The Task Jar & Jar Projects 1-6

At the beginning of the year, I decided I wanted to portion out our little finishing tasks around the house, making a list of manageable chunks that we could get done week by week - without feeling overwhelmed by the whole picture.

Therefore, I made "The Jar." Granted, I failed to fill it with our tasks until this afternoon. But it was pretty cool to see that we had already finished quite a few of the projects and some of the decorative side projects, as well. Not all of them have pictures because, honestly, they're not all that great to look at.

And, so, I present Jar Projects 1-6:

Jar Project #1:
Curtain/Shade for Lower Bath
A simple shade from IKEA does the trick. We've also started adding some artwork and decor to the lower bathroom, which has been great.

Jar Project #2: Fix Guest Bed Frame
You really don't need to see this one... mostly because you can't actually see it. It's more of a sensory thing. You know, the kind where you lie down and feel the difference that the plywood makes when the bed doesn't sag quite as much as it used to - a little less character, perhaps, but overall a better sleep for our guests.

Jar Project #3:
Finish Cabinet Doors for Vent

They're finally finished! Since we installed the microwave above the stove, there's been open cabinets because the doors needed some re-shaping. They were originally slightly bigger, so Chris sized them down a bit, used his router to finish the door edges, and completed them with a bit of paint and re-hanging. The result is pretty cool, though it's strange to not see open cabinetry above the microwave. I'm sure that will change...

Jar Project #4: New Mailbox

If you've seen our house's exterior, you know that it's not pretty. It's one of the main reasons we didn't take pictures of the outside of the house. That, and since we haven't changed much of it yet, the chances of it looking the same when it's finally addressed (paint, windows, shutters, siding - not necessarily in that order), the before pictures will likely be identical to when we bought the place. After Christmas, though, we used a gift card to buy a new mailbox and new numbers. Awesome, simple fix that somehow makes a huge difference, even in just knowing it's there.

Jar Project #5: Clean Garage

This is another project that really doesn't matter when it comes to seeing it. The garage was a pretty respectable mess following Christmas and with the movement of some furniture in and out, but it has been set right again, which is always great. The car fits once more, which is good news for cold mornings!

Jar Project #6:
Light in Laundry Room

We took out some crazy tube lights from the laundry room when we first moved in (since both of them didn't work at the time, and I guess they probably still don't). Regardless, I've been looking for a way to add some light to the room, because it's really dark at certain times of the day if you don't want to turn on the overhead light in the office... so I re-purposed a reading lamp that we didn't really have a place for in the house by placing it on the storage shelf above our washer and dryer. The result is wonderful at any time of day.

Other Decor Projects

As I mentioned above, I've also been trying to take care of some of the more decor-oriented projects around the house. Though they didn't quite make the jar projects (since most of those require Chris or at least his help and direction), I've been whittling away at them little by little, hoping to continue making this a comfortable and restful place for Christopher and me.

I think I mentioned the bathroom shelves in the last post (I don't just "think" - I know that I did), but I thought I'd include a better shot now that we've finished them out with some buckets for guest toiletries, flowers, tissues, and more. We also hung up a key rack/mail collector by the door to the garage, since we had an issue with trying to figure out where our important mail went. I also mentioned some reorganization that we did at the end of the year, but I specifically wanted to mention the storage area above the desk. It's been great to have things organized and in their places for the first time in a long time - mostly because a) it's great to find things when you need them and because b) it keeps the desktop clearer. All great things.

 

Upcoming Projects:

Our next big project (who am I kidding, it's Christopher's project) is to re-do the stairs going into the garden level office area. The carpet got pulled up a few weeks ago, and we've been trying to price new stairs (since one stair came up with the carpet and since they don't all match). Regardless, we picked up the stairs mostly through returning a few things that had been sitting in our garage after we decided we didn't need them. It's kind of a crazy project, but it's a necessary one. I'm excited for it to be done, but I'll be patient in my waiting because I'm not the one doing the work...