Projects Around the house

My father in-law has been visiting for the last three weeks and during that time we've managed to knock off a whole bunch of home improvement to-do's. Last year we tackled some serious home improvements and this year I thought our list was shorter but turns out there was a lot to do. Here's a peak at what we've been up to in January:

I finally got a Pinterest project completed that had been on my to-do list since before Caroline was born. It's a piece of wood with vinyl markings bought off of Etsy and then my FIL hung it in the hallway to mark Caroline's height.

The big project this year was to turn our dead patch of "grass" between the garage and our walkway into a patio. I love the way the flagstone and pea gravel turned out. We have some rocking chairs on the way so that we can sit out and watch the neighborhood and hopefully get to know our neighbors a little better!

It's not grand but it needed to be done, we got the diaper sprayer attached to the toilet in Caroline's bathroom. I tried installing it myself but the water shut off valve for her toilet wasn't working so we had to wait for the FIL to fix the valve. I'm thankful to have that taken care of now that Caroline is eating solids!

Another project that turned out even better than I had imagined was our garage shelving. I wanted a unified look that maximized the space in our garage and I could not be happier. We did wall mounted shelves that are just tall enough to fit a standard Rubbermaid tote. We now have more than enough shelving and lots more room for our bikes and stroller. I wish I'd take a before picture to show you how much cleaner the garage looks!

Another not-so-glamorous project was the re-caulking of all the windows on the exterior of the house and repainting the trim around the garage door and the back porch pillars.

We also got our garage door fixed, it was super loud because a part was on the verge of breaking, we got a new part and now have a super quiet garage door!

Things were moving along so quickly that I was able to add another Pinterest project to the mix, this time we mounted double curtain rods to make fabric book slings. I still need to make the fabric part, I need to make a trip to the fabric store and borrow a sewing machine so for now the rods are acting as blanket hangers which are actually a nice way to display all of Caroline's handmade blankets.

Lastly, I have this thing about seeing bare light bulbs. I absolutely hate it! I even had our bathroom fixtures installed upside down so that I wouldn't have to see the bulbs. Well, the ceiling fans in our bedrooms all had standard three light fixtures where the bulbs showed and I felt blinded every time I turned them on. Apparently they make light kits for ceiling fans, who knew? My FIL was able to install the new light fixtures without us needing to replace the entire fan. They look so much better and nicer!

Overall I'd say it's been a productive trip! I'm already thinking about a list for next year!