It may be a federal holiday, but we are hard at work here at the Homestead. 

We're spent the weekend tearing down walls, figuring out how we want to reconfigure rooms, style the kitchen and laundry room, possibly build in bookcases or shelving, update wiring. Boyfriend also got some mowing done until the mower broke again and he found a caterpillar that looks like it's straight out of Alice and Wonderland and I got some writing finished.

Sometimes I look around the house and am completely overwhelmed by the work we have ahead of us. Mostly, I think I get overwhelmed by the possibilities and then it become hard to make a decision. Sometimes, I'm completely terrified of what will happen if we tear down a wall. There's no going back from that. But as I sat in the living room this weekend looking through the bare bones of walls, it's really not that scary. 

We sort of had a plan going in, boyfriend knows what he's doing with the details of it, I had fun kicking down drywall and now we get to rebuild anything we can imagine, as long as the roof doesn't cave in. Minor detail. 

It's pretty fun really. And, turns out, I get to put a copper farm sink 

Gabbi at Retro Ranch Renovation posted this the other day and it was perfectly timed.

Since we have a whole house to renovate and decorate, we're being very discerning in our purchases and acquisitions. 

The other day, we bought some towels on sale and started a long conversation about which colors go and what will work where and then realized these were stop gap towels. They were for now, not the final piece to a fully thought out room. 

Though I have pack rat tendencies, and boyfriend sort of does too, we're purging our closets, boxes, desks, kitchen, bathroom, garage, for things we don't use or need. It's a slow process, but I know it will be worth it. I like to call my sister when I clean our my closet, or imagine what she'd say, as I look at each piece of clothing. Have I worn it in a year? Does it fit, is it in wearable condition, do I actually like it? 

I want pieces in this house to have a purpose, to tell a story, to be beautiful. A random assortment of stuff just isn't going to cut it. All that said, my bookshelves are off limits! 

How do you decide what gets to become a part of your home, your collection of things?

This is what our garden looked like after boyfriend made a round or two of tilling. 

The soil was too compacted to really break it up with the tiller so we got in there with the spade fork and turned dirt for days. It was hot and exhausting. I did the edge and a small section while boyfriend built the compost bin. 

We added in a few bags of plant food, fertilizer and garden soil. And by a few I mean more than a dozen. 

Then we marke out our grid, which was mostly two feet by two feet squares, with wooden stakes from Home Depot. I'm not allowed to do the grid layout anymore since I managed to make them all different distances apart. Boyfriend said I didn't need to use a tape measure, I could just use the stake, which was almost two feet. It was in trying to account for that "almost" that I got off track. Oh well. 

With twine, we laid it out and used the handy dandy garden map I'd made. Don't ever try to make your garden map in pen when you're researching companion plants and forgetting how much of everything you have. 

Next, we started digging out the walkways. And by we, I mean boyfriend.

It does look a little like a scene from Bones, one of my favorite tv shows, especially in the early seasons. 

Most of those chunks aren't rocks, just compacted soil. This land was vacant for four or five years, but had a garden at one point, so it's just going to need some love to get it back in good shape. We hope.

Then it was time to start putting some plants in the ground. Since I got over eager on wanting to plant/grow some of these plants have moved a few times and might not make it. But, they've been pretty resilient so far, even surviving a few hail storms, so I have hope!

We also got a whole bunch of broccoli, peppers and cucumbers at the Big R, so we figured we'd give them a shot. We'll see how they do. I got an Iron Lady tomato and some kale from one of our freelancers at the paper, and I got two Manitoba tomatoes and two bell peppers from the local farmers market. The peppers aren't doing so hot, but they're not giving up yet. 

Boyfriend also built a trellis for my beans, which might have all died in the move, but we'll try some more. He's building another one for the cucumbers. 

I'll have him write up the plans for that and post those soon.

We used a piece of plywood and a rubber mallet to even out the dirt piles and fill in edges and to keep everything from crumbling into the walkway.

To keep moisture in the dirt, since it dries out wicked quick here, we put grass clippings over the dirt. The rest went into the compost bin, which is officially in action. 

This is our test year, so maybe nothing will grow, maybe it all will. We're learning and getting the hang of it and next year we'll do better and be better prepared. For now, we're excited with the progress we've made. And, I have a bunch of tomatoes that just might make it!

I just wen tout there to take a now photo but it's too dark. Boyfriend was installing a drip irrigation system. We'll see how it works out.

