Same House, New Plans!

So, as time has progressed, I am fairly sure that I am going to call my Hawthorne House my semi-permanent home, at least for the next few years.

This was not the foremost original plan, seeing as though when I first moved here, I was with Wes and (for some insane reason) felt the need to possibly plan for moving in with him at some point, so this was going to be a just-for-now residence. Then, after John and I had been together, and I thought that things were headed in the direction I was hoping for, I reconsidered re-signing my lease because I was very excited and hopeful about the possibility of moving in with him and taking the next step there. However, considering that didn't happen, and I am now single (and fairly comfortable with that status) and don't have anything near a solid plan on what to do next (other than school), I am quite comfortable with staying on here and making it feel more like a "home" instead of a "house", which is manly what it has been.

And that includes the formation of some really exciting plans. Firstly, I want to re-paint most everything. While the "canary yellow" was charming while I considered this a house, it has gotten very unsatisfying very quickly. And, even in apartments, I have always painted AT LEAST my bedroom, so this isn't unheard of in the slightest for me.

I want to make the living room a mix of complimentary blues and cool grays to match my couch and rugs I already own. Install crown molding along the ceiling to accent my slightly vaulted living room ceiling, and also put up a medium-width trim along the middle of the wall, to separate the dark lower-wall paint from a lighter upper-wall paint, similar to this example, but obviously more fun and with different colors. I was thinking of doing something dark and textured on the bottom, and light and flat on the top, but I am not sure yet. The real thing that will determine what I do is how much of a budget the Landlord will give me and how much time and skill I have to actually pull it off. But considering I see myself as a fairly capable and crafty person, I'm pretty hopeful.

The next thing, after paining, is I want to re-do my poor closet that is so horribly organized that it is only utilizing maybe 2/3 of its potential. I'm sure something like that will be pretty easy, either from IKEA or Home Depot, with their modular closet systems, but this house mod definitely is limited by my understanding of building, considering how much weight it will need to support. So, you more construction-crafty types may be getting a phone call from me saying, "Halp!!" when it comes to that portion.






And lastly, the Kitchen. It has sooooo much potential to be AMAZING, but needs some serious TLC. Painting, first, of course. Then, seeing as though it is shaped like a rectangle and my fridge is in another room, storage systems similar to those found in nice garages would make for excellent storage/pantry/brewing supplies/extra counter space. Thinking of also hanging a nice potrack over the bar area, since it never gets used for anything other than space anyways, and good potracks can make a kitchen look simply amazing.

The nice thing is that the Landlord seems to actually be enthusiastic about all of my ideas, because not only is his house getting a very nice make-over for cheap, but also I suppose because it indicates that I plan on being here a while. The poor cats are gonna need to have a few visits with their Aunty Jena and Uncle Andrew here and there, tho! :-)

So, stay posted for many, many before-and-after pics, how-I-did-it pics, questions, polls, and other such fun things, as I am sure I'll continually feed the intarwebz need for new stuff often. And those of you with experience (and the necessary tools!!!!) to do this kind of stuff, your help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Wish me luck!