Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

Happy first Friday Five of the new year!! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season! For the Friday Five today, I’m sharing the five DIY projects for the new year that I plan to tackle. Sure, there will be more, but these I know, for sure, are going to get done! #beBOLD

1. The Pantry

In this post, I talked about how our pantry just isn’t working. The shelves aren’t as deep as they could be, so we’re missing out on needed storage. Also, there are these wonky cabinets and spindles at the top of the pantry that aren’t helpful storage:

So, at the top of my DIY list is ripping out the current pantry and adding better shelving and storage.

2. Chest on Front Porch

OK, you want to talk about procrastinating on a DIY project?

I bought this chest in October of 2012 and it still looks like this:

We have used it in our entry/front porch, despite its peeling paint. But it’s time to finally give this piece its due! I’m going to sand or strip the existing paint and paint it a lovely grayish-blue color. I’ll add new hardware and this chest will be good as new! Finally!

Stay tuned – this project should be done by the end of January!

3. The Shed

The shed has had a leaky roof for some time now. Because I finally want to turn it into a workspace for me that I can use year-round, it’s time to fix the roof (adding a metal roof!), fix the siding (adding Hardie siding!), and add storage for tools, paint, and other supplies.

Although the shed will not be a full-on DIY project, I hope to help on the build and I’ll be planning the design of and all of the storage for it.

4. The Office

So, once the shed is finished, I’ll have a dedicated work space there, and the office can finally just be an office!

I’ll organize it and clean out the papers in the file cabinets.

5. Drying out the house!

OK, this isn’t so much a DIY project as a call-in-the-professionals project, but it is going to get done and soon!

There are actually two separate problems we are dealing with right now:

(1) We had water coming into our basement when we had days and days of rain. A waterproofing company is going to come in an install a retaining wall and sump pump in our basement to take care of this.

AND…

(2) When Comcast installed a cable jack in our family room, they drilled through a pipe connected to our master bathroom (!!). That pipe has, therefore, been slowly leaking since it was installed – in August of 2014! The wood, drywall, and our hardwood floors are wet and ruined from the leak, and there is mold. We are having that repaired next week.

Because of the moisture in the house from the rain (front of the house) and the leak (the back of the house), our house smells musty. So, we’re installing an exhaust fan in the basement to get rid of that smell.

Those are the five big projects (so far!) for 2016! What’s on your DIY to-do list for this year?