So I'll leave you will a with a puppy photo. Entertainment comes cheap around here. Boyfriend's dog is cool with using water bottles as chew toys.

A digital visit, but I'm delighted to have Kate from Farmhouse38 on the blog.

I came across her very awesome blog a few months ago and was ridiculously excited to see a girl I could relate to raising chickens in her backyard in the city. If she could make that work, I figured I could learn from her and stand a chance at raising chickens on the Homestead. We haven't gotten that far yet, but boyfriend is pretty sure it's a good idea.

Make sure you check out her blog, follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Q: What made you want to get started sharing your (adorable!) urban farmhouse on a blog?

A: When we first started the renovation, it was so full of little crazy good and bad moments, that I kept saying, “I really need to blog about this.” But for several years, it was just that--me saying it. I think that’s probably a pretty common blogger story. Finally, I just pulled the trigger.

Q: Have you always been a DIY'er, or did buying your house bring more of that out? I know buying a house and some acreage has definitely brought more of it out in me!

A: I’ve always kind of had it in me. When I was younger, my parents would go out for an evening and come back to find a random room in their house painted some ridiculous color while they were gone. That was the kind of trouble I used to get into. I was such a rebel. The Texan and I owned one house together before this one, and while it was a cosmetic fixer-upper that we sort of cut our DIY teeth together on—it was nothing compared to the Farmhouse. It is safe to say that we were in over our heads on this one; but you gotta do what you gotta do. We had a limited budget and a stubborn will to somehow, some way, make things work.

Q: You and the Texan have been plugging away on your back deck (which looks amazing!). Do you ever get nervous when taking on such big projects? Like, maybe we'll tear this all apart and then not be able to put it back together again? I feel that way sometimes...

A: Every. Single. Project. The deck was a big nerve-wracker for me, personally. Despite how rickety and unsafe the old one was, it was still SOMETHING—something to prevent a person from plummeting out of the second story. The minute that thing was ripped down and there was nothing but wind whistling passed the upper level of the house—I had complete demo-remorse. But again, all you can do is knuckle-up, get it done, and hope for the best. I always tell myself that if we screw it up, there is someone out there who can fix it (and I try not to think about what that will cost).

Q: Your garden looks fantastic (and I love the random wood bits for edging!). Does growing your own food make cooking more fun and food taste better to you?

A: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. (And thank you, by the way!) There is something pretty poetic about looking out there and seeing a busy little garden; the bees, the butterflies, the chickens, the veggies, the flowers. I get a whole lot of joy out of just seeing it all in action. But then to be able to harvest all that goodness and bring it inside and use it is a whole other happiness. It is such a basic, beautiful thing.

Q: Okay, the chickens. I am super curious about the chickens. We just bought a house and 26 acres and boyfriend wants to get some chickens. I've kind of been a city girl, so have no idea how to raise chickens. You guys do it in a small space. What are the pros/cons of raising your own chickens and your top advice to anyone thinking about getting started?

A: There are so many pros to having chickens. They are funny, charming creatures that make me laugh every single day with their little habits and personalities. They provide the best-tasting eggs, they work the garden like magic, feathered garden elves, and they really don’t ask for a lot in return. I hold my birds in pretty high-esteem; they are first, and foremost beloved pets, and therefore, my attitude is probably different than that of someone who is raising them purely as a food-source. So mine are a bit---how do I put this?—high maintenance. They require daily care, coop-cleaning, and supervision. But I run a really tight ship. We live on a very small piece of property in the city, so it is highly important to me to keep things clean and quiet so that our neighbors are not bothered (this goes for ALL of our pets, not just the chickens). My advice to anyone considering chickens is pretty generic: do your homework. There are some great books out there on the subject, as well as a lot of wonderful, informative blogs (that being said, there are a lot of really terrible chicken-keeping blogs out there masquerading as ‘authorities’—don’t take any one bit of advice as the gospel. Research, research, research). You want to pick breeds that do well in your climate, as well, you want to be able to provide them with ample coop and run space (and always build these things bigger than you think you need—ALWAYS). Make sure that your coop, run, etc. are easy to clean, and furthermore, make sure you really keep things clean. Chickens are easily susceptible to lots of freaky illnesses, many of which are brought on by a dirty environment. Don’t take free-ranging for granted. A lot of people believe you can just turn your chickens loose and not pay them a second thought, but just make sure you completely understand the inherent risks of this (predators, environmental dangers, chickens with gypsy souls who like to wander).

