Listy McListerson: Updated

If you’ve ever stared at your house and thought, “Wow, this place is… a project,” then you already understand the spirit of Listy McListerson. On Young House Love, John and Sherry turned their second house into a giant to-do list with a goofy name, then happily crossed things off as they painted, demoed, and DIY’d their way through each room. It’s part home tour, part renovation roadmap, and part motivational tool that somehow makes a long list of work feel fun instead of suffocating.

In this updated take on Listy McListerson: Updated | Young House Love, we’ll break down how that massive house project list worked, why it resonated with so many homeowners, and how you can create your own version to tame your renovation chaos. We’ll pull in ideas from home improvement blogs, organizing experts, and renovation pros across the U.S. to give you a practical, modern blueprint for your own whole-house listno matter if you live in a tiny condo or a “needs-everything” fixer-upper.

What Is “Listy McListerson” Anyway?

Back in their second house, the Young House Love crew created a playful but detailed, room-by-room checklist they nicknamed “Listy McListerson.” It wasn’t just a vague wish listthis was a concrete, written inventory of everything they wanted to improve, from big structural updates to tiny “someday” tweaks. Each room got its own mini-list, and they updated the master list as projects were finished or goals changed.

The magic of Listy McListerson wasn’t that it was complicated. It was the opposite:

• Simple format: just text broken down by room or area.
• Visible progress: completed items were crossed off or updated in follow-up posts.
• Flexible goals: some plans evolved as they actually lived in the house.

It worked as both a public accountability tool on the blog and a private compass guiding what to tackle next in real life. Homeowners recognized their own wish lists in that post, which is why the concept still circulates on Pinterest and social media years later.

Why a Giant Home Project List Actually Works

On paper, writing down every single thing you want to change about your house sounds like the fastest way to a stress headache. But experts in home management and renovation repeatedly recommend structured lists and project breakdowns as a way to avoid overwhelm and stay on budget.

Here’s why a “Listy McListerson”–style list is surprisingly effective:

1. It Gets Everything Out of Your Head

Clutter isn’t just physical; it’s mental too. Organizing and project-management writers often point out that you make better decisions when your to-dos live somewhere other than your brain. A master list lets you stop rethinking the same ideas and start prioritizing them logically.

2. It Turns Vague Stress Into Concrete Tasks

“The house feels like a disaster” is impossible to fix. But “patch drywall in hallway,” “swap dining room light,” or “declutter kids’ art supplies” are doable, measurable steps. Renovation pros and scheduling tools alike emphasize breaking big projects into small actions so you can see quick wins and keep going.

3. It Helps You Spot Dependencies and Plan Better

Once everything is listed, it’s easier to see the domino effect: you shouldn’t paint your living room ceiling right before a dusty electrical upgrade, and you probably want flooring decisions locked in before you pick baseboard styles. Timer- and calendar-based project guides encourage mapping tasks in order to avoid rework and wasted money.

4. It Makes Progress Visible and Motivating

Seeing lines crossed off your Listy McListerson is deeply satisfyingthat’s not just you being weird, that’s your brain loving visible progress. Decluttering and organizing challenges often rely on checklists and daily prompts for exactly this reason: when you can literally see what you’ve done, you’re more likely to keep going.

How Young House Love Used Listy McListerson

In their second house, John and Sherry used Listy McListerson to track a huge range of projects: painting nearly every room, upgrading lighting, planning outdoor spaces, installing built-ins, and more. They frequently posted updated versions of the list and even created a full rundown of completed projects and links once they moved on.

Key elements of their approach:

• Room-by-room breakdowns: Each spacekitchen, dining room, bedrooms, yardgot its own section, making the list scannable and easier to tackle.
• Mix of big and small tasks: Massive projects like “renovate kitchen” appeared alongside tiny wins like “swap builder-grade door hardware.”
• Public updates: They blogged progress, which doubled as a scrapbook and accountability system.
• Honest about unfinished items: Not everything got done before they movedand they were transparent about that in their final list posts.

The takeaway: your list doesn’t have to be perfect or fully completed to be useful. It just has to keep you moving in the right direction.

Step-by-Step: Create Your Own “Listy McListerson”

You don’t need a blog or a Pinterest fan base to make this work. Here’s a practical, modern way to build your own Listy McListerson: Updated for your home.

