House Goals for 2011

I already wrote a post about my big three goals for the year, but I am still thinking about goals for other parts of my life.  Yesterday I read Kimba's post about her home goals.  Like her, I was living under a rock and missed the Nester's Home Goals Party.  But that's okay... It's still the beginning of the year, and it's still a good time to set some goals for my home. All of my ideas are dancing around in my head anyway, so I might as well write them down and commit a little!

Since we just moved into this brand-spankin'-new house eight months ago, I still have tons of ideas, vision, wishes, dreams...  And I probably need to be realistic about what I can accomplish in a year.  Almost every single room needs attention in some way, so I'm going to try not to get carried away.  It is soooo hard to scratch some things off the list and know that they will have to wait because of time or money.  But it's good to be realistic.  So, here we go.  I'm going to share my goals, not so much in the order in which they will be tackled, but rather the order in which they flit into my head.

My house goals for 2011:

1.) Finish the coat closet hallway.  

I have no idea what to call this little part of my house.  Back entrance?  Garage entrance?  The builder called it a "mudroom" which made me mad.  This is not a mudroom!!  It's not even a hallway!  I wish I had a mudroom.  I dream of a mudroom.  (I get really frustrated with the way builders label and market things.)  Okay, so even though this is not a mudroom, it is a convenient little place to hang backpacks, purses, lunch boxes, etc.  The photo above is what it looked like eight months ago.  Here is what it looks like today:

(Yes, this is actually today, January 28th, with my Christmas rug.  Just being honest.)

This area still needs:

• something to go on the wall above the hooks
• a nicer tray for the dog food (and maybe something better than a rag to catch the water she slobbers everywhere?)
• a rug that will wash easily (it gets washed a LOT, which is why the filthy Christmas rug is still there)
• some kind of boot tray.  I may need to put this by the front door if it doesn't fit inside the closet or under the hooks without bothering the dog, but we are constantly having to put wet boots and shoes on the rug, which needs to stop.

2.) Work on the family room

This room has come along nicely.  I have wrestled with the curtains some (I will share more about that in an upcoming post), but they are almost done and now I just have a few things I need to do:

• get a mirror or  artwork to go above the sofa
• hang something below the ledge shelf in this picture above
• fill in the vertical space(s) next to our feature photo wall
• change the throw pillows... I'm hoping to add pops of aqua to the room.

I would also love to add a vinyl quote to the bulkhead and get my grandfather's chair recovered, but I don't think I will make those official goals right now.  Trying to pare down.

3.) (Nearly) Finish the play room.

This room already looks waaaay better than when we moved in, but I have a lot of creative vision for this room still.  My very specific goal is that by the middle of March I want to have completed the following:

• paint the walls
• make throw pillows for the couch
• create a place for the kids to showcase their artwork
• hang stuff on the walls
• make new light fixtures
• have Jim re-wire the lights (I'll explain that one later)

We also want to add a television in here at some point, but that isn't on the official goals list for the year because I don't know if finances will allow for it.

4.) Work on the guest bathroom / kids' bathroom.

This one is a little harder to write down because it is like committing Jim to something without his knowledge.  Before we moved in I described my vision of this room to him and he said, "That should be no big deal," but now that we are here, he is changing his tune and balking at getting started.  My goals for this room:

• install beadboard paneling
• paint (I already bought the paint, so as soon as the beadboard is up, I'm ready!)
• change / replace the mirror
• hang hooks for the kids' towels

 

 5.) Give some TLC to my craft room.

I haven't really shown photos of this room yet because it is usually a pit.  (Believe it or not, this looks great!)  I am crazy thankful to have a room where I can keep all of my stuff and close the doors, and I am finally getting it organized.  It just isn't very inviting yet, and I want a place to lounge with my computer.  This year I want to:

• hang things on the walls
• get a cozy chair and reading lamp
• keep it relatively organized by picking up and putting everything away at least once a month

6.) Get curtains for our bedroom.  

Oh, this room needs so much attention.  It's huge.  It's cavernous.  It's empty.  It's neglected.  And it's waiting for some vision and money.  So for now, I'd like to soften it with curtains.  That alone will not be cheap once we pay to cover three windows with fabric or curtains and buy hardware.  Redoing the whole room is going to have to wait until next year, I think.

7. Hang something on this wall in the dining room.

This bare wall annoys me every time I walk into the front door.  You'd think this would be an easy fix, but I cannot figure out what I want to put there!

8. Trim out the chalkboard wall.

I just love my chalkboard wall.  We use it like crazy, but it feels unfinished.  Plus I made it just a tiny bit bigger than I want it, so some white trim will close it in a little and make it feel more complete.

9. Add more lighting to the formal living room.

One of our regrets for this house already is that we didn't wire an overhead light for our formal living room.  We have a switched outlet and the overhead light in the adjacent dining room, so it's not pitch black, but it is definitely too dark.  Jim has complained about it too, so it should probably be addressed.

If you're thinking, "Melissa, furniture and curtains are a bigger issue in this room than lighting," you're probably right, but, again, I'm trying to be realistic.  If we can add one thing to my list because we come into some money (yeah, right), I'll probably focus on curtains for the living room and dining room.

Okay, I'm off to buy paint and some other supplies to start tackling my list!

Did you set any home goals for this year?