HOUSE: Newburgh + Life + Health

Saturday to-do.

doorsixteen_weekendtodo

Our house has been so neglected lately. All of our focus has been on the apartment, and since putting the shelves up in the kitchen a few weeks ago, our house has kind of been a chilly dumping ground. I’m determined to change that today! I really need our home to not feel like a project site. There are tools all over the place, tile dust everywhere that I still haven’t vacuumed up, construction debris that needs to be bagged…it’s a mess.

(By the way, for newer D16 readers who are confused: Yes, my husband and I have a house AND an apartment. The house — which we’ve owned for a little more than 7 years and have been sloooooowly renovating — was built in 1891 and stands on a bluff in the City of Newburgh in the Hudson Valley region of upstate New York. The apartment is a rental in Brooklyn. For the past 3 years, we’ve kept a city apartment for the sake of easing up on the 4 hours of daily commuting we did for 5 years. I’ll write more about that whole situation in a future post, but for now, hopefully that clears things up a little about what’s going on where! If you’re ever unsure about whether I’m talking about my house or my apartment, just check the category at the top of the post in the left column.)

I need to make myself a project checklist for today/tonight, or else I’ll just wind up lying on the sofa writing emails and drinking coffee.

✚ Clean up in front of the house — trash, rake, sweep, gutters
Rake the back garden, bundle branches, turn compost
LAUNDRY
Box up unused kitchen stuff for friends + Goodwill
Bring old kitchen cart to basement
Organize pantry, put stuff in jars with labels
Clean out refrigerator
DUST + VACUUM
✚ Bag up clothes for Goodwill (this isn’t going to happen, but I put it on my mental list every week anyway)
Refinish shelving unit in basement
Cut boards for built-in shelving at apartment

Yeah, that’s ambitious, I know. I’ll feel SO MUCH BETTER if I can get these things done, though. Then I can spend tomorrow lying on the sofa writing emails and drinking coffee.

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18 Comments

  • Reply Lix Hewett March 30, 2013 at 12:30 pm

    That IS ambitious! That’s the sort of to-do list I make and then accomplish about a third of – but that’s still quite a few tasks! If I were closer to you, I’d do your closet organizing/Goodwill clothes separating for you – tossing clothes I don’t need in trash bags is probably my favorite thing as far as cleaning house goes.

    Good luck!

  • Reply Shannon March 30, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    throwing out or donating stuff I don’t use is exactly what I wanted to do today! Of course I got sidetracked with reading blogs all morning, but thanks to this motivating posts, I’m on my way to tackle my long list of to do’s as well!! Good luck with yours.

  • Reply Miss Alix March 30, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    If you do even half the stuff on this list you’re basically a super hero.

  • Reply Kari March 30, 2013 at 1:05 pm

    A few of these things are on my Saturday to-do list as well (so maybe I should get off of my computer and get to work?)

  • Reply Jaimie March 30, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    I love to do lists. My current one is actually happening at a pretty steady pace, because we are preparing our house to lease in a few months. Just finished painting our front door black and it looks soooo good. Last week I cleaned the window sills (icky) and we washed the exterior of the house.

  • Reply Kristen March 30, 2013 at 1:27 pm

    Ok, thanks for clearing that up, I love coming and seeing all your updates but I must admit I was a little confused. Good luck with your to do lists! Spring time just seems to be the time of productivity.

  • Reply bethany March 30, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    Oh, I’ve missed your do to lists! They always inspire me to get up and moving. I am such a list maker. It sounds silly, but it’s so gratifying to cross tasks off as I go along. Confession: if I make a list after I’ve done a few chores, I add them and cross off too. Is that cheating? Here’s to a productive weekend!

    • Anna @ D16 March 30, 2013 at 1:36 pm

      Bethany, that’s rule #1 of list-making! You should ALWAYS add on a few things you’ve already done. Sometimes I’ll put stuff like “shower” and “drink coffee” on there just for the hell of it. The satisfaction of crossing stuff out is the best motivation! 😉

    • Liz March 30, 2013 at 1:49 pm

      Every to do list needs some easy ticks and things already done fit this definition. If in doubt, start your list with ‘Write a to do list’.

    • Anna @ D16 March 30, 2013 at 2:04 pm

      🙂

  • Reply kelly w March 30, 2013 at 8:00 pm

    I thought of you when I made my own list this morning (does 130pm still count as morning?). Thus far, I can cross off half of one item. But that’s still progress!

  • Reply Brittney March 31, 2013 at 2:35 am

    LOVE your fireplace! Is that a black grate or….?

    DO tell about your house/apartment situation! So intriguing!

    – B

    • Anna @ D16 March 31, 2013 at 1:40 pm

      Hi Brittney, yes, that’s a vent cover on the front of the “fireplace” — which is actually just a fancy mantlepiece and surround for the old heat registers that pre-date the steam radiators in my house. It’s a common thing in Victorian row houses without woodburning fireplaces. You can read more about them in this post:
      http://www.doorsixteen.com/2013/02/03/birch-log-bundles-just-for-show/

  • Reply Sue March 31, 2013 at 12:25 pm

    I am madly in awe of your moving skills. From the outside it seems like you can up and move over one evening or weekend. Please pass on some tips — how do you organize, pack and move then setup in the new place. What do you do that works every time and what has to be modified?

    • Anna @ D16 March 31, 2013 at 1:43 pm

      I guess the best tip I have is to not blog about your move, haha. If it seems like our apartment moves have happened in one evening, then that’s just because I don’t document the whole thing (only because that’s a boring thing to blog about!)…so you’re just seeing the end result.

      Remember, though, that our city apartment is just a part-time place. We don’t really keep a lot of stuff there. Our books, records, clothes, etc. are all at our house, where we’ve lived for years. If we had to move to a different house (something I doubt will ever happen), it would be utter madness!!

  • Reply dervla March 31, 2013 at 11:02 pm

    If you get that whole list done then i’ll be seriously impressed. I put “clean the fridge” on my list every week and let’s just say it’s been a long long time and somehow it never makes it off the list. If i got one of those done I’d be happy.

  • Reply kelly w March 31, 2013 at 11:12 pm

    Just checked back to see how your list went. YOU ARE AMAZING. Wow!

  • Reply Kate April 2, 2013 at 2:24 pm

    You’re doing well so far! I’m just sitting on my sofa writing emails and drinking coffee…. Was feeling productive and now I feel lazy! haha

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