2016

Like clockwork it comes each year.  Christmas passes, our guests go home, the decorations come down and my thoughts turn to the new year.  I think of goals I want to work towards, personally and professionally... and I think a lot of projects I want to complete in and around our home.

In 2014 and 2015, we were walloped by big, large, "not fun" home projects.  They weren't on my list of projects I wanted to accomplish at home, instead, they popped up and caught us by surprise, forcing us to push some of our other projects off to another year.  The past 2 years, we were forced to replace 2 HVAC systems, our roof, the water heater and some wood rot and repair.  The silver linings to those unexpected repairs is that heading into 2016, we know that they are done.

We purchased our home at the height of the real estate market in 2007 and while we are always looking to complete projects that make our home more livable and help us love it a little bit more, we have to constantly watch the bottom line.  As a real estate agent, I find myself thinking about resell value and trying to choose projects that will enhance the value of our home when it comes time to sell... especially since our home value sat stagnant through the housing recession.  

Heading into 2016, I've promised that I won't push to complete any of the big items  on our to do list.  So.... knowing that there are no big projects on the horizon for our home in 2016 and knowing that I won't be able to sit still and not do ANY projects this coming year, I've come up with a list of smaller, more manageable projects that I hope to complete this year.  They are ones that I can complete myself, with minimal help from Mike or skilled professionals (at least that's the plan!)  They are all relatively small projects and somewhat inexpensive projects, but they are all ones that I think will have a big impact on the livability and long term appeal of our home.

I've been sitting on this post for a week... thinking that I can't post it until I take pictures.  But since it's about the before and a way for me to organize and stay accountable to home projects for the year, I'm going ahead and getting it out there.  The fun part will be documenting these changes with before and after pictures as they happen and checking to see the progress I've made as the year progresses.

Home Projects for 2016 

1.  Finish the stair project I started in November of 2015.  I still need to add picture frame molding up front stairs, have the bottom 3 treads fixed and have a runner installed.  This project is going to require a little outside help to finish... I got in a little over my head when I yanked the carpet off the stairs on a whim way back in the fall.

2.  Replace our side entry door (our friends and family entry) with a classic, 9 lite wood door.  I've wanted a more casual entry that allows more light into our foyer for a long, long time.  

3.  Replace the swinging door between the kitchen and dining room with a 15 lite wood french door.  It will still give us privacy when we want it and is a classic, traditional look, but will give us more light and open flow between those two rooms.

4. Replace the door between our side foyer and family room with the same 15 lite wood french door.  We have something similar there now, but it's on its last leg.  

5. Replace the front hall ceiling lights.  My mission is 2016 is to eradicate all builder grade boob lights from my home.  

6.  Replace the upstairs hall ceiling lights.  See number 5.  

7.  Paint the soffit above my kitchen cabinets and add some molding to minimize the soffit and make my 1980's cabinets look like the extend to the ceiling.

8. Do a little touch up work to our breakfast nook bench and add a bench cushion.  At 8 and 10 years old, the boys should be able to handle not ruining a bench cushion... right?  I'm definitely planning to use indoor/outdoor fabric for the cushion and may or may not attempt the sewing portion myself.  

9. Repair and fix my little garden for spring.  The fence took a beating last winter and didn't survive the summer.  It's also been overrun with herbs that come back bigger and better every year, and I think I want to transplant those to incorporate them into some of our other garden beds.

10. Do some much overdue planting in our patio beds this spring.

11.  Mount the family room and master bedroom televisions to the wall and hide the cords and cable equipment.  

12. Gradually declutter and organize my home.  I'm reading my friend Geralin Thomas' new book, Decluttering Your Home and am excited to put some of her advice and practices to use in my own spaces.  When my home feels organized and not a cluttered mess, my life follows suit.  

To be totally honest, putting it all down in print feels a little more overwhelming and a little less "simple", but if I focus on one project every month, I hope that it will be doable.  The decluttering process is a long term project, and a general lifestyle change I hope to make, so that is something that will stretch the whole year through.  

My plan is to blog about each of these changes as they happen.  Truth be told, projects that are easy on your wallet and on your time and make a big impact in your home without making a big impact on day to day life are as important as the big disruptive ones (like those hardwood floors I've been pining for).  

Here's to hoping that 2016 holds great things in store for all of us.... in life and at home.  What are your home plans for the new year?