We may be a week into January, but this feels like my New Year’s Day. We traveled to visit family over the last week in December, and then had a nasty little sickness work its way through our family last week, so we didn’t exactly have that Fresh New Year Energy going for us. Then last night, I did a huge cleaning of our main floor and got us reset for the week. All my family members are getting back to feeling better, we’re back in school, and it feels like now we are ready for 2024 to begin.
Every year I like to set some goals for our house projects. Today I wanted to recap how I did on my 2023 goals and map out my hopes for this year. I always hold these plans a little loosely, as I know a lot can change over the course of a year. Looking at last year’s list, I completed some goals, partially finished others, and also did a few things I wasn’t planning for at all. I’m excited to see what this year has in store! First, let’s look at how the projects of 2023:
I kicked off the year with free-handing a mountain mural in my kids’ shared bedroom. The other three walls are a white and blue color block, so this was a fun addition and a nice nod to Justin and my shared history of living out East among the mountains. It’s colorful and playful and the kids loved it!
As LJ became more and more interested, I was in desperate need of storage. I couldn’t find a ready-made solution that I liked, so Justin and I decided to DIY a Lego table from scratch. This project was able to be completed in a weekend and I am so glad that we made a nice, solid top for when the table is not in use. It’s perfect for keeping baby hands away from the Lego stash and I love that it doubles as a regular table for kids when we have company over!
Justin and I scored this midcentury dresser off Facebook marketplace approximately 8 years ago (for $30!!) At the time, I hadn’t done much DIY and the dresser was a bit scratched so I thought the easiest thing to do was just paint it. We painted it a soft neutral blue and put it in the nursery for LJ and he’s been using it ever since. Once I painted the mountain mural, the painted dresser placed in front of it just felt like too much . . . paint. I needed more natural tones on the wall! I decided to strip off the paint, sand it down, and re-stain it to its original look. I also used rub n buff to make the legs appear metal to match the drawer pulls, which are original. I LOVE the end result!
My goal this year was to finish the living room phase one, and while I didn’t get totally finished, I did make progress! The living room has been by far the slowest renovation I’ve ever done. It started with painting the walls and the ceiling last year. We also swapped out the old ceiling fan for a large light fixture. Then this year we hired an electrician to add sconces – we went from zero permanent light fixtures in the room to three and it has made such a difference! I also added a large framed print and freshened up the pillows this year. Then just a few weeks ago, we hired painters to paint the foyer and they also painted the windows black. We’re content with this *very* slow and steady approach to the room and are happy with the progress this year.
My goal was to update the patio – we didn’t end up making any changes to the space itself but I did decide to give our furniture set a little glow up. We’ve had our patio set for several years and it was looking pretty rough, so I spent some time this summer refreshing it with teak oil. I’ve never done anything like this before so it took a bit of trial and error to figure out a good process but I’m really happy with how it turned out!
LJ started kindergarten this year and requested a Sonic backpack. I’m all about kids having some autonomy and choosing what they like, but for me a backpack is an investment piece. I do not plan to buy a new one each year and I knew his interest in Sonic would fade. We compromised with an iron-on Sonic patch on his backpack and were both super happy with the result! And whenever he’s done with Sonic, we can just remove the patch and put something else on 🙂 Win win!
When we got new carpet in the kids room last year, we had to remove the existing closet shelves because the shelves were installed underneath the carpet. We made things work with a couple rods and shelves and tubs, but it wasn’t an ideal or efficient storage setup. This year we used The Container Store to maximize storage in the space and it has been SO great to have tons of accessible storage again. I decided to paint the walls dark to match the dark colored rods and I love the monochromatic look it created. The closet is also set up in a way that the kids can easily get what they need which has been so helpful.
Guest Room Stencil Wall
After years of having the guest room partially stenciled, I finally finished the faux wallpaper stencil this year! It took many hours, and I worked on different walls at different times, but it was such great feeling to finally finish and having a fully “wallpapered” guest room. I haven’t made a post with the finished process yet because I still want to repaint the all the trim, but just having the walls done was such a good step.
Replace the Basement Carpet
This one felt SO good to finally take care of. It took me several weeks and many many carpet samples, but I finally chose a carpet from a local flooring company and they installed it late this summer. It’s soft and cozy and makes the space feel so fresh and nice! In an effort to keep it nice longer, I added a rug under the dining table to catch any food spills.