Step 1: Do a Slow Walkthrough of Your Home

Grab a notebook or open a notes app and walk room by room. Don’t edit yetjust write down anything that bugs you or excites you:

• Repairs (cracks, leaks, squeaky doors)
• Cosmetic updates (paint colors, fixtures, window treatments)
• Organization needs (closets, pantry, kids’ rooms)
• Big dreams (remodel kitchen, add deck, finish basement)

Home-organization challenges often start with an honest assessment like this, so you fully understand your “before” before planning your “after.”

Step 2: Group Tasks by Room or Zone

Once you’ve collected your notes, reorganize them into sections, similar to Young House Love’s second-house list:

• Exterior & Yard
• Entry & Hallways
• Living Room / Family Room
• Kitchen & Dining
• Bedrooms
• Bathrooms
• Utility / Garage / Storage

This mirrors how many renovation planners and professional organizers structure their guidesby space, not by type of workso you can tackle one zone at a time and feel a full-room transformation.

Step 3: Break Big Projects Into Small Steps

If your list includes “Renovate kitchen,” congratsyou’ve written a dream, not a task. Turn it into smaller pieces, like:

• Set budget range for kitchen update
• Collect 10 inspiration photos
• Meet with contractor or price out DIY materials
• Decide on layout changes (if any)
• Order cabinets / paint / hardware

Renovation and project-management pros emphasize this kind of breakdown to keep you from stalling on huge, ambiguous goals.

Step 4: Add Reality ChecksBudget, Time, & Energy

Now that you have your list, ask three un-glamorous but crucial questions:

1. What can we afford this year?
2. How much free time do we actually have?
3. What’s our energy level for DIY vs. hiring out?

Design-build firms and home-reno guides alike stress tying your timeline to your budget and lifestyle. A realistic Listy McListerson is better than an aspirational one you never touch.

Smart Ways to Prioritize and Schedule Your List

Once your Listy McListerson is written, you need a game plan. Without priorities, you’ll bounce between rooms and never feel finished anywhere. With too rigid a plan, you’ll burn out. The sweet spot is “organized but flexible.”

Start With Safety, Function, and Biggest Eyesores

Many renovation checklists recommend tackling projects in this order:

1. Safety: electrical issues, leaks, mold, structural concerns.
2. Function: broken appliances, dysfunctional layouts.
3. High-impact eyesores: paint, lighting, flooring in main living areas.

This sequence mirrors how pros prioritize full-house makeovers: fix what’s dangerous, then what’s annoying, then what’s ugly.

Use a “Few-at-a-Time” Rule

One of the biggest pitfalls is tackling too many projects at once. Some DIY bloggers recommend keeping only a small handful of “active” projects, even if your full list is long. That way, you get the satisfaction of finishing things instead of living in a permanent construction zone.

Put Projects on a Calendar, Not Just a List

Scheduling tools and home-reno planners suggest assigning target windows to each project (e.g., “March: paint primary bedroom,” “May: refinish deck”). You don’t need to create a corporate-style Gantt chart, but giving your projects a home on the calendar keeps them from becoming “someday” tasks forever.

How to Keep Momentum and Actually Cross Things Off

Having a list is great. Actually using it is better. Here are practical ways to keep your Listy McListerson: Updated alive instead of letting it quietly die in your notes app.

Celebrate Small Wins Loudly

Borrow the Young House Love approach and make finished projects a big deal. Take before-and-after photos, share them with friends, or keep a “Done” section where you move completed tasks. Decluttering challenges and renovation guides both show that celebrating micro-wins keeps people engaged in longer, more complex efforts.

Build in Buffer Time (Because Life Happens)

Project-management advice for renovations consistently warns that things take longer than you think: materials are delayed, kids get sick, work gets busy. Adding buffer weeks around big projects keeps your list from becoming one big guilt trip.

Use Tools That Match Your Personality

Some people love a color-coded digital system; others just want a paper list on the fridge. Renovation and home-organizing experts are fairly unanimous on this: the “best” system is the one you’ll actually use. Apps, shared calendars, whiteboards, or printable checklists all work if they get you to take consistent action.

When (and How) to Update or Retire Your List

Even Young House Love didn’t cling to a single list forever. As they finished one house and moved to another, they created fresh project lists and updated rundowns, reflecting what they’d completed and what they were leaving behind.

That’s a crucial part of a healthy Listy McListerson: you’re allowed to change your mind.