Q: In decorating the farmhouse, how do you do it? Some rooms all at one time, or do you collect individual pieces as you go, or a little bit of both? I've got a whole house to do, but I've started being very picky about what we buy or acquire. 

A: I had a long period of construction purgatory where I was able to think and scheme and plan for what I would do décor-wise once we were done with the grunt work. It’s probably the very thing that got me through all the construction (that, and a lot of wine). As each room was finished being built, I set about decorating them pretty much one at a time as they became ready (and when our bank account would allow me). I have a tendency to take on too many projects at once (have you noticed?), and it has become rather critical to the entire process that I force myself to focus on one room at a time. We have many furniture and décor pieces that we’ve acquired over the years that I try to work in wherever they might fit (sometimes they’ll even dictate how a room turns out). I am hyper-selective about what we buy new these days—I love finding cast-offs or acquiring hand-me-downs that I can renovate to fit the vibe here.

Q: Where do you find inspiration for decorating, gardening, projects, etc? 

A: I’ve always been a voracious magazine-reader, and in recent years, I’ve gotten quite fixated on Pinterest and following the amazing blogs I stumble upon through that. Additionally, I just pay attention, wherever I’m at—I’m always seeing amazing décor (both home and garden) when I am out and about and I’m constantly filing things away amongst the cobwebs in my head. I mean, there are things in this house that are a direct rip on something I saw 20 years ago—such as the numbered staircase. I can’t even tell you where I saw that for the first time, but I know I was a teenager. When I saw it, I literally said out loud, “When I have a house with stairs, I’m doing that.” Well, this is the first house with stairs I’ve ever had…so…I did that.

Q: Looking back 5-10 years ago, are you where you thought you'd be?

A: We bought this house five years ago, and if someone had told me we’d JUST be getting to the end of the renovation now, I would have had some choice words for that someone. Never thought it would take five years! Ten years ago, the Texan and I were in our old house, which was a tiny 700 square foot place in the middle of a not-so-safe neighborhood. If someone had shown me photos of this house, this yard, this neighborhood, and told me that’s where I’d be in ten years, I would have been over the moon. I probably still would have had some choice words for them because I’d never have believed it.

The last week and a half or so have been pure crazy. 

We've have busy weeks at work and so much else was happening that I'm pretty sure I wake up tired. Did I mention that I'm a reporter, and report on the military and city government here? Well, lately my brain has been swimming in information about nuclear weapons, sequestration and the city budget and zoning regulations. I love it, but some days, I just want to watch girly movies and think about paint colors. 

So, having an entire house that needs fixing up to come home to seems perfect, right?

Well, sometimes that doesn't quite work out.

First, there was this.

Having lived through a handful of tornadoes in Texas, South Dakota and Alabama, I was very concerned we were going to get hit with one. I was trying to bring in any loose items outside to prevent flying debris. Boyfriend said it was fine. See that cloud edge? The weather people told my co-worker at the paper the next day that was in fact a cyclical storm, but was too high to become a tornado. Yippee. 

Shortly after I took this photo, the winds got even stronger. Around 70 mph was recorded at the wildlife refuge down the road. You can even see specs of dirt and grass/leaves flying by. A town over had more damage and lost power until the following day I think.

Then it started to hail.

Golf ball sized hail. With high winds. 

The dogs were freaking out and I started getting stressed when I literally could see no further than a few feet out the window it was hailing so hard. 

Our cars were outside since the garage is still full of stuff and another car that's being repaired. 

Now our cars look like they have acne. 

The hail damage officially totaled my car, but things turned out pretty decent with the insurance settlement and I get to keep my car, so small victory. Boyfriend's car is being inspected this week. It's almost definitely totaled as well. 

Then, there was this.

We had what were the makings of a septic system disaster. Toilets weren't working right, the upstairs hall closet near the bathroom smelled funny and then the shower filled with gross water. I won't give you all the icky details but I was freaking out. Septic issues can be hugely expensive and, well, messy. 

So until we could get the septic people out to do an inspection, we made evening trips to Wal-Mart, like we were quasi camping, didn't run the water, and showered using water in a bucket. I'm all for camping, I am not for sticking my head in a bucket to wash my hair, in my own house. 

