The season for home improvements

I can feel Spring right around the corner.

Which is cool, but also not so cool. My brain goes into over-drive with all of the things I'd like to do around the house. With money that we don't have.

• Buy cabinet pull bars (won't do this unless I find a really good deal)

This is what I want (in brushed nickel or whatever our faucet is):

• Put up a backsplash & under cabinet lighting in the kitchen (would do this before buying cabinet pulls)

I'd love to do red, but it might be a bit much for a small kitchen & probably wouldn't be good for resale.



I may end up doing something with a red accent like this:



Who am I kidding?? I'll probably go with whatever's cheapest or not do anything if I can't find anything I like for a price I like.

• Come up with a creative way to draw people to the front door instead of the back door (our drive takes you to the back of the house instead of the front). I'm pretty sure this will involve taking out a good deal of grass and replacing with plantings. If anyone knows of any solutions, I would be thrilled to know--I've searched and searched on the internet and can't find anything specifically for this problem. The easiest thing to do would be to call the back door the front door and the front door the back door.
  
• Along those same lines (& the more permanent fix to the front-back door problem) is to convert the carport to a garage. That would conceal the door and then people would have to use the front door. Don't think that will happen any time soon. Maybe not ever.
  
• Create a patio of some sort in the back to create more entertaining space and integrate the fireplace more fully.
  

This is what I'm thinking:


I can't wait to tell C...I'm sure he'll be thrilled.