This week I tackled my first home project of 2018. (I’ll share the results next week!) Getting it done was a great way to start the year, and it got me thinking about some of the other parts of my home that I want to fix up in 2018. I’m always tweaking little things here and there, like moving around art and plants, but there are some bigger projects I want to take on, too. So I made a list of my home project goals for 2018 to help keep me on track, and give you a preview of the kind of stuff you may see around here this year.

I noticed The Merrythought and Always Rooney posting their home project lists for 2018, and I was inspired to do the same. In February it’ll be four years since we bought our house, and while we’ve gotten the kitchen, living room/dining room, guest room, our bedroom and its walk-in closet to points where we’re happy with them, there are some other parts of the house that still need plenty of work.

1. Paint my back door

I’m so close to being done with this one, and I’m excited to share how it turned out! The new color makes such a big difference in the feeling of this little spot.

 

2. Paint and spruce up the upstairs

Our bedroom and a bathroom make up part of the upstairs of our house, but the other part is a room that we’re not really sure what to do with. It’s the room where I added a fake fireplace to cover up an access door, but other than that we’ve done hardly anything to the room since we bought the house. It’s kind of become a catch-all spot for stuff we’re not quite sure what to do with. Part of the problem is that eventually we want to modify the room, like by removing that big column, so it’s easy to put off smaller improvements because they might not be permanent. But the least I can do is paint, and get rid of some clutter and unused furniture just sitting around up there. Plus I’ve got a cool idea in mind for the stairway railing that I’d really love to try.

3. Organize my basement craft/studio area

This is where I make things and shoot photos, but the larger space itself is a HUGE MESS. It’s so bad that I’d need to clean up before taking “before” photos. I need to purge and majorly organize, but every time I even try to start, I get overwhelmed. Organizing doesn’t come naturally to me, and with so many different types of supplies, I am kind of stuck. I’d much rather be making messes than cleaning them up. If you have any organizing advice for me, I’d love to hear it!

4. Renovate bathroom(s)

This is definitely a stretch goal, because both of our bathrooms need so much work that they’ll be gut jobs that will require hiring plumbers and electricians, and maybe tilers (depending on how ambitious I’m feeling about tiling). I’ve never posted photos of the bathroom on the main floor of our house, because it’s pretty gross, with ugly tile that someone did a really terrible job installing. I’m constantly pinning dream bathroom inspiration for what I’d like to do with it, but bathrooms are expensive to renovate.

The upstairs bathroom isn’t too bad design-wise (that’s it in the photo below), especially after I upgraded the sink and added some storage, but it has a bathtub that we never use because it doesn’t have a showerhead, or walls tiled high enough for showering. I’d LOVE a walk-in shower up there, but first we need to fix the downstairs bathroom.

 

5. Beautify the yard

Our yard has actually come a long way since we moved in, but I’ve hardly posted any of it. Around the same time I was building our cats an outdoor structure this past fall, we started putting in a brick path. And then it got cold and rainy, so we stopped. It’s like, 1/3 done, so we really need to finish it up this spring. I also really want to replace our chain-link back gate with a nice wood version. It’s a project I’ve been meaning to do for the past two years, so I hope that this is the year that I actually get around to it!

So that’s the list I’m starting with. There’s plenty to keep me busy with this stuff alone, but I’m sure I’ll think of more to add to it!