The septic guys gave us the glorious news that the major issue was that the previous owners had not had the system pumped like they said they had and there was a hole on top of the tank and the think had filled with rainwater. So, we spent about $200 getting things in working order and learning a lot about our particular system and how to prevent any future problems, versus the catastrophe I had been envisioning. I have a tendency to mentally work through the worst case scenario and then be pleasantly surprised when things turn out fine. Some days it might give me ulcers, but it has ultimately served me well.

From what I'm hearing, every homeowner has horror stories of things that went wrong and sometimes everything just happens at once. It was a stressful, hits just keep on coming kind of week, but then everything turned out just fine really.

On days when we just can't win, our solution to craziness looks like this. Obviously. I'm thinking you can guess what I picked. 

In case you didn't look at a calendar today, it's August 1. 

This might mean nothing to you, but as my dear friend Ally pointed out to me this morning, it is the official start of my birthday month. 

In a few weeks, I'll turn 30. I've been prepping for the "OH MY GOSH I'M 30!" freakout, so maybe that's why I feel so calm about it. And really, so much has been happening, once I realized it was officially my birthday month, I got pretty excited. In case I haven't told you, I love my birthday. Mom says one day I won't, but I'm pretty sure I'll always love my birthday. 

What better excuse for bringing all your favorite people together, or setting goals before reaching a certain age? Birthdays are fun. I don't care about expensive gifts, or fancy, trendy parties. I care about having spent another year on this Earth doing things I care about with people I love. And for one day a year, I get to be reminded, if not amazed, by just how wonderful my life really is. 

But since it is the big 3-0, let's revisit the 30 by 30 list. Posts about each of these items are coming! 

I created this list in February, and it was lofty, but I've done pretty gosh darn close to most of the list. Original list in black, status reports in green.

1. Get my non-profit underway. That's my all-time biggest goal right now. On it! Been talking to all the right people and on the right track.

2. Explore at least one more foreign country. First up, Estonia! Haven't done this yet, but you guys, we bought a house! 

3. Visit the farmers market in town. I hear it's fantastic. Been a few times! 

4. Learn to compost. We've started a compost pile and built our own bins and everything. 

5. Start my own herb garden. This is well underway, though we might end up killing most things we started this year. It's our learning year. 

6. Think about growing my own fruits and vegetables. Already growing veggies, fruits coming next! 

7. Run another half marathon, and beat my best time of 2 hours, 20 minutes. Haven't done this one yet, but started doing Insanity and did a race the other day, 5 miles in under an hour. Still deciding about really doing another half. 

8. Play tennis again. Yeah, haven't done this yet, but there's been talk in the office about hitting the courts again.

9. Visit all of the wineries in Montana. Haven't been out that way since we bought a house, but there was a Montana wine night.  

10. Host at least 3 more international dinner nights. Cooking up a plan for the next one this month!

11. Declutter my inbox. Did this a few times, but it keeps filling back up. On it.

12. Go to a rodeo or something else quintessentially Montana. Didn't get to the fair this week, but might be going to the fill your bucket event at my favorite honey spot next weekend! 

13. Be a better pen pal. Room for improvement, but progress has been made! 

14. Volunteer more. Done a little bit of this and finding the local areas where I want to get involved. 

15. Follow through on some crafty projects. Starting with my chalkboard frame. Chalkboard frame is done! See it here. 

16. Make more from thrift store finds. I'm counting auctions in this and oh my gosh have we had some finds there! 

17. Purge my wardrobe to the things I really need. Got a pile of sorts of the things to go. Full purge is coming for sure.

18. Get a pair of boots. I've never owned any and sort of need them in Montana! Done and I love my boots! Plus they were on sale! 
 
19. Read 30 books. Sorta fell down on this one, but did finish a few books and started a few more. 

20. Roadtrip to Seattle/West Coast. Plan is in the works on this one, for probably September. I'm counting it.

21. Visit my friend Jeannette in California and Kate in Canada. Plan also in the works for this one. 

22. Snowshoe with the dogs. Gonna have to wait until it snows again. 

23. Hike the Chinese Wall in Montana. Maybe next weekend. 

24. Do the multi-day kayak/hiking/camping trip the boyfriend and I have been talking about. We did a few day trips and have big plans for the multi-day, just need a long weekend for that. 

