The plan, Stan. (Or Squeezies)

Heya! Hope you had a fantastic weekend! I spent most of my free moments working on the (final. serious this time. never again.) decrapifying of our basement. I tell you what � I LOVE it!! Oh my, getting rid of crap is best feeling.

But more on that in a bit. :)

My friend the Nester, (did you SEE her bedroom redo??) had a Home Goals party last week that really got me thinkin�. I have all these ideas in my head for our home and what I�d like to accomplish this year. I love talking houses and DIY and decorating, and I thought who better to talk shop with than all of you SQUEEZies.

Now, like Nester mentioned � decorating/DIY/our house is my hobby and my passion and kind of my job?? (Crazy by the way. Best. job. ever.) So my list is long and a bit exhausting for most.

But thinking of it makes me GIDDY. Gleeeee!

So let�s start, shall we? In no particular order, mind you.

I started our mini kitchen redo last umm�May.

I know�it�s been a teensy little while. (For shame.) Most of it�s done � but there�s still a few projects left to do. I need to install some glass fronts on a few of the cabinets. (Hiring out for that one � cutting our cabinet doors would make me pass. out. Sceered.)

I still need to touch up a ton of paint, install crown (which will have to go around the whole great room), and then finish up some accessory projects. I�m also considering a light fixture over the island:

If I do, I�ll remove the pendant light above the sink to open it up. But I�m not doing a thing until I see some pictures in Photoshop. :)

I started a little reworking of the master bedroom a few months ago, but I didn�t want to do any major DIY projects in the room. I did OK with that whole �nothing major� till I decided a month or so ago I wanted to add molding to the whole space. It doesn�t have a lick of it yet:

And I just can�t have that. :)

I also have a Craigslist dresser I need to figure out what to do with (I swear I�ll show you soon!), figure out some new accessories and I think I�m going to repaint the wall behind the bed:

(Older pic, it looks different now. Gotta finish that up too. :) )

I�m just really over those stripes. WAY. They�ve been around for about almost five years. I�ve loved them long time but I�m ready to say buhbye. (You can see more on how I did those here.)

And speaking of finishing projects, I�ve shown you the (slow) progress on my office:

It�s shaping up to be my most dramatic before and after ever. But oh my�much to do still. Woodwork out the wazoo, drapes, recovering cushions, accessories, art, organizing�whew. But FUN. I picked up a few little accessories today that got me excited about getting the board and batten done already so I can get on to the fun stuff. :)

There�s a few rooms I�d like to update a bit this year � first, the downstairs powder room:

I love our chocolate brown dining room, but brown for potty? Really? ;) I do like it, I�m just ready for a change. And I am O.V.E.R. the stencils. Done.

I have no clue what color I�m going to paint it � but it�ll come to me. Some day.

And our guest room (that was stepdaughter�s room) isn�t the most luxurious space for our guests right now:

:) It just about screams GIRL. I�ve already changed the layout of the room and ditched the purple and pink bedding. Now (again) I just need to decide on a color. I�ve had a swatch of grey up on the wall for a year now (no lie), but I�m not doing any painting till I find some inspiration for the room. (In bedding I hope!)

And finally�our two biggest projects of the year. (**We HOPE.)

Since we�ll be debt free soon (except the house), we plan to finally, finally, FINALLY going to finish our basement:

That�s the plan anyway. We say that every. year. But this year we are serious dang it!! Because we�ll be able to pay for it with �cash,� we think this may finally be the year it happens. Finally.

It�s pretty basic really � we already have (most) of the outlets and light fixtures we�ll need. It just needs framed out, electrical and drywall done. Then we need to figure out flooring. And oh yeah, there�s a bathroom that needs to be finished too. Ummm�maybe not so basic. We don�t know yet if we�ll hire a contractor to do it all, or contract everyone out separately for each project.

Anyone out there had a basement finished recently? Did you do it yourself, hire someone to do it all, or hire out to a bunch of folks?

To say I�m excited is a bit of an understatement. The cleaning of another 800+ square feet? Not so excited. But I�ll deal. :)

Actually, I clean down there already, since we really do use the space. That brings me to the decluttering � I�m SEE REE US about it this time. I can�t even imagine the pain it�s going to be finishing it off and dealing with all the stuff we have down there. Don�t. even. want to think about it.

The other BIG project is one that has me positively giddy � it�s a redo of a room that�s less than 40 square feet, but it will be a HUGE change.

I want to revamp our laundry/mud room:

Pretty basic � new paint and finishing the beadboard I never finished.

But my dream, my wish, my heart�s desire�is to move the washer and dryer out and make it a TRUE mud room.

Like, with built ins, cubbies, storage, a ton of coat hooks -- all of it. All of that fantastically wondrous, beautiful, amazing stuff. :)

Why? Because 99.9 percent of the time, the room looks like this:

You think I�m kidding. I�m soooo not kidding. I wish I was. It�s a rare day around here that we can walk through the space without hopping over clothes. Having the laundry right in the way of our entry and exit (how many times a day?) drives me absolutely bonkers. Mad. CRAY-ZAY.

The washer and dryer will either be moved up a level or down one. There are pros and cons to both locations, but either will be a million times better than what we have going on now.

Cause what we have now is madness. :)

The first step is to get a plumber out here to give us an estimate. From there we�ll decide if it�s gonna happen. And I really, really want it to happen.

You have no idea.

Anyone know of a quality, inexpensive plumber in the Indy area? Let me know. For reals. I will love him (or her!) forever and ever, amen.

So there you go � our DIY/decorating list around the TDC casa for 2011. Will any of it happen? I hope so. Will all of it? Highly doubt it. :) But it�s fun to dream.

Do you have any redos, DIY projects, major renovations coming up this year? Do tell � I love this stuff!! :)