Happy New Year to you! I had hoped to get this post up this past week but our family got away for a little winter getaway in TN and I just concentrated on enjoying our time together. 
You can check out Instagram to see some beautiful snowy scenes that we got to enjoy in the Smoky Mountains – so fun for this southerner who doesn’t get to see snow very often.
As I put home renovations and projects on hold during the holiday season I was also thinking of what my goals/plans for tackling home projects would be for this year. We have been in our home now for 7 months and also have a 7 month old baby. Although I can be a bit frustrated with myself that we aren’t further along in making this house into our home, I also have to go back and remember where we started at the before pictures and realize that I really have accomplished a lot (especially considering I had a newborn for much of those months!). We did a ton of work outside during the summer which took a LOT of time.
But I think that part of my frustration stems from not having really any room “finished” or “pretty” or at least gotten to the completion stage of phase 1 in some rooms that will require multiple phases of work as we tackle big projects or save for phase 2 and 3.
Thanks to new flooring and new paint the living room is looking the most “finished” of all rooms although there is still really nothing on walls – I do have curtains now which I need to show you!
But in the rest of the house – boxes are unpacked, all rooms except for master and laundry room are painted, rooms are settled, new flooring is installed in 90% of the house…but very few rooms have even one thing on the wall, furniture may need to be rearranged or repainted to make it work better, most rooms have no curtains, and all the decorating and finishing touches just aren’t done. The painting and unpacking and just getting some rooms repaired and functional took a lot of time this past year but I am ready to start adding and seeing the pretty finishing touches! Most of the rooms also have trim and character and things like that that I hope to add over time.
So here’s my plan for 2017 –
Tackle one room at a time until it is finished or at least finish stage 1 if it will require multiple larger projects.
With that in mind here’s my tentative plan for what rooms and projects I hope to work on this year:
1. Guest room – phase 1 (paint room, paint furniture, arrange and decorate)
2. Nursery – finish and reveal (paint, add organization to closet, do accent wall of wood, build shelves, curtains, decorate)
3. Guest bathroom – finish (paint room, paint cabinets, build shelves, build towel rack, frame in mirror, add finishing touches)
4. Laundry room – phase 1 (paint room, add trim and storage/hooks on wall, new flooring)
5. Entryway – (paint, add decor on walls)
6. Kitchen – phase 1 (paint, blinds/curtains, new appliances), phase 2 (new flooring)
7. Living room – phase 1 (paint, curtains, add decor to wall), possibly phase 2 (new furniture and add built ins)
8. Office – (paint, add shelving and storage into closet, blinds, curtains, arrange room, organize and decorate)
9. Bonus room – paint, paint furniture, build headboards, arrange room
10. Attic – build shelves for storage
11. Outdoor – continue work (add more plants and landscaping in front yard, stain fence, paint shed, begin landscaping in back yard around house and pool, find/paint/redo pool furniture and patio furniture)
12. Master bedroom –- doubt I will get much done in this room this year but if I have time I would love to!
Yes, I totally added things to the list that have already been done because crossing those off helps me to see I have a start on that list! I am sure there will be furniture painting, and decorating projects or things that come up that I will have to tackle mid-room, but I plan to really focus on one room at a time getting it as finished as possible. I would also love to build some furniture for our home too so not sure if that will happen this year or not.
Come back tomorrow and I will show you the first room I am working on – before and where it is now plus my plans for how I want it to look. I’ve been busy painting some furniture and getting it arranged and can’t wait to see the phase 1 finish soon!
What’s your home plans or goals for this year?
Wow you have a lot to do but it sounds like you’ve already gotten so much done. My husband and I currently live in a slightly separate area with his parents until we are able to get a house (something we are working on right now). For the past year that we have been in our area though I haven’t really put any effort into “making it home” just because in my head I was thinking why put so much time into it when we aren’t going to be permanently here. I was really just viewing it more as a temporary stop then anything. Well after a frustrating year of “getting by” and “making it work” I have finally decided to turn our little area into a home. We don’t have much space. About 600 sq. ft. It’s two bedroom/bathrooms connected by a hallway (they rooms mirror each other). So although we have space not all of it is usable. I am determined to turn our little area into as much of a home as I can. Actually hang pictures on the walls. get some decor in there, etc. It is something I really want to make work because if we are going to be here a while I think our family would be so much less stressed if it felt like a home instead of just a roof over our heads. I am hoping when we do get a house it will be a little bit of a fixer upper because I love design and decorating so I am looking forward to taking something and turning into my own. Anyway I digress. I would for sure say that turning out little rectangle into an actual inviting home by just clearing the clutter and hanging the pictures and making it function better is my top priority.
Whew, just looking at your list makes me tired, lol ?! I’ve been where you are, to an extent. We moved into our current home (a new manufactured home) seventeen years ago when my daughter was two months old and my son was almost three. To make matters worse, I was dealing with some post-partum depression that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Obviously nothing needed to be repaired, but as girl who loves to decorate and loves color, the white walls and trim, tan carpet and gray vinyl tile, plus the very ugly polyester print curtains were driving me crazy! It’s definitely a process and a learning experience, although you obviously learned a lot with your first home. I had come from a rent house, and then a small mobile home that we knew was temporary, so this was my first “real” home that I was excited about decorating. Good luck on your journey! Several rooms in my home have been painted two or three times over the years, we replaced a lot of the carpet with laminate flooring and installed new tile in the kitchen, and have gradually upgraded our “early marriage” furniture for beautiful pieces of more lasting quality. Outside, we added a covered front and back porch. The big project I hope to get done this year, which we will be hiring done, is removing the popcorn ceiling texture and re-texturing and painting. I’m looking forward to my rooms being lighter and brighter and being able to remove the cobwebs without getting snowed on! I look forward to seeing your newly decorated rooms!
I just LOVE to check off things on my to do list! So you having things done on your room list really makes sense! Lets you know you are on the way! You have really made such great strides and to do all that along with a new born is remarkable. Don’t apologize….just keep shayour progress. I do enjoy reading your blog and following your experiences!
Wow! Glad you think you have the energy! Personally, and from experience, I would start and finish the master suite. You’re gonna need a haven, so why not where you sleep. Sleep! You r gonna need a lot! Good luck.
Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful plans. I find that putting a list on paper (or make notes on my phone) alleviates the mental work of trying to remember all I wished to do. You have already come so far and I hope you’ve given yourself a few gold stars for all you have accomplished. With a young one sometimes just getting a daily shower is a struggle 🙂 Like you have done, I will be spending my spring and summer months beautifying my yard. We spent most of last years’ summer months completing our composite deck so I wasn’t too anxious about getting new landscape materials or patio furniture. Now we will be digging in 😉
Cant wait to see all your projects in 2017. You always inspire me ?
Bl
It looks like it feels so cozy and homey there! What an article!! I’m am SO glad you did this! Thank you for sharing! Now I can live vicariously through you and this article and pretend like I was there! Haha!