Upcoming Winter Projects

It’s snowing outside as I sit here writing this post.  It’s the first real snow we’ve had here in central PA and now I feel like winter is here.  Like Lorelai Gilmore, I really love how magical a fresh coating of snow makes the world seem.  With so many terrible things going on in our world right now, it’s nice to enjoy this simple pleasure.  That also makes me anxious to start sharing with you some upcoming winter projects we have going on and how you can prioritize the projects your home.

With most of the big projects finished on the first floor, it’s time to move our projects upstairs.  While not really even on the radar, after buying a set of new bedroom furniture, what seemed like a simple furniture swap, turned into an entire second floor renovation of sorts.

Lay of the Land

Before I get into the projects themselves, I thought it might be helpful to give you a little idea of the rooms we’ll be working on and how our house laid out.  These are rough sketches and are not to scale but I think they do an OK job at showing you the relation of one room to another.

Project No. 1:  Bedroom 3

Our second floor is like a lot of old houses, a few of the bedrooms run into one another.  In other words, you have to go through one bedroom to get to another. (see floor plan below)  We made some changes to the floor plan in the first year or two we lived here but aside from some paint, we never really did much more than add the third bathroom.

The photos of the rooms to follow were taken in 2010, the year we moved in.  Some are from our second walk-through after we wrapped our heads around how rough this house was.  They are horrible photos but I’m thankful now I kept such detailed photos of all the work we’ve done.

Our vision for Bedrooms 3 and 4 was to set it up as a guest suite.  With the rear staircase access, it’s super private, has its own full bathroom and would be ideal out of town guests or our parents if the time ever came that they needed to move in.  

We were using Bedroom 4 as a guest room for a while, but after we put in the carpet, we set it up as the “den” or lounge area for the guest suite.  It’s a small room, not ideal for a bedroom or a den but it’s what we’ve got.

The updated plan is to make the smaller room closest to the bathroom the bedroom and then convert Bedroom 3 into the den / lounge.  This gives us an alternative place to hang out and is a nice space should we have any future guests.

Project 1 Task List:

• Strip wallpaper
• Patch walls after wallpaper has been stripped
• Add wood trim feature wall
• Paint trim
• Paint walls
• Clean up and paint window
• Paint radiator
• Install new hardwood floors
• Build new sofa table
• Swap out light fixture
• Add sconces on feature wall
• Add new blinds and curtains
• Furnish and accessorize

Project No. 2:  Set up Guest Bedroom

This room is pretty much done.  We painted just over a year or so ago, it has new carpeting and aside from a few simple cosmetic things, it’s ready for furniture and accessories.

Project 2 Task List

• Move leather furniture, tv and tv stand to new den / lounge
• Move upholstered bed from our room and furnish as guest bedroom
• Touch up any wall paint and ceiling
• Paint trim
• Change out light fixture
• Accessorize

Project No. 3:  Master Bedroom

This is where things get complicated.  Before we move our new furniture into our bedroom, we want to lay in the hardwoods like we did downstairs.  This will run throughout our bedroom and closet, out into the upstairs landing and into the the two bedrooms on the other side of the house (bedrooms 2 and 3).  

The photo below was taken in 2010 as we were still unpacking after moving in.  It’s so funny to see how much our styles change over time.  The second photo was taken in January 2018.

While our room is emptied out, I want to take advantage of the time to get some much-needed things done in there as well.

Project no. 3 Task List

• Clear out room
• Paint walls and trim
• Paint ceiling
• Add ceiling fan
• Install new flooring
• Bring in new furniture
• New rug
• New curtains
• Find new night stands
• New bedding
• Accessorize
• Finish closet door

Project No. 4 Landing /Hallway

Before the new hardwoods are installed I have a few updates to make here too.

Project No. 4 Task List

• Rip out old hardwood floors
• Finish painting walls
• Paint trim
• Finish painting doors
• Update light fixture ?
• Install new hardwood floors

Project No. 5 Bedroom No. 2 / RC’s storage room

One of my personal projects for this year was to overhaul this storage room.  With the new shelving in my office and some shop updates (see below) planned, my goal was to redesign this room as more of a multi-purpose room.

I have a vintage teacher’s desk that I’d like to set up and maybe do some storage for the shop as needed.  If there is room, I’d love to add a daybed or settee so that I can work up there or have an additional work space for any future employees.

Project No. 5 Task List

• Empty room
• Strip wallpaper
• Patch and sand walls
• Build closet and add closet door
• Paint walls
• Paint trim
• Install hardwood floors
• Update light fixture
• Add wood blinds
• Add curtains
• Refinish vintage desk
• Add desk chair
• Add rug
• Bookcases
• Clean up and refinish vintage bed from storage

Project No. 6  Shop / Studio Updates

My original 2020 plan was to start out the year with some shop renovations but alas, we kind of need a place to sleep too.  The cheap laminate floors in the shop are damaged and beyond ugly so after going back and forth on what to replace them with, we’ll be running the same oak floors into the studio to match the rest of the house with a fun tile inlay at the front door.

I have also sketched out a built-in cabinet design that I think B is going to build for the wall opposite the counter to help eliminate the need for so much storage upstairs.

Project no. 6 task list

•   Take out old laminate flooring
• Install new hardwood floors
• Lay in the tile at front door
• Touch up paint as needed
• Paint trim as needed
• Build / install built-in cabinets
• Paint cabinets
• Add hardware
• Remove small shelves from front of counter area and replace with raw wood planks
• Accent wall behind counter
• Finish painting counter area
• Update fan
• Strip door and seal natural wood
• Update powder room door
• Update storage closets
• Update / upgrade work table
• More ?

Other Projects

Over the next couple months, B and I will be taking on the project planning and design of a room not in our house.  I’m really excited to be working with my brother and sister-in-law on the design and renovation of their bathroom. I’ll be sharing more details as we go along but it’s something we are including in our list of upcoming projects.

Whew.  I think that about covers it. 

Once spring arrives, I’ll have a fresh list of projects including a makeover of the shop entrance and some additional backyard projects we’ve been scheming.  Until then, I think we have more than enough to keep us busy while the weather is cold and snowy.

Do you have any fun and exciting projects going on this winter?