24-hour makeover projects

24 hours just ain't what it used to be...it's so much more now that we've grown accustomed to multitasking. In case you've managed to avoid this 21st century phenomenon, multitasking is the art that allows my 14-year-old son to chat on MSN while he plays the guitar, listens to music, and talks on the phone. So, I've decided to put today to good use by declaring it 'Do It Now' day.

Do it now

Do it now is a call to action for procrastinators and dabblers. Need fuel in the car? Do it now because you won't want to do it later. Toilet paper needs replacing? Do it now. Some things - like putting family photos in an album never seem to reach the Do it Now list, instead they languish in low-priority-purgatory robbing us of joy every time we look at the accumulated memories piled on the coffee table.

Do it now: Project One

Replace kitchen (and/or bathroom) hardware. If you've never really liked your kitchen hardware (maybe you actually hate it), today is the day of reckoning. This is a simple task that can immediately improve the appearance of this busy room and transform how you feel about reaching for a cereal bowl. Do it now.

Plan ahead for this day - make a list, get ready, and visit your favourite hardware store. Perhaps it's the local mom-and-pop variety, a big-box superstore, or a designer's gem like Antique Door and Hardware on Avenue Road in Toronto. Knobs in hand (I'm starting to sound like Mag Ruffman!), remove the former and replace with the newly acquired. Two hours is plenty of time to accomplish the task. While you're at it, there's more you can do. Pop in a CD and listen to Debra Winger read The Brothers Karamazov, or brush up on a foreign language. With "Learn to Speak French in 10 Days" in the stereo the time will fly.

Replace Kitchen Hardware (and learn to speak French)     2 hours

Do it now: Project Two - phase one

Transform a powder room. Invigorated from victory with kitchen hardware, head to the powder room and begin operation transformation. Those white walls - the ones you painted shortly after move in day - have not grown on you. But wait a minute, first go answer the front door, it's your electrician and he's ready to hang the light fixture you purchased last week to replace the builder's special that you've been tolerating for years. While he's hanging the new chandelier, use the time to polish the silver that's looking more and more like antique bronze.

Hang chandelier and polish the silver     2 hours

Do it now: Project Two - phase two

Now, grab a paintbrush and give the walls and trim a single coat of paint. Using latex allows you to complete the second coat on the same day. If you need colour inspiration, check out ICI's new collection of colours for 2004 called earth connections - apple green, lavender, malachite, and russet brown are among the choices. Oops a major spill...how do you say, "oh my god I've spilled oil paint on my countertop" in French?

First coat of paint on walls and trim (and learn more French)     4 hours

Do it now: Project Three

Do it Now day can also be filled with those tedious small tasks that are no one's idea of a good time. Let's start by rotating any area carpets. Left in one position month after month, year after year, carpets are permanently damaged by sun due to uneven fading. Rotating the carpet distributes the fading consistently. Next, flip all mattresses upside down and then rotate them 180 (degrees). By doing so, you extend the life of your mattresses and get a more comfortable sleep. Mattresses flipped, it's time to change the batteries in any smoke detectors, alarm systems, or carbon monoxide alarms.

Rotate carpets and mattresses, replace batteries     3 hours

Do it now: Project Four

Stop. You're starving. Treat yourself to a nice bowl of soup and while it's cooling, open the mail and sort the piles that are currently sitting by the phone in the kitchen. If you don't absolutely need it, toss it.

Sort mail and have lunch     1.5 hours

Do it now: Project Five

Now the front hallway. Rarely is a room so thoroughly overlooked. Here's what you can do provided you have a minimum of 4' width in the hallway. Install a lengthy, cantilevered shelf to the wall at 36" high. Cantilevered is a term used to describe an architectural object that has no visible means of support. Pottery Barn is a good place to purchase such a shelf. Place a slim bench beneath it - if you hurry you can go to that cute shop around the corner and pick on up. Over the shelf, hang a series of family photos in black and white or a collection of artwork. Now your entrance hall has a purpose - photo or art gallery.

Hang shelf and artwork     3 hours

Do it now: Project Six

It's time to watch Oprah - and this is where multitasking can really be beneficial. While we're watching our favourite 50-year-old, we can put our photos in an album. We start out so well intentioned and somewhere after the 3rd birthday (could that really have been in 1994?) we procrastinate just a little until we find ourselves 10 years later trying to decipher between little Johnny's 4th and 5th birthday parties. The pressure is unbearable. If Johnny ever discovers we've mixed up the story of his life he'll doubt if we ever loved him. This is definitely a do it now project.

Put photos in a photo album and watch Oprah     2.5 hours

Do it now: Project Two - phase three

It's time for a second coat of paint in the powder room.

Second coat of paint in powder room (and learn more French)     3 hours

Do it now: Project Seven

Create proper files for all your inspiration photos. I know you've been reading Style at Home magazine and tearing out photos of the rooms that you love. Problem is, when it's time to actually do a project, the files are in such a state of disarray you can't find what you need. Now's the time to get those photos organized into a workable file, divided by room and/or subject (e.g. powder rooms or window treatments). And, while your sitting in one place, it's as good a time as any to phone your mother.

Organize inspiration photos file and call your mother     3 hours

Total 24 hours

There you have it. 24 hours of productivity - two projects at a time. If this sounds like a dream day, by all means knock yourself out. Otherwise, do what I'm going to do and spend the day by sleeping in, taking a bubble bath, watching Oprah, reading a book, and eating bon bons (do they even exist?). What a holiday!