Okay so...we are not going to accomplish all of this. I would be happy if we got 1/2 of it done before we move in in June. But it's helpful for me to make lists (on top of lists) so I am going to share a dream want to do list. Eventually all of this (and then some!) will get done but aside from a few things (I put asterisks by them below) nothing needs to get done these next five months.
YARD
The vineyard has to be pruned.* I mentioned in my "so far complete" list that my in-laws and parents harvested the grapes this fall and the vines will now need to be trimmed back. Paul is 100% in charge of the grapes and wine and he has read a few books and has a plan. The trimming should be happening in March.
Have the trees trimmed. We have a few mature fruit trees and redwoods that need some care. We are waiting on a quote from the trimmer to do this and he is going to wood chip the cut branches on site so we can use them for garden pathways. This will hopefully be happening in February.
Plant two garden beds of veggies. These will be in ground (with the wood chip paths) and are a chance for me to see how things grow/get in the habit of maintaining a garden/see where the sunniest spots are for building future beds. This will hopefully happen in late March/early April and my parents will take care of things for the first few months.
Plant my herb garden (after I see how the woody overgrown herbs I cut back do).
Get the pool installed! Technically not a must but at this point permits have almost cleared so it would be surprising if the pool and new hard pathways were not completed by move in day. (I know, I know.)
ART HOUSE
Epoxy the floor.* I plan to move my worktables and some shelves into the art house and so the floors need to be done before that. I am going with a light terracotta color and custom paint chip flecks (just like we did for the garage, shown below). It's going to be beautiful.
Add a clay catch to the sink. We are so lucky the art house is plumbed and has a huge sink. I am going to add something like this for my pottery practice.
Have 220V electrical ran for a kiln. This is not a must but while we have an electrician at the house for other projects it might make sense.
GARAGE
Get more outlets in the garage including high voltage for charging our car.* This is a must!
Have a utility sink installed. We saved the sink from the laundry room and I would love it to be in garage. We installed garage utility sinks in both of our previous homes and they got so much use.
Build out storage for Get To Work Book.* I will be moving my business from one garage to another and I need somewhere to put it. The metal shelves we have in our current garage are GREAT but will probably be staying for the new owners.
INTERIOR (Oofta, here we go.)
Refinish the upstairs flooring.* If this doesn't get done we can't move our stuff in so this will get done. The upstairs floors are about 2.5 inches wide and red oak. We are going to have them sanded and stained in a TBD shade. We do have a flooring guy and I hope to see samples on the floor next month so he can get started.
Refinish the stair treads.* We have one staircase in the house and so this too needs to happen before move in day or we can't use the bedrooms. The same flooring guy is planning to do these as well and I hope we can get a good match with the upstairs and the downstairs.
Paint the stair risers, stringer, balusters, newel post and banister. This is not a must by any means (it would be a hassle to do it while we are living there but far from impossible) but this is a DIY project I hope my dad and I can do. In my head the risers, stringer and balusters are white and the newel post and banister are black (or maybe stained dark?) but who knows. I have made and unmade 8000 decisions in the last six months.
Have white oak flooring installed in the dining room, hallway, entry and kitchen.* This will be installed to match the white oak flooring in the fireplace room (shown above) but I am not sure (yet) how it will be finished/stained. I just know it needs to be in before we move in.
Install new overhead lights. I have ordered lighting for the dining room and the girls' rooms that my dad will hopefully swap out after the floors are done.
Finish powder room.* Install flooring, sink, toilet, light fixture, mirror. Finish papering the light switches. Paint the ceiling, doors and baseboard. Hang art! (What a delight it will be to have one room done.)
Install flooring, beadboard, lighting and sink in the laundry room.* I have the tile floor and the sink in the garage waiting for install. I want to get them in and the beadboard painted before we move in our washer and dryer.
Have the opening between the primary bedroom and the den (shown above) drywalled. This should be done but it's not a must. That den is going to become a library/office eventually.
Complete our primary bathroom remodel. Our bathroom has been demoed and I would really like to move into it complete but who knows! What is time?! We are moving around a lot of plumbing, adding a window and doing some drywall work (plus tile, etc) and I am still waiting on hard quotes and a timeline from our contractor. More on this project very soon. I have a build back plan I am so, so excited about.
Paint the hallway and the primary bedroom. Eventually we will do something fun to the ceiling of the primary bedroom but not yet. A fresh coat of paint would be nice, especially with the drywall work. That toilet will probably move.
Somehow make the girls' empty rooms look exciting.* I have HUGE plans for the girls' rooms (I may have promised the moon and the stars) but I realistically I am not going to spend enough time up at the house to get much from my DIY list (wallpaper! beadboard! fancy built-ins! reading nooks! canopies! hideouts!) done. Those beds above (from Facebook Marketplace) will be painted and in there day one and I cannot wait to spend my summer building them magical spaces.
Get the kitchen electrical, drywall, ceiling and plumbing in.* We hired Stoffer for the cabinets and will be chatting with them about the kitchen design in March. The earliest we could see cabinet install is August. That's ok! We have lived without a kitchen for much longer than six weeks but I would like the space to be less of a demo zone when we move in. (We are waiting on appliances anyway.)
And... I think that's it?! There are a zillion more projects in my head but most of them we will do while living there (girls rooms, our room, our closet, the dining room, the den/library!!) over the next few years. I am so excited. I feel like I say every time I post but it's true! Moving home to this fairy tale property is a dream.
