Our Current To Do List

It turns out there's nothing like pregnancy to motivate you to finish those lingering house tasks you've been putting off! Soon after discovering we'd be expecting Baby Jones in November, we made something of a master to-do list to help us evaluate and prioritize the things we need to complete, and the things we want to complete before our little bundle of joy tries his/her best to slow us down!

We've been working on several of the items already, but as you'll see below there is still a lot ahead of us!

Nursery:

• Get rid of stuff we don't need (bed, bookshelf, books, stuff stored under bed, in drawers, in closet)
• Refinish woodwork - We have actually decided we will replace the old baseboards to keep dust to a minimum. Coming soon!
• Paint walls
• Fix closet (paint, add light, refigure shelves/rods)
• Paint dressers, replace hardware
• New veneer on side table
• Make curtains (decorative and sheers) - Decorative curtains are finished - we just need to add some sheers to finish them out. Details coming soon.
• Reupholster chaise lounge
• Build book ledges like this one in our living room.
• Finish accessorizing (lamps, wall hangings, new rug, etc.)

Other household projects:

• Upgrade my closet to be as nice as C's since we updated it last winter (expand it, add cedar lining to the walls, add light, refigure shelves/rods) - Sadly, this one might get pushed to a post-baby project. A girl can hope though!
• Upstairs hall closet (adjust/add shelves, replace shelf paper, clean and maybe repaint)
• Upstairs window coverings - Upgrade window coverings in our bedroom and the guest room with sheers for privacy and light, and heavy curtains for decoration and sleeping
• Paint 3rd bedroom/trim (This is a nice-to-do project, and the more I think about it the more I think we might wait until after the baby is born)
• Add a cabinet and hanging area to the laundry room
• Make new living room curtains

Organize:

• Nursery closet
• Chris' closet
• My closet
• Hall closet
  
• Kitchen cabinets and closet 
• Basement storage

Outside Projects:

• Outside house painting project - We're halfway done with side three, and on our way to finishing this nearly 2 year project before the fall!
• Build a deck - Yay!
• Finish front yard landscaping - This one is partially done, and will be ongoing over the next few sprints until things fill in well. Progress update coming soon. 

As you can see, there's LOTS we'd like to accomplish before Baby Jones comes home in November. We're working through everything item by item, and will keep you updated as we go! 

New Corner Seat

As I alluded in our recent post about our nursery, we recently upgraded the chaise in our living room for a newer and improved model. This has been on our list for a while. Our old chaise was fine for our first few years, but it was a lesson for us that microfiber and Wrigley are not meant to be. It wore very badly, and was nearly impossible to clean. In addition, while it was a nice shape and very comfortable, it was always a hair too big for the corner.

To tell the truth I was so excited to have it out of the room I forgot to take a before photo. Oh well! You can get an idea here. And see how we have a red quilt on the seat of the chaise? Yup, that was shameless Wrigley-proofing. He loved to lie on that chaise while we were at work and look out the front window, and at a certain point we just had to give in and keep it as protected as we could.

But there's no more quilt for us! The new chaise has a slight curve which is just enough to keep Wrigley away. The color is similar to our original one - just a neutral cream. The fabric is a ribbed velvet though, which feels great and so far seems to wear much better. And the tufting adds a really nice classic, tailored look.

Shortly after purchasing the chaise, we happened upon the perfect little side table for it at a small town antique mall in Harrisonville, Missouri. Its marble top and intricate, aged brass base fit perfectly onto our main floor, and give a nice spot to set a glass of wine (or these days, a glass of iced tea in my case) down while reading on the chaise. 

And at just $20, we couldn't pass it up!

Don't worry about that old chaise though! We're not done with her yet. When the new one arrived we stashed it away with a few thoughts about future uses, and just a few short weeks later, when we found out I was pregnant. Since it is so comfortable, and a perfect size for my very tall husband, we decided it would be the perfect place to pass out from sheer exhaustion snuggle our new baby to sleep in the nursery. I see a major facelift in this chaise's future . . . .