25. Make a return trip to Yellowstone National Park. Check!
 
26. Explore Bozeman, Montana. People rave about it, but I haven't been yet. Check! But, I'd go back for a longer visit. 

27. Go back to yoga. Started doing yoga at home again. Might start going to classes again with friends. 

28. Dust off my skates and hit the ice again. Ice opens up again soon and you can bet I'll be on it. 

29. Visit at least 5 state parks. Did a few, have more to go. 

30. Become a part of my new community. Definitely off to a good start on this. Only been here half a year, more to come! 

We may or may not have a major septic system catastrophe on our hands. We aren't sure yet. There are some parts of said catastrophe boyfriend says we can fix ourselves. Other parts not so much. Either way, it's very possible that this is going to be our first massive expense since buying the house and I can tell you that showering by dumping your head in a bucket of water is a rough way to start a Monday morning. 

So I need the motivation to knock out some other projects and fingers crossed this is something we can DIY without going broke! What kinds of unforeseen homeowner disasters have you managed to DIY your way through or when do you call in the pros?

Buying a home is stressful. Figuring out what to do with it once it's yours is a whole other thing. Thankfully there are many who came before me and who are pretty awesome at DIY, decoration, renovation and reminding you that you can actually accomplish that project you crazily decided to take on. And those who understand what attack of dogzilla looks like. Jessica Beals at Little House. Big Heart. is one of those lovely ladies and today she shares her DIY, cooking and traveling tips with us! Check her out on Pinterest and Instagram. 

1. Have you always been a DIY'er, or did buying Little House bring that out in you?

Kevin and I both grew up in DIY-ing households. The concept of hiring out a job was unheard of; why waste the money to hire someone to do a thing you could do it yourself? We DIYed our entire wedding (from the invites to the food for 300 guests), usually give DIYed gifts, and even plan our own vacations. Honestly... I think we're just cheap. We want to do so much to the Little House, but we also want to have the dinero for our other passions.

2. You and your husband are engineers, has that helped you guys with your DIY? (Boyfriend is an engineer and he can make/fix most things, it's great!)

Being engineers has helped. Kevin’s an electrical engineer and I’m a mechanical, so between the two of us we can figure out just about everything around the Little House. Of course, that doesn’t mean we always agree on how something works. After a ton of trial and error, we tend to go with my gut instinct on mechanical/plumbing/car things and Kevin is our electrical/gadget/tech/computer guru.

3. How do you find time/energy to take on big projects at Little House while you're both working full time? Boyfriend and I sometimes have a hard time managing everything at once!

We tend to make little goals (with rewards) for ourselves. “If we finish painting the deck railing by next Saturday we can both order Mudslides at the movies.” It really helps to break the projects into manageable chunks so that you don’t get overwhelmed. I’m a lister by nature, so I usually come up with a list of milestones on a project and we just work towards checking them off.

Also, it really helps to enjoy DIY and who you’re DIYing with. We view our DIY time as “us time.”

4. I'm so jealous of your recent European adventure! Do you have a favorite city or country that you've visited? What are your top travel tips?

Oh wow. I don’t know if I could pick a favorite! We both love France; there’s just something about it. We would both love to go back to Austria. And then there’s Moorea, French Polynesia. How can you not love a South Pacific paradise?

Our top travel tips would have to be:
1. Pack light. It will save your back, your money, and your trip. Trust me; we learned the hard way.
2. Be brave. Try to speak the few phrases you know of a foreign language. Try the food that you’re scared of. Go out with locals. Some of our best travel memories come from when we plunged headfirst into something.
3. Be prepared to get lost and to enjoy it; you’ll discover places most tourists miss. We try to get lost now, especially in big "tourist" cities.
4. Ask the locals; no one knows a destination better than the locals. We usually ask “Where would you go?”

5. Your recipes on LHBH look delicious, do you have a go-to recipe for dinner parties or just dinner at home after a busy day?

Our go to recipe would have to be risotto. It’s deceptively easy and so impressive! Over the 4th of July we made it for Kevin’s family and topped it with seared scallops. It was delicious and looked so impressive!

On any given weeknight our go-to dinner would have to be some protein grilled simply, an arugula salad, and some homemade balsamic vinaigrette poured over everything.

6. Do you use a lot from your garden to cook? I'm totally in love with your gutter garden and am thinking about trying that!

We would use a lot from our garden had it survived the wrath of the puppies. This spring Rosie realized that she could jump the fence we’d put around the garden and decided to dig up EVERY. SINGLE. PLANT. It’s now her personal sand box.

We love our gutter gardens! We didn’t get to hang them this year because of our fence restoration, but they’re going up again this fall for a crop of baby spinach and arugula!

