Tomorrow morning painters are coming to recolor some of the walls in our home. Goodbye pastel peach, hello modern taupe. To lighten up the rather dim living room, I am replacing the chocolate brown drapes (not sure what I was thinking with that choice) with the printed sheer panels above from ikea.

Next we’ll choose a new area rug. I’ve spent over a year now trying to decide on one. I have already picked a new sleeper sofa, it’s just a matter of pulling the trigger on it. It can wait until company comes to stay this summer.

We also intend to build bookcases for either side of the fireplace,  and then wall sconces above them to again address the lighting problem, which seems to plague our entire first floor. That’s for a future project, next year.

We enjoy making all these steady improvements to our house. We’ll be here a long time, so might as well make our home exactly how we want it. There will be energy efficient windows. A new water heater. A cement front patio. Hardwood flooring in the dining room. So much is predicated on the girls getting older first, too. It’s going to be nice when their toys are confined to their bedrooms and all the child proofing business is in the past.