Plans For The Next Year

 I have been working on getting a few more things in order. I have made some decisions on the house which I am trying to follow through with. 

1. The house was power washed yesterday. It has never been done since it was built 12-14 years ago. The person did the back deck and the shed also as he had enough water on board to do them. Everything looks great and is worth the money to do it. 

2. I will get the heat pumps serviced in either July or August. They haven't been looked at since they were installed on Jan. 2, 2019. It is time to have them done. 

3. I am thinking of having someone come in and paint the rest of the upstairs, the trim, and the doors. I can't do above the kitchen cabinets and part of the bathroom. I will then look at having the kitchen cabinet boxes painted and new doors and drawer faces put on. I will also have new counter tops put on in the kitchen and bathroom. 

4. Start decorating the upstairs. Once the painting is done, I can then start decorating. I am trying to figure out what I want that I can take with me or get rid of easily when I can't live here anymore. I am hoping that I will have at least 6 more years of living in this house. 

5. Get the fridge fixed or replaced. I have a technician looking at it June 12. I am hoping it can be fixed. I need it done so I can stop worrying about it. 

6. Get rid of the vegetable boxes in the back yard this fall. I will plant grass and have the back yard in all grass. I am going to do some vegetables in tubs on the deck. It will be easier for the company to mow and will be more appealing when I have to sell the house. 

7. Look for blinds for the main part of the upstairs. I don't want curtains but if I do have to add them, they will be new ones in a light grey colour. I will also hang them higher up. 

8. Get the hedge cleaned up, edged, and bark mulch put on the ground. 

I know I am going to be spending quite a bit of money getting things done but I am prepared for that over the next couple of years. I want to have the place look nice. Curb appeal is very important to me as is having the inside looking updated and clean. 

Getting Back To Work

 I have not done any painting since November. I put both of my SI joints out in December and it took 4 weeks to recover from that. In January and February I shovelled a lot of snow and ice due to the storms we had. I also caught a cold and thought I had a chest infection. At the end of February I was told my thyroid was low and my medication needed to be strengthened. It took me a long time to recover from that. 

The Master Bedroom

I love the colour in the master bedroom. It is calming and relaxing for me. I have not done any decorating but know I want I want to do. 

• Use a navy blue blanket I bought on the bottom of the bed. It is perfect for this room.

• Make a navy and white Irish chain quilt for the bed. I want to reverse the colours where the white will be the small squares and the navy the large ones. The navy is a William Morris print and needs to be showcased. 

• Use the William Morris print and white fabric to make table runners for the bedroom. Use this pattern as it is simple and effective. 

• Hang a few pictures in the room. I have several I can use. 

• Look around for mats and maybe something for the bedside table that has nothing on it. 

I can work on these slowly over the next several months. I need to starch the quilt fabric prior to cutting out the quilt and the table runners. I will be buying more of the William Morris fabric so I can add large borders to the quilt. 

My Next Project

I plan on starting to paint the rest of the upstairs. I have progressed enough with my hip and thyroid issues to start painting again. I will need to remember to have rest days and not to plan how much I do each day. I also will have to buy blinds for windows as I am taking down curtains and need privacy and shade for the sun that comes in. 

I will report back when I get some painting done. 

Master Bedroom Is Ready To Decorate

 I finished painting the master bedroom. I pushed to get it done and paid the price for doing that. I need a day off every couple of days to rest and let my muscles recover. 

As I painted, I saw how bright and big the room looked. It is almost overwhelming to think about the size. When I finally got it done, I knew that I needed to think about what I will do in that room. 

The room is very monochromatic and calm feeling. But, it feels a bit cold at the moment due to the fact I have no colour in it. I am thinking about the colour I want to have. 

• Navy and white Irish chain quilt to be made for the bed. 

• Navy and white toppers for the furniture. 

• Black headboard for bed??

I have two pictures to hang in the room. One is a counted cross stitch picture I did in the 1990's. The other is one I found that had restored. My uncle had given it to my parents when they were married. I want to add a bit of colour to the room. It will probably be the last to be chosen as I want to see how the room looks when I am done. 

I have put away the paint and supplies until after Christmas. I need to spend time cleaning the rest of the house and get ready for Christmas. 

I will be moving back into the bedroom this weekend. Hopefully being back in the space will give me inspiration on what accent colour I want. 

Starting the Master Bedroom

 I took a break from painting as I was busy doing other things that had me away or outside. I was also tired for some unknown reason which could have been from the amount of pain I had. 

I decided to start painting the master bedroom. It is a big room and I had to plan what walls I would do in a specific order. With a plan in place, I patched the small holes in the walls and sanded them. The first 3 walls were picked. 