• Cross off things you no longer care about. If a project has sat on the list for years and you don’t truly want it, let it go.
• Rewrite the list after big life changes. New baby, new job, or new house? Your priorities just shiftedyour list should, too.
• Do a yearly “list audit.” Once a year, review every item and ask, “Is this still worth my time, money, and energy?”

Think of your list as a living document, not a contract you signed in blood.

Conclusion: Make Your Own Listy McListerson (No Blog Required)

Listy McListerson: Updated | Young House Love isn’t just a quirky name from a popular DIY blogit’s a strategy you can borrow to get your home under control. By writing a clear whole-house project list, breaking it into manageable tasks, prioritizing smartly, and adjusting as life changes, you can turn your house from “never-ending project” into “work in progress, but in a good way.”

You don’t need professional design training or a renovation crew. You just need a list, some honest priorities, a realistic pace, and the willingness to celebrate one crossed-off line at a time. Before long, you’ll look back at your own Listy McListerson and realize you’ve quietly built a home you genuinely love living in.

Real-Life Experiences With a “Listy McListerson”–Style List

To really see how this works, it helps to imagine how a whole-house list plays out in everyday life. These kinds of experiences mirror stories you’ll hear from homeowners, organizers, and DIY bloggers who lean heavily on checklists to keep their projects under control.

Case 1: The Overwhelmed First-Time Homeowners

Picture a couple who just bought their first 1970s split-level. Every room has wallpaper, the carpets have seen better centuries, and the kitchen cabinets are the color of sadness. At first, they try to work on everything at once. They start peeling wallpaper in the hallway, then get distracted by the broken porch light, then stall out when they realize the backyard fence is falling over.

Finally, they sit down and create their own Listy McListerson. They walk through the house with a notebook, dividing projects by space and marking anything safety-related with a star. Suddenly, instead of “this house is a disaster,” they have “replace loose railing on stairs,” “patch hole by light switch,” and “test smoke detectors.” They knock out the safety items over a few weekends, then move to high-traffic cosmetic fixes like painting the living room and updating the entry light.

Six months later, the house still isn’t finished (spoiler: it never really is), but it feels brighter, safer, and more them. The list is shorter, their stress is lower, and they can clearly see where their time and money went.

Case 2: The Busy Family With No Free Weekends

In another scenario, a family with young kids feels like they have zero time for projects. Between work, school, sports, and the occasional attempt at a social life, home improvements keep getting pushed “to next month.” When they finally create a Listy McListerson, they also add time estimates15-minute tasks, one-hour tasks, weekend projects.

Now, when a soccer practice is cancelled or a grandparent offers to take the kids for the afternoon, they don’t waste time debating what to do. They find a one-hour tasklike swapping cabinet hardware or decluttering the bathroom vanityand knock it out. Over a year, those tiny windows of time add up to a very real transformation, especially in areas like closets, kids’ rooms, and the mudroom.

Case 3: The Serial DIYer Who Loves Big Projects

There’s also the hardcore DIYer who loves jumping into big renovations but often leaves the finishing touches hangingliterally. Outlet covers sit in a box, trim goes uncaulked, and paint touch-ups never happen. Their Listy McListerson becomes the place where all those “wrap it up” tasks live.

They keep a section of the list just for finishing details: install switch plates, add door bumpers, touch up baseboard paint where the dog chewed it. Once a month, they dedicate a Saturday to knocking out as many of these as possible. By deliberately listing those small, unglamorous jobs, they finally get to experience the joy of a truly finished space instead of a 90-percent-there one.

The Emotional Side: Permission to Change the Plan

One of the most underrated benefits of a Listy McListerson: Updated approach is emotional. A written list gives you permission to change your mind consciously instead of silently dropping projects and feeling guilty about it. Maybe you realize that the elaborate backyard pergola can wait, but the simple addition of shade sails and string lights will make this summer just as enjoyable for a fraction of the effort.

When you cross projects off the list not because they’re done, but because they’re no longer important, you reclaim your time and budget for what actually matters now. That’s exactly the kind of flexible mindset you see in long-running home blogs and renovation stories: the best homes evolve along with the people who live in them.

In the end, your own Listy McListerson doesn’t have to look exactly like Young House Love’s version. It just has to help you make your home feel more functional, more beautiful, and more “you”one line item at a time.