The Upstairs Punch List
THE RAVENNA HOUSE My sister pointed out that I've mentioned a punch list a couple times, but never actually shown it to you guys. She thought it was about time I did.
And by golly, she's right!
I don't actually have a physical list. It's more like thoughts that pop in and out of my brain. Some keep me up at night and some are fleeting like my love of neons. But it's time I write it all down. After all, Garrett needs to know what to do on his Saturdays.
So the list. I'll stick with renovation items and not delve into decorating, cause that would make for a pretty long list. I mean, sure I'd like wall-mounted nightlights in our bedroom, but that won't keep me up at night. I'm also going to try and organize this by room. But really we're going to go where my brain takes us.
The Ravenna House Upstairs Punch List
Install kitchen shelves - we have always planned on having some open shelving in the kitchen between the windows. A spot for glasses and plates and other pretty things. We even wired an outlet there in case we want to put the microwave on them. We have the materials for this one, just need to install the brackets, paint the shelves and put them up.
Cabinet toekick - I can't believe we haven't put these up yet, but there you have it. Our kitchen has no toekick.
Kitchen trim - and while we're talking about the kitchen, the double kitchen window needs a piece of trim below the sill. It looks like that poor girl has no shoes on.
Nail down all new heat registers - pretty self explanatory. We need to nail down the metal grates over the floor registers. I'm just waiting for Wilder to figure out that he can pick these up and disappear down the rabbit hole and we'll find him in the basement.
Strip paint off of and then put old heat registers back in place - the old heat registers have a million layers of paint and were looking pretty sad. So Garrett used an angle grinder to expose the metal. They look amazing! With an industrial cool vibe going on. I'll definitely show you a finished one when we're all done. We only have 2 of the 4 done so need to get a move on and cover the giant holes in the walls like this one:
Have the chimney swept and checked to make sure it works. Don't want Santa getting caught in there come Christmas.
Refinish the bathtub - see how that is crossed out? Yeah, that means this one is done! And it looks amazing. I'll put together a post on it soon, so stay tuned for a picture.
Drywall patching and paint touchup in the bathroom - The wall paint in this room ended up a little spotty. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm thinking the first and second coats were different colors. Anyway, this room needs a little touchup. And the a little patching near the light.
And that brings us to the Medicine Cabinet Cover - I really love open storage, but this is a little too open. My self tanner doesn't need to be on display. So hopefully we'll get around to putting on a wood door or mirror. But this isn't a high priority, so may or may not get done, but still worth a spot on the list.
Replace front windows - I would love love LOVE to replace the broken, vinyl windows at the front of the house. They are the only non-original windows in the upstairs and really class-down the joint. If we could afford to put in double-hung, wood windows that would be amazing. But I'd settle for vinyl that looked like they belonged in a historic house.
Seal the bathroom hexagon tile floors - these tiles are my favorite find in a house ever! After discovering them under pink linoleum there was a lot of glue that needed to be striped. We tried everything: water, sanding, paint thinner, putty knives. It was a combination of a floor striper, some sore backs, and a palm sander that finally did the deed. But now, they never seem to look clean. Even a little bit of dirt seems to get ground into the tiles and won't come out for anything but the hardiest of scrubbings. There must be some way to seal these, which I plan on doing right after I get my child to sleep through the night.
Add blinds or shutter or something to the bathroom window - I suppose this is really more of a decoration, but since we need this really bad (for a little privacy), I'll include it. Here's a picture. Can you say, hello neighbors?
Clean up all original windows - all of the original windows were painted shut when we bought the Ravenna House. I broke the paint seal and cleaned up the tracks, but they are far from free-sliding. They all could use another sanding and some new cords. Plus they all need new glazing and paint on the exterior and a few glass panes need replaced. I found a few contractors that do this, but the cheapest quote I found was $500/window. That's not in the budget. So this item is on our punch list for the summer, when we tackle the exterior of the house.
Bedroom door handles need to be replaced - these handles are brass and look awful with the beautiful glass knobs on the nearby bathroom and closet doors. I wanted to replace them with the glass knobs, but they operate differently and the usual knobs wouldn't work in the existing holes, so we've been living with bright-shiny gold knobs. I need to take the existing knobs to someone that knows a little more about doorhandles and figure out a solution. This isn't super high on the priority list but definitely something I notice on a daily basis.
Change out the front door handle and deadbolt - these are both brass too and don't belong anywhere near an old house. Just like the front windows, they really class-down the joint. I'd love to find something that's brushed nickel and fairly substantial on the outside. Something that excites visitors to see what's inside instead of scarring them off forever.
Well that's it. The whole upstairs punch list. At least for now. I'm sure I'll think of more soon, but for now, Garrett has plenty to do on Saturday! And the next ten Saturdays after that.
Happy Friday!
xoxo
p.s. The making of Martha.
p.p.s. Wilder's first birthday party is coming up and I'm loving the decoration and food ideas from this party!