My house was built in the 1970s. It has great, solid construction but lacks the aesthetic sense of a lot of the houses being built today. To be fair, I'd rather have a house that's not falling apart rather than a trendy mud-room. I also love the three-level split design of the house as well as the huge deck and backyard.
So aesthetics are something that need to be added. My Dad did a pile of work landscaping the outside a couple of years ago and added a little deck in front of the house. He also added a shower to the downstairs bath and later retiled the floor. He and Jason also added an awning to our deck, last weekend (not to mention a thousand other various projects over the past years we've been in the house).
Jason has been spending the summer on outdoor projects like replacing the steps on the deck. However, with my Dad getting older, I need to put on my big-girl panties and learn how to do this sort of stuff myself. Luckily, I still have my Dad as a great resource.
My first big projects are the two hallways. I want to maximize my storage without the clutter that seems to keep happening. I've started with the back hall.
Tonight I washed the walls with TSP, a heavy duty cleaner that has done a pretty good job of cleaning up marks and crayon. Now I'm just waiting for it to dry so I can rinse.