After being sick for a few days, it always takes a little while to assess how you’re feeling in the morning.  Am I still sick?  Have I finally turned the corner?  Well, this morning, I assessed after helping Jeff get the boys off to school and I have turned the corner.  I felt like myself and had some energy for the first time in a week.  I’m still not 100%, but I’m on the way there.  So, with the turn of the calendar to March 1 and with some new energy, I found myself thinking about projects we are planning to work on this spring.  I shared a list of loosely planned projects to do in 2024 HERE, but this is a bit more specific to what we’ll be working on in the coming weeks.

Since the weather will be warming up, we’ll be focusing a lot of our attention on the outside of the house.

replace the fence

The fence doesn’t look terrible in the photos, but it is in bad shape.  There are gaps in some places, missing pickets, and sections that are being held upright by vines.  We planned to tackle the fence last year, but we had so many other projects happening that it got put on the back burner.  It ended up being a fortunate thing, though, since sections had to be removed during the pool renovation.  When our contractor said he was going to take sections of fence out I laughed and warned him, “If you take it out, I doubt you’ll be able to put it back.”  I ended up being right and he replaced that section of fence entirely.

We also had to replace the side gate we use most often since it deteriorated off the hinges shortly after we moved in.  I thought I wrote a post sharing how we built a new one, but I wasn’t able to find it.  That time was a bit of a blur, so I may have missed posting about it.

We got some quotes to have the fence replaced and it was a lot more than we wanted to pay.  We were actually shocked at how much it would cost.  It was cheaper to completely move the basement staircase in our kitchen than it was to replace two sections of fence.  So, we assessed the fence and were pleased to discover that the posts were in good, solid condition, so we could use those and just replace the rails and pickets.  It makes replacing the fence an easy DIY project we can tackle in sections.  We’ll try to get that done before the sweet autumn clematis comes back in.  I’ll probably build a trellis for that to climb on as well.  I really love how it covers the fence in the summer.

paint the back of the house & add shutters

We painted the front and garage side of the house this fall and now we’ll work on the back.  There isn’t as much to paint on this side, but we do want to replace the shutters and paint the back door.  They are small details, but I think they will add a lot.  As we did with the front, we’ll work on the project in chunks before the summer heat moves in.

Eventually, we’ll replace the windows along the back side of the house, which will make a big difference too.

start planting

As I shared in the fall, the front of our house is pretty naked right now.  We replaced the roof in the fall of 2022, removed overgrown bushes last spring, and then painted the exterior last fall.  With all of that work out of the way, we are ready to start planting!  Well, we do have to define and prep the beds, which will be a lot of work, but I’m really excited about getting some plants in the ground.  I view this as a multi-year project that we’ll add to over time, but it’ll be nice to get some foundation bushes planted to get started.

There are times when I feel hesitant to plant, but I remember what my friend Cheri says (and she has a beautiful yard and garden) – “I move plants like I move furniture.”  I don’t ever feel hesitant to move furniture to try something new, so I shouldn’t feel like planting something has to be permanent.  I know it’s best to put a plant in a good spot and leave it there to thrive, but it’s also okay to move things around.  It’s fairly low stakes after all!

One of my Instagram followers did a mock-up for fun sharing some ideas she had for the front of our house.  Isn’t it so cool?

It’s definitely more planting than I plan to do, but I love how it gives me another perspective on how the yard can look when it’s brought to life.

spruce up the front walk

One project we’ll work on that will be free, which is always awesome when you are renovating a home, is to spruce up the front walk.  Down the road, I would love to put thin brick on top of the concrete or something, but for now, we’re going to power wash it and do some edging to make it look clean and cared for.  My vision is to plant liriope all along the walk, which is something I remember clearly from my Oma and Opa’s house, but that probably won’t happen this year.

painting the boys’ bathroom

Whenever I look at our very 1970s bathroom, I remind myself that our bathroom money is currently on our roof!  We ended up getting a new roof installed instead of renovating the bathrooms, which we were planning on doing right away.  It’s a good tradeoff, but I wasn’t planning on these being our bathrooms beyond our first year in the house.  If budget allows, we might start renovating the boys’ bathroom this year and/or add a half bath off the foyer, but since it’s still a question mark, I decided to spruce up the boys’ bathroom so it’s a little nicer while we wait.  Here’s how the bathroom looked…

In November, I removed the wallpaper, sanded down the ceiling (which had peeling paint), and primed everything.  Just that alone made the room feel fresher!  As a side note, I actually liked the wallpaper used in this room.  It has a watercolor feel about it and was definitely thick high-quality paper.  But, it was peeling in some places and had a good, long run.  It was time.   

The 50-year-old fan was making a racket, so we had it replaced in January.  That project involved ceiling repair, so I’ll need to prime and paint the ceiling again and then paint the walls.  I bought a pale blue paint that will work with the sink and tiles until we renovate.  I’ll probably do a few other little things like paint the vanity and replace the knobs.  I’ll give an update once I get those things done.

See, can you tell I’m feeling better?  My mind is already whirling with ideas and I’m filling up my schedule…