2018 Home Goals

At the beginning of each year, I love to pull together a ‘home goals’ list to organize our home projects (because otherwise I go into ‘panic attack’ mode overthinking the things we have left to do, from window blinds to painting the wall and everything in between.) Taking deep breaths certainly helps, as does writing it down– from minor updates to organizational projects to major renovations– with an estimated timeline for achieving them. Planning eliminates the overwhelm when you have a lot on your to-do list. And whew, is our to-do list heavy… in a good way. I love this stuff.

With that in mind, I thought you might like to see what’s on deck (er, porch) around here this year!

1. Three-season Porch Addition

One of the major things we skipped when we built the house was adding on a porch. The model home’s porch was too small, we wanted a space large enough to eat, entertain, and relax outdoors without dealing with pests. Here’s our current deck situation… it faces the construction where they tore down all the trees (still so mad I can’t talk about it) so we want to put a porch up ASAP to be able to put curtains up and still enjoy being outdoors despite now having a house in our backyard (not pictured. yet. stay tuned.)

We’re rearranging the footprint and adding on the porch, then extending the deck under the kitchen window for our grill and container gardens.

We’re working with an architect and contractor to create a three-season porch with EZE Breeze Windows that turn the screens into vinyl windows during allergy season and the colder months. Here’s what they look like when they’re down:

(source)

Then you can pull them up in a few seconds flat to look like this and protect against the elements:

(source)

I’ll be sharing more later once we get the final choices and design plan finalized, but I’m hoping for a finished porch by late spring/ early summer!

2. Tile the Kitchen Backsplash

Aside from painting the cabinets a fun color down the road, there’s only two BIG things left to do in our kitchen: tile the backsplash and install window shades. And paint the wall as well, but there’s so little wall left that it will be a small project to tackle.

Isn’t it begging for some gorgeous tile? I’m like a kid in a candy store when it comes to tile options– so many choices! Do I go with marble hexagons? Skinny grey ceramic subway tiles? A classic herringbone? Ahhhhhhh!

3. Master Bedroom Makeover

We never thought we’d have this big of a master bedroom, but now that we do, we’re head over heels in love with it. Apparently the new trend is an upstairs casual living room dubbed the ‘pajama lounge’, so we’ve nicknamed the den area off our bedroom the same. We plan to paint the walls, add woven wood shades, a DIY coffee table, light fixtures, and this sectional sofa we just ordered over the weekend (it’s on sale!)

barn door tv console // similar gold bar cart

my son can’t wait to get his glider back, we kinda stole it until our couch arrives

Our bedroom needs just a few updates, including shades, paint, and new lamps.

similar bedspread // similar headboard

That mirror will go into my daughter’s room and I hope to get something that’s better suited for the scale of the space. I plan to add a stacked gallery above the dresser instead of the vases. By the way, that dresser is a lucky find on a Facebook yard sale site. 😉

4. Organize the Pantry

No matter the size of your pantry (or, for me, a non-existent pantry in all my previous 42 years of life) you can always find ways to cleverly organize it. Our new home has a beautiful pantry, and I can’t wait to put the finishing touches on organizing it and sharing the free printable labels with you!

5. Daughter’s ‘Tween’ Room Makeover

There’s no stopping it, my daughter will soon be a tween. I keep trying to paint her room this lovely shade of pink from the Magnolia paint collection to no avail. She doesn’t love pink.

But we need to paint the walls something. Green? Aqua? Gray? This is a tough one!

Once we finalize the paint color, we’ll share the details– but for now, I’m swooning over Abby’s new pendant light.

pendant light

5. Boy’s Outdoor Themed Room Makeover

My son has said from the beginning he wants an outdoor themed room and is not holding back his ideas. So an outdoor themed room it is. While I’ll miss his ‘train’ stage, I won’t miss this ‘train’ table. #cluttercatcher

6. Laundry/ Mud Room Mini-Makeover

Our laundry/ mudroom area is tiny, but I’m not complaining considering our last home didn’t have either one. We do need to figure out a solution for merging the two spaces. It needs to function better since our landing site/ launch pad for life, so a mini-makeover is in the works. Eventually we’ll hang wallpaper and cabinets in this space, but for now, I just need a way to get our shoes off the floor and have a place for the kids to hang their multitude of jackets for this crazy NC weather!

7. Home Office Mini-Makeover

This is another space in which I’d eventually like to add built-ins, but for now, getting my two businesses into organized shape is on my agenda! It’s getting there– still a bit to go, but almooooost finished. Here’s a peek or three:

// bookcase //

// filing cabinet //

8. Add Trimwork & Paint Dining Room

Even though it’s the least used room, our dining room might be the first to officially be ‘finished’! The light fixture has been delivered and I’ve picked out the paint color, now it’s just getting the trimwork done (perhaps some wainscotting) and adding in the finishing touches!

9. Add Trimwork, Paint, and Finish Furnishing Living Room

It’s a race to the finish with the living room as well. We’re stuck on whether to keep it in it’s current configuration or move the tv to this wall to make it more of a focal point:

Regardless, expect some fun trimwork to happen, a fireplace makeover, and art and a coffee table/ end tables once I find the perfect pieces. ‘Cause this teeny table isn’t cutting it!

Neither is this ‘end table’ that I stole from the deck. 😉

Here’s a design board I whipped up so you can see where this crazy train is headed:

10. Guest Room Makeover

Our guests must feel sad in this undecorated space! I need to kick it up a notch with shades, layered curtains, nightstands, paint, and artwork. We want our guests to feel at home here. In fact, it looks so sad I don’t even want to share a photo yet. #truestory

11. Eating Area Mini-Makeover

This space is attached to our kitchen but doesn’t flow. I know a few simple changes will help– a different rug, new chairs, and a light fixture. It’s hard to get rid of a rug that has held up so beautifully, but the brown is ‘blah’ when compared to the rest of the space. Hopefully we’ll find another spot for it.

Can’t wait to ditch this builder’s grade light fixture and get something gorgeous that complements our kitchen pendants!

12. Add Some Color to the Entryway

Not too much color, I love my neutrals after all, but a new rug to greet guests as well as a calming gray on the walls.

Plus, thinking about plantation shutters for these skinny side windows. Any other good ideas out there?

13. Playroom Makeover

Our first step is to organize the toys (this is the BEFORE, I finished but need to put on the final touches before sharing!)

Some paint, shelves, and a table for their workspace will make this space shine! Here’s the craft cubbies we have and they’ve been perfect for organizing all the art supplies.

14. Organize the Garage

We didn’t realize the hit we’d be taking losing both our attic and our basement when we moved here, so the majority of our junk ended up in our garage. We had shelves installed, but guess what? If we get the new car my husband wants it won’t fit in this current configuration. So we need to rework the shelves, hopefully add in a pegboard and workbench, and get rid of the final few bins of ‘stuff’. We have some fun solutions like a garage loft and bike hoist, so once we get the shelf situation figured out we’ll share!

No matter what I’ve listed today, I’m sure it will change tomorrow. I might get fed up with the bedroom closet and organize that instead, or decide my husband’s office needs some help.

Regardless of what happens, to me this is the fun part– the slow decorating as we acquire special pieces and choose our finishing touches carefully.