Last Modified: 2 April 2005

house improvements

living/dining area

border

I'd like to remove the wooden railing dividing the living room and the dining room. While I'm at it, I'd like to get rid of the wooden railings along the stairwells and replace them with something sleeker.

both

I'd like to remove the old, gray wall-to-wall carpet, install hard flooring on the entire area (maybe on the stairs, too, to make them easier to clean), and put down large area rugs.

living area

I'd get new window treatment for the sliding-glass doors onto the deck, like maybe some sheer curtains and bamboo blinds. I'd install some more lighting in the computer area. Rob's in the process of constructing SuperDesk, an all-encompassing desk / shelf / cabinet unit that will house our computers, television, stereo, printers, monitors, and related stuff.

kitchen

Storage is the biggest problem in the kitchen. Our kitchen has plenty of floor space but not much cupboard space. A nice touch would be a bench seat in the kitchen's bay window. We'd get additional storage underneath it, and I'm sure Tornado Kitty would enjoy sitting up there and watching the action in front of our house.

master bathroom

Besides having all the regular problems of tile being difficult to clean, this bathroom's tub area is just asking for trouble from standing water on its horizontal tiled surfaces. In addition, there's a surplus of horizontal shelf area next to small tub. I suggest replacing all of the tile with an acrylic surface and installing a larger tub (assuming that the space under the shelf isn't housing plumbing).

attic

Yea! We've got a pull-down ladder up to the attic now!

outdoors

back yard

A kindling box in the back yard (under the deck) would be an improvement over our current storage of kindling in the garage, where we trip over it every time we step into the garage. (With the garage being so short on space and our not having a basement "junk area," it would help to be able to store things outside when possible.) A hose rack would help us keep the hose from becoming a big green knot. We bought a trellis, which needs to be set up in the spring, for the beans and peas in the vegetable garden.

deck

It'd be nice to have a post and hook for hanging plants out on the deck. We have the hook, actually, but it's just laying on a shelf in the garage.