primer, paint, and paper

My parents hooked us up with some pretty generous Lowe's gift cards for Christmas, so as soon as we were unpacked from our trip, we headed over to pick up some project supplies.  

I tend to get so excited about my projects that I want to start all of them at the same time, so here's what's on my plate right now.  

The main attraction is finally getting around to refinishing the kitchen cabinets, but, I guess you can say, this bookshelf in the living room is my warm-up project.

The body of it is primed, I'm just finishing up the doors, then I can slap on a few coats of Valspar's "du jour" and add a little graphic interest with this fabulous paper by Elum Designs.

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While the doors are waiting, patiently, on the counter for some more nap-time painting, Callan enjoys climbing in and out of the open, empty cabinet.  Such a boy.

 LOVE him.

And since the primer is out, this patch that has been sitting paint-less for months, will now get primed and painted.  I will be so happy when that blaring white spackle patch disappears into the wall.

I also found this ampersand on etsy.com and fell in love.  It's on the smaller side, though, and I want a giant one, so I'm going to try my hand at making my own.  I have a {nearly} 24"x29" pattern, a 2'x4' sheet of 3/4" birch plywood, and a jigsaw that are ready for action.  Wish me luck.  ;)

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So, I guess 2012 has me gung-ho on house upgrades and improvements.

My list is pretty long - I'm hoping for a productive year.

Any big {or small} projects on your list that you're hoping to cross off soon?

I think crossing projects off the to-do list is the best part of the process.  ;)