Well, I’ve had this post written except for a few of the last goals for several, several weeks now, and then…well, life got pretty crazy, as you all know, I’m sure. i almost decided to just scrap the idea of home goals this year. But, even in the midst of all the unknowns, we do still know that there are things we want to accomplish around here, and I welcome the distraction from some of the other things we’ve been thinking about recently.
So, without any further delay, here are our 2010 home goals!
1, Get Emma a bigger bookshelf
Her room is so small that when I originally designed it, I didn’t even put one in there, but then we were able to fit this cute little hand-me-down version on the wall between her main door and her closet door, and I loved it. I still do, actually…but, it’s clearly overflowing with her books and toys. So, I’m actually already in the process of painting and prepping her a “new” one. Maybe this will be the first project completed for the year!
2. Replace the door from the garage to the kitchen.
Yes, yes, I know. We’ve had this on the list…forever. But…I have high hopes this will be the year. (Famous last words? Let’s hope not!)
3. Organize the kitchen cabinets and the pantry. Finally.
We’ve had our kitchen done for four years (wow–only four years? It feels longer than that!) and I’ve never really organized the cabinets. Our towels are in a bin that’s clearly CLEARLY overflowing. Same with the spice cabinets (yes, multiple) and don’t even get me started on our pantry. I mean…yikes.
This is the year of organizing–now that we have a lot less stuff (and still more to get rid of!), organizing what we have so we know what we need and more importantly, what we DON’T need.
4. Remake the guest room.
As I said in my recap of our 2019 goals, this turned into a bigger project than I expected. We stole one of the twin beds for Will’s big-kid bed (we were using two twin beds pushed together to make a king bed) so we’ll need a new bed (which means getting rid of the old bed, although we may store the twin bed to use for Emma in a couple years?) and that means rearranging the rest of the furniture in there, too. And adding some art, and finally getting rid of all the other furniture that is just being stored in there because we have no other use for it right now…it’s our “bonus storage room” most of the time and that’s not what I want it to be.
5. Backyard landscaping.
I’d love to do a whole deck rebuild, but I don’t think that’s going to be in the budget again this year. We’ve been putting more money toward other goals and that means we have less in savings. So, to be realistic, the goal is to at least tidy the patio area and finish the slide base to be a softer landing. Right now, it’s a pretty hard, sudden thump onto the mulch that we piled up there. I’m considering some of those rubber tiles? Or maybe pea gravel? Something!
6. Do SOMETHING to the basement bathroom.
This room isn’t a priority because we don’t use it that much, and we’d like to do a full renovation at some point if we stay in this house for a lot longer, but I honestly just want to see what a little facelift can do, while we wait to decide. I think it would be a fun little project. (Famous last words, again? Maybe!)
7. Fix the driveway and trim the tree in the front yard.
We’d actually like to do a lot more than this in the front yard, but these are the two things we need to do. And even though they aren’t that fun, or even noticeable, sometimes that’s where you have to spend some money. So, putting this on the list so I’m not tempted to use that money elsewhere.
See that giant tree?? Yea, it needs trimming. And our driveway has a big hollow spot under it that will cause cracking and issues.
8. Hang art in our master bedroom.
I want to keep the intentional peaceful mood in there, but the walls ARE a bit bare. I’m thinking 1-2 thoughtful pieces.
This photo was taken before we hung the wall sconces above our nightstands (and re-stained the legs of the bed!), but you get the idea on that one huge empty wall.
9. Finish the garage and shed organization.
When I say “finish,” I realize that doesn’t mean “forever.” But, I do want to push through and finally feel like we have a place for everything. That at least gives us a fighting chance to keep it clean on a regular basis.
10. Start seriously planning a bathroom renovation.
We’ve never really set a budget for a project and we’ve kept saying “someday–if we stay” for several years now. But the bathrooms really are going to need some attention, and I want to at least have a plan for what we think is most needed/most practical/in our budget. So this year, setting a goal for how much we want to try to do (face lift only, rearranging walls?), a general budget, and starting to work towards that…that’s the goal.
Just for fun, here’s the only before photo we have of our hall bathroom. This was right after we moved it and did a quick “Phase 1” makeover on this much-used room. It had wallpaper below that green painted part.
11. Organize the hall closet.
Wasn’t this on the list last year? And crossed off? Yep.
But turns out, if you have an empty closet, it gets filled up with junk pretty easily. So…I need a real plan for this prime storage space and then I want to stick to it!
12. Get rid of 1000 more items from our home.
This will be a challenge I think as I’m starting to hit areas a second time after getting rid of all the obvious stuff. But, our storage room is still FULL, trust me. And so are many of our cabinets and closets.
Last year, I managed to declutter 2000 items. Of course, that’s a gross amount, not a net amount. As we certainly brought in…1000?? items as well. Maybe not quite that many, but close probably! You might think that’s excessive, but start to consider all the Christmas and birthday gifts your family receives, especially if you have kids. If you’re like us, that’s often several hundred items just right there. Not to mention magazines, books, project supplies, sized-up clothing and shoes for the kids…it adds up quickly! This is why I’m trying to minimize our lives!
Keep in mind, a set of toy cars isn’t one item, it’s however many cars are in the set! Some things, I don’t count as individual items—like puzzle pieces, or blocks, or Legos, etc. Basically, if I would get rid of it one piece at a time, I count it as coming in one piece at a time. I’d never sell a single lego or block or puzzle piece in a garage sale…make sense?
Now, I know what you’re thinking, or at least I know what I’m thinking…that’s a lot of organization goals. But…here’s the thing. The world feels a little crazy right now. And I had some other goals that I ended up editing out for others right before I posted this because I’m just not sure what the next few months will look like. And I want to focus on what we CAN do in this time, and not set myself up for disappointment.
What home goals can you set for the year? I’d love to keep each other accountable!