7. Looking back about 5 years ago, are you where you thought you'd be? Or had you imagined you'd be DIY'ing your own home?

Well I certainly didn’t imagine I’d be in Texas, that’s for sure. I hadn’t expected to ever leave Indiana. I love Texas though. And I do think I’ve always wanted to fix up an older home. Kevin, not so much. He originally wanted to buy new, but I (or the Little House) won him over.

8.The puppies! How do they feel about home improvement projects? Mine usually gets confused and hides in a corner. Or eats his bed.

Our girls are pretty blasé about our projects. All they really care about is 1. Is there anything I can chew on? 2. Is there anything I can get on me/on the house/on Mom? 3. Where’s the cat?

For them eating things is a normal everyday occurrence, not stress induced.

9. What should everyone know about you and/or LHBH?

We’re very real people. We both work 8-5 jobs and have to save up for everything we do (trips and projects alike). We don’t know everything, but we love learning and trying things ourselves. We mess up, projects don’t turn out like we planned, and we end up starting over. A lot.

We love Jesus. We love each other. We love Star Wars and Doctor Who and figuring out how stuff works. We love traveling and food. I guess that pretty much sums us up.

Remember that to-do list from a few days ago?

Well, boyfriend is in fact a rockstar.

The to-do list from the other day. Then I came home and could already check a few things off:

--Paint the ceiling in our bedroom. *We might just skip this for now.

--Remove popcorn ceilings in the hallway and living room (which requires moving all the furniture and stuff back into the bedroom, so we have to finish that first). *Since Mark moved the furniture around, we can probably knock this out over the weekend.

--Figure out what paint color to use in the Swan Lake bathroom, or if we want to paint the tile, or some other option. This bathroom is plaguing me. *Paint color dilemma might be moot if the tile is damaged and needs to be removed.

--Redo popcorn removal in the dining room since I didn't use water the first time. 

--Probably some wallpaper removal in the Lace Room since Mark tore it up installing the dog's invisible fence contraption. That's what you see above.

--Knock out kitchen wall, add cabinets, build bar countertop, figure out what to do with kitchen.

--Knock out wall between dining room and living room. Adapt flooring to the new layout. 

--Before knocking out wall, attempt to paint over the paneling to see if that looks okay, or awful. The living room is wall to wall paneling and I really don't like it. But we're not sure yet what's under the paneling. Could be better, could be worse given the wallpaper trend.

--Get serious about picking our style and start implementing it. We're leaning toward rustic modern. 

I'm a list maker. Yet I haven't put one on paper for The Homestead. Probably because it's massive and daunting.

Boyfriend was plugging away while I'm home visiting friends and family in Virginia, but we have so much to do.

Here's a little what the list looks like, depending on what Mark accomplished this week.  I'll probably be too tired to notice tonight when I get in on a late flight, but come Monday, it's go time again.

--Finish cleaning off the wallpaper goop in the Swan Lake bathroom. I worked on that for a few hours last week, but didn't come close to finishing. It never ends! 

--Finish cleaning the ceiling in our bedroom since the popcorn was completely removed. 

--Paint the ceiling in our bedroom.

--Figure out what kind of window treatments to put in our bedroom. Then put our bedroom back together.

--Remove popcorn ceilings in the hallway and living room (which requires moving all the furniture and stuff back into the bedroom, so we have to finish that first).

--Figure out what paint color to use in the Swan Lake bathroom, or if we want to paint the tile, or some other option. This bathroom is plaguing me.

--Redo popcorn removal in the dining room since I didn't use water the first time. 

--Probably some wallpaper removal in the Lace Room since Mark tore it up installing the dog's invisible fence contraption.

--Knock out kitchen wall, add cabinets, build bar countertop, figure out what to do with kitchen.

--Knock out wall between dining room and living room. Adapt flooring to the new layout. 

--Before knocking out wall, attempt to paint over the paneling to see if that looks okay, or awful. The living room is wall to wall paneling and I really don't like it. But we're not sure yet what's under the paneling. Could be better, could be worse given the wallpaper trend.

--Get serious about picking our style and start implementing it. We're leaning toward rustic modern. 

Yikes, that's just to-dos on the main floor. And it's not everything. Next week will be a beast. Good thing I took a week of for friends, family, shopping, tour guiding, farmers marketing and wine drinking.  Breaks over folks.