I did wash the walls and baseboards in that area prior to painting them. I put the first coat on yesterday. 

Not a big impact yet as it is only 1/4th of the room. But it will come as I do more walls. 

I hate the paint used on the walls as it was cheap builder's grade. I have to watch that I don't over do painting as I have issues that need to be fixed when I do the second coat. I still hate the tan colour. It is not me. I lived with it for 7 years and am glad it is slowly disappearing from this house, 

When the room is painted, I will be making a navy blue and white quilt for it. I am not sure what pop of colour I will use. It can only be a small amount. It will be very minimal as I need this room to be calm so I can sleep in it. My sleep disorder does not allow for lots of items or a TV in the room. Over the years I have realized that I need less than most bedrooms have. It was hard at first but I am now use to it and don't like any form of clutter in there. 

When this room is painted, I will not be painting until January. I want to clean up the house for Christmas. I also don't want a gallon of paint hanging out in the entrance way. I need to make sure that all is hidden while I enjoy a brief time out and enjoy family and friends. 

Winding Down In The Spare Bedroom

I have set up the spare bedroom and it is almost done. I have painted and painted and then scrubbed until it is sparkling clean. I still have the doors and trim around them to paint but that is for a later date. 

This bedroom is small. When we viewed the house, it was full of large furniture -- queen size bed, free standing wardrobe, and bedside tables. There was even a TV in the room. We knew it would not be that full when we bought it. 

The room evolved in its look over the years and it has always been minimal. It still looks full but not crammed full. It always looked dull and depressing due to the colour on the walls and it being on the north side of the house. 

Changing the colour to the light grey was the biggest change in that room. It lightened it up and made it feel bigger. Though I have a queen size bed in the room, the rest of the furniture is a smaller scale. 

The room does have a Coastal Grandma look to it without being nautical. It is minimal but not stark. It has warm and will have more warmth as I add the finishing touches to it. 

The dresser and small table are on the window side of the room. The wall feels balanced even with the dark blue curtains. I have kept what I wanted on the flat surfaces to a minimum so I can dust them easily. 

The bedside table is on the opposite side of the bed. It is small which is perfect. The closet doors open on that side of the room and I will be able to get into them easily. 

I put a feather duvet on the bed (one of two the Hutterites gifted me). I need to get a white duvet cover for it. I also have 2 pillows that are suppose to be stood at the head of the bed as a headboard. I will get them out and make pillow cases for them. I am thinking of a colour rather than white. 

I will hang a picture above the bed. It is one my aunt (mother's youngest sister) embroidered for me when I was born. I found it in a trunk when mom was cleaning out her house and had it framed. 

At the moment, this is the only picture I am going to hang up in the room. 

I am looking at a few I need to add to the room. I want to buy a longer curtain rod and 2 more panels so I can have the curtains further out from the window. They are too close to the window at this time and having the rod stick out 6" on each side will help the curtains frame the window. I am still hoping to buy white sheets and duvet cover. I am thinking of getting a pleated bedskirt also. Once I get these bought and put into the room, I think I will have a room I enjoy going into. 

I am very pleased with the room so far. As I wind down from this room, I am starting to plan my bedroom which will be the next room to paint and decorate. 

Learning To Live More Minimally

 I have worked some on the spare bedroom since Thanksgiving. I got almost half of the baseboards and the window painted. I then crashed with pain. I wondered if it was my hip joint, SI joint, or soft tissue. In the end it was soft tissue. The hip flexor and adductor were taut enough to drum on. The pain was becoming unbearable and it was causing me to have bad nights of sleep. I have had osteopathy and physio and am feeling better. 

I have started to set up the room so I can finish painting the baseboards. I moved the dresser back to where it was prior to 2023. It is now back at the foot of bed rather than at the head. 

I hung the curtains and I do like them in the room. It gives it a bit of colour which is needed. 

I put the bedside table where the dresser use to be. I decorated it to see how it would look. 

When I looked at the room from the door, it wasn't feeling right. I had everything on the window side of the room. It felt heavy on that side. The other side of the bed had nothing. I lived with it for 24 hours figuring out what I needed to do. 

I moved the bedside table to the other side of the bed. I decorated the top of it to see if it felt balanced. 

No it didn't as there as a gaping hole on the other side of the bed. The table came back in and it feels much better. 

Excuse the mess as I am still cleaning the room to finish the baseboards. 

I have not put the small cloths back on the table and bedside table. I was not enjoying the tops of these items. I did put the table runner on the dresser as I like it. 

