fall in this category.

Here is the list as I wrote it:

- Blinds - buy from selectblinds.com
- Ceiling fans
- Family room
- rug
- sofa
- curtains
- buffet/sideboard (antique?)
- sofa table/coffee table
- Curtain rods for the whole house
- Patio furniture (adirondack chairs and I found a DIY dining table we are doing)
- Matching wingback chairs for the front living room (library area??)
- figure out something for the master retreat
- TV stand for the loft
- New TV for master or loft
- Furniture for the master (not a SINGLE piece of furniture matches, including the night stands)
- toddler bed for Avery (or go right into a twin bed?)
- Entry table by the front door?
- Bench to make the breakfast nook table a 6 person table?
- 2 bar stools for the island
- Gas dryer
- Backyard landscaping
- Deep freezer for the garage (costco?)
- baby gates

And here is how Troy numbered it:

1. Blinds
2. Ceiling fans
3. Gas Dryer (I actually think this should be first...but hey, he can wear dirty clothes if that is what he chooses)
4. Sofa for family room
5. Curtains and curtain rods
6. Family room rug
7. New TV for master or for loft
8. Backyard landscaping
9. Toddler bed for Avery

He didn't number anything else. He actually was like, "everything else is up for discussion. We don't actually need any of that other stuff on your list." Well you know what TROY, Momma hasn't had a house in 6 months and I can do a lot of this stuff on the cheap so BUCK UP! I'm gearing up for some serious Craigslisting and I'm hoping soon we can discuss a budget for either all of my projects or a room by room budget. We'll see.

In recent news, we bought a new dining room light fixture. The builder grade looked cheap. The lighting "upgrade" was the exact same fixture in ORB. But you know what? You can't fix ugly with a new color. Not in this case. It just looks small and chintzy in such a nice, big, new space. It doesn't have shades on it. It's just a few light bulbs. Ew.

Enter Joss and Main. HELLLLLO GORGEOUS! I love Joss and Main. They have some really really nice stuff for great prices. This is where I found our new dining room chandelier.

It is ORB so it matches the other lighting upgrades that we did in the foyer and breakfast nook. And look at the glass shades! They're pretty. We shipped it to Nate and Karen's house. They live about 100 yards from us. So it's awesome that I can still buy things as I find them for a great deal and ship them to our neighborhood. The chandelier retails for $279 and was on sale for $119 with free shipping. YES! So anyway. That is our official first home owner purchase.

I plan on craigslisting the other fixture. But I might spray paint it and hang it in our master bedroom closet to make it fancy. I joked with Troy about painting it and hanging in the potty room in our master. Apparently that's not funny.

Once we get there and I see our stuff in the house, I'm sure the list will grow and we will have some things to do/change/buy for each room. Thus a budget for each room. And then if I come in under budget, it can roll into the next room :) That sounds like a win-win to me. We'll see. Especially since Troy's list for the backyard includes a pool. Ouch. I need a job.