The Great DIY Project List

I am so grateful to be married to an incredibly hands-on do-it-yourself guy! I am all about DIY, but it definitely takes a similarly minded companion to bring it out of me so to speak. And my husband really encourages me in figuring out how to do all sorts of things neither of us have ever tried, like most things on our project list.

My background is that of an elementary school teacher turned SAHM. My husband is a fine artist and bicycle mechanic turned welder. It was a huge transition for him to go to welding school and shift into trade work. Still, when he did so, we didn’t necessarily see him also turning auto mechanic, demolition expert, electrician, plumber, and drywall aficionado in less than two years. But here we are! Everything he has done to our cars and to this house has been self taught or coached along remotely by far away tradesman friends, or the never ending slew of YouTube videos that have saved our butts over the years.

Soon I’m going to start telling you about all the projects we have already started or completed in this new abode. But here and now I am going to lay out the seemingly endless list of projects that still need to be done, because guess what – they’ll all be DIY projects, most of which we are just learning the skills for!

So without further ado, here is the Great DIY Project List:

• Complete ceiling drywall renovation for living room & kitchen (installation, taping, mudding, sanding, priming, painting). Some smaller drywall repairs are also needed in the hallway and one of the bedrooms.
• Complete closet demolition and kitchen counter build. Make our own wood counter-top.
• Re-floor whole house. Remove carpet from remaining rooms, use enzymatic cleaner on concrete slab, lay floating laminate plank flooring throughout.
• Prime and paint all walls and probably doors. Repaint all trim before reinstall.
• Level the addition. More on that later!
• Complete bathroom remodeling beginning with shower/leaky wall tile.
• Install recessed lighting in living room and hallway.
• Upgrade electrical circuit box in garage to handle the load for the welders.
• Fix garage drywall and install workbench and storage for tools etc.
• Design and update living room coat closet.
• Build shelving etc for hallway utility closet.
• Replace toilet etc in half bath.
• Fix/update/replace vent system for dryer and bathroom.
• Reinforce back deck to last until we replace it entirely.
• Replace whole furnace/AC system.
• Eventually replace or design and build new kitchen cabinets with solution for more pantry space.

I’m pretty sure I’m missing things on this list, but maybe you’re starting to get an idea of just how much we have to do around here! And this is all work we have to do on weekends, or between 6-9pm during the week (which rarely happens). And really this is just the big stuff. This is all the hard labor that happens before we get to do things like choose curtains and decide room layouts and pick design elements. This is the fun stuff we get to do before we get to the fun stuff… or something? The hard fun before the easy fun.

A couple of these projects we have started and are working on somewhat continuously, like fixing drywall, or knocking out a closet wall to put in an island counter. But somewhere in the middle of all that I had a baby (here at home, believe it or not!) so our progress just about died out during January, and we are just getting back to it as we speed through February. But that’s okay! We are ramping up to come at our DIY project list with more determination than ever!