I am still thinking about the bed. I know it will have white bedding with a blue throw on it. I am not sure if I will use the cushions or add the covers to the little wall hanging and table toppers and take them to the thrift store. I can make simple cushion cover for the bed if I think I need it. My goal of having the room minimal but cozy is coming along. I will be sleeping in this room when I start painting my bedroom. 

I have also been thinking about how I am enjoying pare back the house to have it more minimal. I am sure it will be easier to look after so I can do other things I want to do. I am enjoying having the walls lighter and all the same colour. It has a calming effect on me. I love having less out and will continue to see what I do and don't need. 

I have been watching a lot of videos lately due to the pain. Most often than not I watch maybe 50% and listen to the remaining part. Two videos I watched last night I did look at them all. 

Video One is about a young couple with 2 girls under the age of 4. They bought their first place and are painting and decorating it in a farmhouse style. She loves to decorate seasonally and the amount of items she has out is beyond my clutter threshold. She keeps it organized and clean almost every day. She loves what she does and I admire her for doing everything with 2 young children in the house all the time. Her husband is wonderful also. Her last video was her Christmas haul. She will be decorating starting Nov. 1. 

Video Two is about a German couple who live in Britain. They own a terrace home that is old. They have been redoing the house over the years they have lived in it. They also love colour with every room a different colour. Their style is Victorian/Edwardian with a modern twist. They don't have as many items in their home and they only decorate for Christmas which is more German than British. Their last 2 videos have been about renovating their kitchen/utility room. They painted their pantry all one colour and installed a light. They are now working on the kitchen as they need to paint it before the cabinets are put in. The door to the utility room was painted a rich blue with a green undertone on the kitchen side and will be a rose colour on the utility side. They are deciding which dusty rose they will paint the rooms in. It isn't my style but I love watching them renovate and decorate they buy high end items which are displayed all the time. They also look for interesting antiques that will fit in their house. 

While watching these videos and a Finnish one on minimalism, I realize that I like to have less in my house. I enjoy the prospect of being able to clean it quickly and easily. What do I really need and what can I let go of that I am not using. How can I find that balance not only in the areas I live in but those that I work in. 

I am deciding on what I will keep for hobbies (sewing, knitting, paper crafting) and will let other hobbies go. I also know I want low inventory for my hobbies so I can put it all away easily. I am learning how much is enough for me. I want to feel calm and inspired when I work in those spaces. 

I know I have a lot of work still to do painting the upstairs and decluttering both levels. I know I want to live minimally and will have to work on not collecting clutter in this house. It is a challenge that I am embracing at this season of my life. 

Nearing The End of Painting The Spare Bedroom

The spare bedroom is painted. I had it done the day before Thanksgiving. It shows more grey than the rest of the rooms as the window faces north. 

I am ready to scrub the floor and baseboards and then paint the baseboards and window. I need to do the window before I hang the curtains up. The doors and door trim can be painted later on as I don't need to move furniture around to do them. 

As I am getting closer to setting up the room again, I have been doing quite a bit of thinking. Do I need every piece of furniture in that room? What can I let go of? What do I need to buy for the room? I have looked at every item in the room not once but several times. It is decision time. 

The room is small. I have a queen size bed in it which I am keeping. I have my late mother-in-law's dresser and a side table I bought that are staying. That leaves a table that I plunked in there as I had no where else to put it. That will be leaving. That big decision has been made. 

I have decided that the dresser will be a storage unit. I can put a few items in it that I can access easily. It will not be full to the brim as I want to see what I have quickly. The side table will be empty. It has been ever since I bought it many years ago. No need to fill it up now. 

The closet is pretty minimal. A couple of items need to be put into a tub or two and stored in there or elsewhere. The paper work will remain in that closet as it is contained and tidy. The hose for the central vacuum is stored in there also. Other than buying or finding a tub or two, that area is done. 

I will be cutting back on the decorations in that room. I have decided that the two small cloths I made will go. I can use them in a quilt for the dolls. The small embroidered picture will go. I will hang a couple of pictures on the walls. Items that go on the dresser and side table will be pared down and the items not used will be put into the garage sale bins. I have made some huge decisions.

The bed will have white sheets and a white duvet on it. I am still deciding if I need to buy a blanket for the foot of the bed. If so, it will be a darker blue. I will still have lots of pillows on the bed to make it feel cozy. Hopefully I can get the room completed before the end of October. 

The next room I plan on painting is my room. I will have to move into the spare bedroom as I will have to move everything into the middle of the room. This room is big and it will take me some time to paint it. I cannot over do it as I have found out that I have to rest once the muscles and SI joint get sore.