This project was a spur-of-the-moment, incredibly last minute DIY that I did on the morning of LJ’s 6th birthday party. We didn’t lean strongly into a theme but he wanted a monster truck cake and the night before the party, as I was picking up a few more party supplies, I saw a fun monster truck pinata. I was immediately inspired to make a dupe and LJ was thrilled with it! I definitely think I’ll do this again for future birthdays.
Foyer Painted . . . FINALLY!
After two and a half years of staring at a half-painted foyer, I finally hired painters to come and finish the job! Of course, I was kicking myself for not doing it sooner. The space seems so much brighter and bigger now (unfortunately, the only photo I had was very dim because it was an overcast day, but just trust me, in person, it’s lighter and brighter!) They also painted the upstairs hallway and the trim work and doors upstairs so the space really feels so much more cohesive with the rest of the home now.
Better Garage Storage
Back in May, I talked about plans for updating our garage. I shared some of the progress on Instagram, but this was all happening as I began to taper off sharing on Instagram over the summer. Life got busy – we had trips planned and a lot of other things happening so we never finished the garage and I never even shared what we were able to accomplish. Oops! The storage we did create around the freezer has been so functional for us and I’m so glad we at least finished that part in 2023.
Whew! Looking at that list, I’m proud of all I was able to accomplish this year, even if it wasn’t quite everything I planned to do. Looking ahead at this year, I’m trying to keep things attainable with a mix of bigger and smaller projects. Life isn’t slowing down anytime soon, and I want to enjoy our family life as much as I can, so we’ll see what all I’m able to get to with our house this year. Here’s what I’m hoping for:
2024 Home Project Goals
Window Trim in the Living Room
The painters who did the foyer also painted all the living room windows, so really the big thing left is to replace the trim to match the rest of the windows in the house and I’d like to tackle that this year. Eventually, I also want to get new flooring and possibly add a small fireplace insert. I’m also kicking around the idea of planking the ceiling! And we need to get a drywall company out here to take a look at a few issues with the walls. So suffice to say, the living room won’t be finished this year, but we’ll keep moving the needle a bit 🙂
Create a Workout Room
This is a goal that got bumped from my list last year. We want to convert this little room in between the garage and basement – we call it the utility room but it’s really just storage – into a workout space. Last year we did clear out a significant amount of the stuff stored inside, but we need to keep chipping away at it this year. Once it’s cleared out, I want to paint, swap out the lighting, add some mirrors, and move in our stationary bike, weights, mats, etc so we have a dedicated space to workout.
Finish Garage Storage
While we were able to create some functional storage in our garage last year, this spring my goal is to finish our plans to make it a fully functional space for our family’s needs!
Updates in Entryway + Hall
Now that the foyer and upstairs hallway are painted, I am inspired to make a few other small updates to the space. The chandelier in the foyer is very dated and I’ve never been a fan, so I’m looking forward to swapping it out for something else. I also want to add artwork and family photos to the hallway walls upstairs, and we need to swap out the can lights and fire alarm.
Convert Dining Room to Art Space
My kids love art. They love drawing and painting and play doh and stickers and modeling clay and color by numbers and really anything creative and crafty. Because of this, we have quickly outgrown the small art station in the kitchen and all their projects have spilled over into the dining room. Since we rarely use the dining room and prefer to eat our meals in the kitchen, I’m going to just embrace this stage of life and convert the dining room into their art space, complete with storage and a place to hang all their creations. I already started this just a bit over Christmas but I’m excited to make this space into something they love and use every day!
Leveling Up the Basement
The basement has had so much progress over the years, but there are just a few smaller projects I want to finish this year. Now that the guest room stencil is done, I want to repaint the trim to match and possibly repaint the guest bathroom, depending on how it flows together. I also need to address the painted tile (spoiler alert: it hasn’t held up as well as I had hoped) and create better storage for all our outdoor things in the entryway. I would love to also paint the windows and swap out the baseboards for the chunkier version we’re using throughout the house, but I’m not sure if that will happen this year or not. We’ll see!
As for personal goals this year, I have two. I want to walk “24 in 24” (24 minutes a day, every day) because we have a big trip planned for summer that will involve a lot of walking, and for our family, we are trying the “1000 hours outside” challenge where we, you guessed it, spend 1000 hours outside in one year. Movement and fresh air are the big goals for us this year.
Bring on 2024!
simplify the chaos 