Every New Year Gives You A Good Place To Start Over

Are y’all in the habit of writing 2020 yet?

I’m doing okay so far but my typical pattern is that I do okay through most of January while it’s fresh in my mind, and around about February or so, when it starts to become “old news” I randomly begin writing the previous years date absent-mindedly! 🤨

I’m sure most of you have your New Years resolutions well in hand or your word for the year chosen long ago. Choosing a word for the year seems to be extra popular these days, but at the risk of having my house egged, I’m going to admit that I really don’t do either of those things! 😱

I’m a list maker.

Lists make me feel productive.

Lists make me feel accomplished.

Lists make me feel organized.

Lists keep me focused and on task.

Lists give me an excuse to buy pretty notebooks to write lists in or pretty paper with magnets for my fridge. 😁

I write grocery lists and wish lists and chore lists and Christmas card lists and project lists and to-do lists and lists of all the lists I can make 🤣

It stands to reason that at the beginning of a New Year, I would share a list with you!

Do you recall when Emily (Le Cultivateur) and I came up with a list of our 5 most nagging unfinished projects and shared them with y’all? Then we shared our progress as we completed pretty much all of them! Admittedly I still have a little bit left on my laundry nook project but I have done quite a bit already, thanks to that list.

Well it worked so well at getting us to finish some things we were putting off, that we decided we would make another list of 5 projects to work on and, once again, we will share our progress with you. Sound like a plan?

Here we go!

The List (drumroll)

#1 – Master Bedroom

When I got the house ready to sell last year, I did “finish” the Master Bedroom. That is, I made it presentable to show to potential buyers by spending very little money on a few items like some curtain panels to cozy up the space. Since they traditionally stay with a house when you sell, I made choices based on price and appeal to buyers, not particularly my personal style. Now that we are still in this home, I want to finish the Master with some touches of decor and things like curtains, rugs, new flooring and a chandelier to make it fit my style.

Perhaps a bed frame might be added to my list too? 😄

#2 – Kids Bathroom

When I think about designing this bathroom for the kids, it seems like forever ago! In reality it was close to 6 years ago now and that is forever for something to stay virtually the same in my home!!!

The rug has changed and occasionally some towels but really nothing else since I first painted it and put all the owl things in there.

It’s a very small bathroom off the upstairs hallway. What do I plan to do in here? You’ll just have to wait and see! There may or may not end up being some Shiplap involved….😉

#3 – Kitchen

When I first moved into this house, I refinished all the kitchen cabinets from their original honey oak, to this dark red/brown stain. When I ended up getting a good deal for flooring for most of the main floor that just happened to be the same color, I pretty much knew it was a matter of time before I was going to need to change something about the cabinets so they didn’t blend right into the flooring. My thought then was more along the lines of just a facade on the front side of the peninsula, however.

Then my kitchen started to renovate itself and next thing I knew, I was the owner of some dark granite countertops!

It wasn’t Houston that had a problem at this point. It was me!

The problem is well on its way to being solved by lightening up the cabinets but I still have lots of plans in my head for this kitchen and I need to finish it. Y’all wanna come along?

#4 – Lighting

This house was finished using as inexpensive finishing materials as could be found. Nothing was changed or updated until I arrived on the scene. That being said ALL lighting in the entire house is either pot lights, standard bathroom bar lights, or (as they are commonly referred to) boob lights! Yup! Lucky me!

Case in point! My entire kitchen has nothing but pot lights.

Now how is that for a stunning living room ceiling fixture? If you squint just right you can probably see the pot light over the fireplace feature wall too! It beautifully highlights the ceiling vent when it’s on. 😆

Let’s not forget the pièce de résistance in the Master Bedroom! It really sets the tone for the whole room, wouldn’t you agree?

I have already put a darling little chandelier in my youngest daughters room, a lovely hanging fixture in the boys room, a chandelier in the dining room and replaced the original light in the Powder Room with something a little cuter while I search for the perfect chandelier for in there.

This project entails replacing a lot more of the light fixtures however, particularly in the more highly visible spaces first. I already have each fixture pictured in my mind.

And finally,

#5 – Outdoor Space

Now this one is a bit of a mystery for now. I have several outdoor spaces that really need some attention. One is my front patio that needs attention for the stained concrete floor. Another is a space behind my house, just off the sliding glass doors by my kitchen. I’ve planned to put in a patio area for years now and have never gotten to it. For now it’s just grass that has given way to a lot of dirt and that gets tracked in the house daily by the dogs and the kids since the glass doors are the only way into the back side of the house.

Which one will I choose? What will I do with the space? Will I choose both or neither? You’ll have to wait and see! 😉

Other Plans:

What else can you look forward to on the blog this year?

I’m glad you asked!

Emily and I will continue our monthly Thrift Store Challenge where we find an item(s) from a Thrift Store, garage sale, flea market, or by the side of the road and show how we transform it for use in our homes. We will continue to be joined by random other bloggers on this challenge.

Emily and I will continue our weekly French Vintage Friday’s where we share something that’s a little vintage, a little French, or a little of both.

Now I can’t wait to pop over and see Emily’s list. Wanna come with me?

Emily’s Blog Post