I’m kind of jonesin’ for a big house project to do.

I haven’t done any major sort of projects since we finished James’ office in the basement. We had a contractor finish the room for us, and then we painted it green (this was mostly James with help around the edges from me) and laid down laminate flooring (this was mostly me & James, with help from Chris, Ann, and Kurt).

We also bought a huge stack of laminate flooring (it was on sale at Costco) to do more in the future. We first planned on putting it upstairs, but I am a very fickle person, and have since decided (and convinced James) that downstairs would be better. I love the wood, but it is on the orangey side, and I’d rather get a different shade for upstairs, plus, this is the same stuff in the office, so the whole downstairs will be done in the same shade.

Other projects: Last year I painted the 3 secondary bedrooms, Ethan’s room is a dark royal blue, the guest room is a melted chocolate ice cream brown, and Jocelyn’s is a lovely lavender purple. The master bedroom, hallway, bathrooms, laundry room is still left unpainted.

There is still so much we want to do to the house, there is a MYRIAD of things I could pick from to do. It’s just a question of WHAT to do, and when, and how much it’d cost.

I’ll be so happy when the entire place is painted, it makes such a big difference. I have an idea of how to paint our two front rooms, especially after seeing Misty’s dining room, I just need to experiment with colors to get the right combination.

I am loathing our wall to wall carpeting more and more every day, and that is all going to go someday. I’d like to do the entire upstairs in laminate flooring, a nice dark brown, maybe walnut or redwood colored. The main level, I’d like to tile the kitchen, bathroom and our two front rooms, and then extend the oak hardwood flooring that is currently in the entryway/hallway through the family room, or at least replace the shit carpet that is in there with something nice. Most of the flooring projects are in the “let’s do it someday” folder, as they’re pretty time and money consuming. However, I feel like the tiling in the front two rooms is something we could do ourselves, with the right tools. No counters/fridges/dishwashers to worry about moving/shimming up. Just rip up carpet and get to work. Also, laying the laminate flooring in the basement is something we can totally do, and soon, just as soon as the main room gets cleaned out, which James has started to do. There’s a lot of stuff down there, however, so it will take some time.

We also desperately need to seal/stain our deck. I’ve ordered some special environment-friendly deck stain called Bio-Wash Natural Deck Oil, so there’s that project that needs doing, and SOON. We were planning on having our handy man do that, but I’m not exactly thrilled with the job he did power washing the deck, plus, the astronomical amount of money we’ve alreaedy shelled out to him for odd jobs around the house is just too staggering to me. And it all started because we didn’t have a tall enough ladder to install the cage to keep the birds out of our dryer tube ourselves. He did install our new kitchen sink though, and our bedroom ceiling fan with remote, which .. let’s be honest, we’d never get around to doing, so I can’t be too bitter. (YES I CAN!) Ahem. So anyway, I’m thinking about maybe doing the deck sealing myself, but we’ll see. It’s hot out. I hate heat.

Oooh. OUTSIDE! There is another project that has been on my mind a lot, and that is TRELLISES. My sweet little vines that I’ve planted around our deck have really taken off, and they need something more to climb on than the dinky wooden dowels I stuck in the ground for them for now. I have priced trellises, and they are expensive, and since I want 4 or 5, I really have no hankering for spending a zillion dollars. Plus, wouldn’t they be easy to make myself? I may try my hand at that. I wish I remembered all my mad skillz from 7th grade wood shop. I made a mean pen-holder, I tell you whut. With James’ help, I bet we could fashion something simple and yet groovy.

So… here I am, wanting to do housey stuff. With a WHOLE MESS of projects I could choose from. I think I may be picking one (or more) and getting on it for the upcoming 4th of July weekend. Yes, some people choose to relax and enjoy time off on the holiday, but me? Well, I look on it as a whole extra day to get something DONE!

So here are the projects that I could *possibly* do:

1. build some trellises (trellisi? Trelli? bah!)
2. lay laminate flooring in the basement
3. tile one or both of the front rooms on the main floor
4. Pick a room, and PAINT IT.

I may be painted out, because I don’t really want to paint. Trellises, I may be kidding myself, but I think I could turn those out in a weekend, once I get a good plan for construction, and with James’ help. Laminate flooring would be fun, but it may not be ready to do. I’m thinking that TILING is the way to go!

I have had great help in the past, in the form of Tamara, who came over after I called her pleading for help and perspective, (“TAMARA! I THINK I PICKED THE WRONG COLOR! IT’S TOO DARK COME TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK PLEEEEEEEAAAAASE!”) and Chris, Ann, and Kurt who endured the smoke that comes from using too wimpy of a saw blade for laminate boards on the miter saw, and even stayed to help LONGER THAN MY OWN HUSBAND. Well, Chris didn’t, but I forgive him. BUT JAMES LEFT, AND NO, I DON’T CARE THAT YOU HAD “CLASS” TO GO TO. HIGHER LEARNING MY ASS. (I kid, because I love.)

So does anyone want to learn how to tile with me? You know you want to. You know you’ve been eyeing YOUR bathroom and thinking, “Hmmm. I wonder how hard it would be to pull up this vinyl and throw down some backerboard and TILE!”

Well, now’s your chance. You can practice ON SOMEONE ELSE’S HOUSE! Plus, I’ll come help you when you need help! Ahhhh, I wish I was Amish, because you know, many hands make work light! Especially with a miter saw! Which the Amish would probably frown on, so screw that.

– amy goes to add as many tiling shows as possible to her tivo