1.Replace the carpeting in the bedrooms and basement.

Yes! Done!

This was an ordeal (with the company having to come fix issues three times), but it finally got done and we really, really like it. I’m so glad we splurged and got the carpet we actually liked and not just the “it’s okay” stuff that would have saved us a couple of hundred bucks. Saving up for this and waiting until we were ready was definitely the right thing to do. In the grand scheme of how much it ended up costing for our giant basement family room, four bedrooms, closets, and our storage room ($$$), paying the extra bit for what we really wanted was so worth it.

2.Replace the front door.

Well…..

Still not done. Boo. And actually, that photo is even from a couple of years ago I think, as I didn’t put that wreath out this year (or maybe even last year?) I guess I have just completely neglected the front door lately. Oops.

3. Replace the kitchen door to the garage.

Well, instead of replacing this door, we just covered it in paintings and put a child safe handle on it to keep Will and Emma from being able to open it and get out into the garage. Not the best solution I suppose. But, we did make it through another year. So, it is what it is, I guess. I’m hopeful this will actually happen soon though. Maybe. Right?

4. Repaint the house and fix the boards that have wood rot.

I still get a happy little suprise every time we come around the corner and I see our navy house.

So, this is done and while I haven’t taken any amazing photos, we are so happy we did it! There are still a few little issues we are wanting the painter to fix, but at this point, it’s probably just the way it is. I think maybe we have too high of expectations for contractors?

Ah well, it is done and we are thankful to not have had to do it ourselves!

5. Replace the garage door.

Failed on this one.

We ended up painting the garage door instead of replacing it, since our house painter said it wouldn’t make a difference in his quote. So, now we debating what to do and how long to wait before we go ahead and replace it again.

6. Do something about the deck.

Well, another fail for the year.

Well, we didn’t get the deck done. All we did was nail a few boards back in place and add some hand-me-down chairs and a clearance table from Aldi. (So, SUPER cheap, ha!)

It works for Will and I to have picnic lunches out there sometimes on warm days when Emma is at school, but we still really need to do something. I guess we also removed the shed from underneath the deck, which frees us up to change the direction of the stairs a little better in the future. Maybe I’ll count this as a baby step, but we really need to decide what we are going to do and do it this year!

7. Revamp the master bedroom.

The never-ending search for nightstands ended in 2018 and I am pretty excited about it.

The only thing we really did in here was to finally choose new nightstands, add art over the bed, and the wall sconces. But those things made a big difference! It is amazing what feeling good about a space can do. I now make the bed every day, and keep the dressers and floor so much tidier than I ever did before. (Yes, I see that green block hiding under the bed. At least I tried, right?)

8. Refresh the laundry room with a mini makeover

This is done (finally) and it’s the most amazing room in our house.

Just kidding. But, I really am so happy with how it turned out and I have been doing a really good job at keeping this room clean now, too. I am serious, you guys. Feeling proud of a space helps so much in the battle against daily clutter and mess.

You can see the full reveal of this room, here.

9. Figure out a solution for kid art display and storage (and culling out to throw away).

Done. I think. At least, mostly. Sort of.

I have a couple of different solutions that are semi-effective. One, I hang my most favorite one in one of three areas, the clipboards in the living room, the fridge clip, or the cork board next to the fridge. Then, after I switch them out from there, they go into a bin in the kids’ closets. When the bin gets full, I go through and recycle what I don’t have strong feelings about, put any small items in our new card catalog, send cute buy not keep-worthy items to grandparents, and toss anything else I still don’t know what to do with back in the bin for next time.

(For the record, I used to use those clipboards as a spot to hang seasonal printables and other little cute signs. Which was fine, but this is better I think.)

Does that count as a solution? Maybe. I think yes.

10. Finish rebuilding the garden beds.

Well, we got them all built and installed.

We still want to add some trim pieces on the top to finish them off and add a place to sit around the edge, and maybe add a few smaller beds, but this was such an improvement and I’m so glad we decided to do the PVC boards. I think it will hold up really well and the white is a nice touch, too.

11. Hang the light in the basement stairwell

I’m so sad this didn’t get done.

We do have the light (yes, a year later, still have it, so at least we haven’t lost it or something??) and we’ve prepped and planned…but nope. Not done.

12. Babyproof the basement fireplace

This is another one that we didn’t get done.

We actually haven’t had an issue with it yet, but it’s still on the list on projects we’d like to accomplish. So, we’ll see what happens I guess.

Extra credit goal: find a place for the vacuum.

I changed up the drawers that we had in the coat closet to make room in there. It’s not the perfect solution but it’s better than it having no home at all, so I’ll take it. And maybe someday I’ll get two so I don’t have to carry it up and down the stairs…or we’ll get a robot vacuum and I’ll be the happiest homemaker in all the land.

Ha!

So, we ended up with 6/12, plus the extra credit goal. Not great in terms of school grades…but in terms of life, I’m pretty pleased with the past year and pretty excited for the year to come!

Ok, tell me if you accomplished anything on your goal list last year. Or tell me what you think we’ll carry over to next year (this year’s) goal list and what we’ll just give up on. Ha!