Let the DIY weekend begin!

Lunchtime trip to Home Depot: $2,100.

Taking the day off to make a long weekend of painting: $0.

Having your home the way you've always wanted it: PRICELESS.

Yep, I ran out to Home Depot today during lunch to pick up the painting supplies I needed so I could start first thing in the morning. Jeremy met me out there because I also wanted to buy some mirrored bi-fold doors for the master bedroom closet, and they won't fit in my car. While I was getting the paint mixed, he wandered over to flooring and found a pile'o 3/4" thick oak hardwood flooring on sale for $2.99 a square foot. There was a limited number of boxes, and the salesguy told us (now that I think about it, it probably was a sales ploy--but hey, it worked) that another couple was there earlier in the day looking at it, and wanted to shop around some. I've been watching the price of hardwood flooring for about a year now, as I've been saving up, and 2.99/sq. ft. is pretty cheap for this stuff. So, we bought it.

I also bought some orange paint for the family room. Tomorrow I am going to primer and paint over the red walls, and hopefully make it look like a lounge that Frank Sinatra might have liked. I am using a deep orange on the walls, and using chocolate and ivory as my other colors. Here's a pic from when we were moving in.

The carpet is in pretty decent shape, so it's going to stay for the time being. Plus, light carpet lightens the room up with such a strong color on the walls. The couch, unfortunately, will stay for the immediate future. Although, Jeremy's parents have offered us their sectional when they get new furniture in a few weeks. It's tan, but I was thinking of getting a white slipcover for it. Problem is, slipcovers for sectional are EXTREMELY difficult to find. Most website I looked at suggested buying two slipcovers for conventional couches and tucking the extra fabric into where the sectional joins. Eventually, the plan is to get all new furniture for the room, and I have been looking at white leather couches. Jeremy is leaning more toward chocolate brown leather, instead, which would still be okay with me. I have some long hocolate matte satin curtins that I will use, most likely in front of the sliding glass door opposite the couch in this picture. Right now it has a valance that matches the curtains over this window. And, of course, my Audrey is staying, since she falls into the theme for the room of Palm Springs circa 1966.

I also bought some navy blue paint for the front door and shutters, and a new light fixture for over the front door. There weren't many hanging exterior lights to choose from, and I wasn't really crazy about any of what they had, but I picked out a black, wrought-iron looking one that was only $25. I also got some grass seed for the bare spot where we ripped up all the English ivy growing around the front steps. I hate that stuff.

At any rate, this weekend will sure be a busy one. We're not planning on starting on the flooring right away, but it looks like we'll have plenty to keep us busy this weekend anyway.

All signs point to spring.

Timing is a funny thing.

I feel like I've just woken up from a long nap. It's called the Legislature.

After working until 7 almost every day for the past two weeks, sometimes this places feels like a parallel universe. And, now that I've stopped working long enough to take a deep breath, and I notice all the sudden, it's spring.

So, it was either very fitting or cruel irony, that daylight savings was Saturday night. Two hours after we adjourned, actually. (I just put in an 18-hour day, and now I loose an hour of sleep!?!)

But, the nice thing is that the weather is finally breaking, and I get home with a few hours of daylight left in the evenings now. I've been putting off some home projects and yearly maintenace until now.

And, this morning, I paid off my Home Depot credit card. Just in time to go load it up again for 12 months same-as-cash.

Here's what I've got planned for the coming weeks:

• Get a new closet door for the master bedroom. I've been eyeing a mirrored bi-fold door for $100.
• Paint the "red room" orange and start saving up for a new couch.
• Clean up the patio and backyard, and plan landscaping.
• Replace outside light fixture above the front door. (Unfortunately, there's a pendant light there now, so for ease of replacement, I guess that's what I'll get. I'd like to get one that mounts to the wall of the house beside the door, but that would leave a big hole in the soffit.)
• SLEDGEHAMMER the trellis on the front stoop. I HATE that thing and I cannot wait to destroy it.
• Get some new planters for the front stoop and get some colorful annuals for them.
• Paint my front door and shutters.
• Till and plant my vegetable garden.
• Shop for hardwood floors for the living room, dining room and hallway, buy the flooring and hopefully get it installed in a reasonable amount of time. My tax return has been buring my pocket since I got it, but now I have the time to devote to such a huge project. However, something is telling me I shouldn't expect the installation to be completed until after Memorial Day. My home-project timeline is usually vastly different than Jeremy's.

Maybe this list is a bit ambitious. Wish me luck. I'm going to take a couple days off work, maybe next week, to start on my to-do list. My house hopefully won't even be recognizable by the time I'm done.