2017 Project Goals

Happy New Year and welcome 2017!

As you can see we have a list of projects ahead of us for 2017. We have already come to terms that these will not all be completed by the end of 2017. We needed to set ourselves up with a list of goals to help keep us on track.

So let’s break it down, here are our goals:

1. Cabinet Hardware- Kitchen/Bathrooms- When we built our home, we did not want the “builder quality” hardware, it was cheap looking and a little expensive. I am really glad that we never added it to our cabinets. This makes it a whole lot easier when we finally decide on what style we like and we will not have to patch up any holes on the cabinets.
2. Back Splash in kitchen- We never really had an issue with the back splash. Sure, I have splashed some spaghetti sauce on the walls here and there, but it usually came off. It wasn’t until Christmas while cooking our Christmas dinner when red wine splashed on our walls. So now we need to come up with something light colored and not too busy for our back splash.
3. Crown Molding in common areas- So this has been on our “to do list” for a while, but it was a real pain in the neck to do in the nursery. You see, our whole house has rounded corners, which makes adding crown molding a little more intricate.
4. Molding Trim around windows- We have 4 more windows left in the house to frame. The crown molding gives the windows such a nice touch, it’s a nice customizable feature to add to any home.
5. Organize Guest Room/Bonus room- Our upstairs is currently a mess right now. Our 5^th bedroom is currently a storage closet with all the baby gear that our daughter has out grown. Not to mention an old mattress, my crafting desk and supplies, and all our childhood toys. Eventually we want to turn that room into our main guest room, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done. We also have a bonus room which is our game room/work out room/playroom. It is in need of some desperate re-organization.
6. Built-in for Bonus Room- About a month ago, my husband and I were upstairs and he said “this dead area would make a great space for a built in.” Of course me and my organizational mind was like “YES!” It was a brilliant idea that he came up with. We actually started this project in late December. I am super excited to share it, right now it is about half way completed, but stay tuned!!
7. Living/Dining room chair rail- We have not decided how we want to do this year, the rounded corners in our home make it a little complicated, but as my Grandmother use to say “Where there is a will there is a way!” We just want to finish off the front of the house and make it a little more formal but cozy. It is a work in progress and it will take a little more research.
8. Fix Carpet bulges- Good old cheap builder quality carpet. For some reason our carpet is stretching out in almost every room. It started in our upstairs, which is where we work out. I totally get that, because that carpet takes a beating, but the rest of the house I just do not get it. So my husband says that we will have to pull the carpet it up, stretch it out flat, cut off the excess and lay it back down. This is one of those pain in the butt projects, very low on our to do list, but eventually will need to be done.
9. Master Bathroom Shower- This has been another ongoing issue since we moved in. We have a framed shower and the builder never caulked the shower right. When our home was under warranty we had them out there twice to recaulk it, the mold that builds up in it is disgusting and the caulking eventually comes right up. So since our home has been out of warranty my husband and I have recaulked it ourselves, twice! Now it is just one of those things that we are going to have to pay someone to do. We think it might be a waste of money to have someone come out and recaulk it so we were thinking of just getting a seamless shower door, that way we do not have to worry about the caulking coming off and hopefully will cut back on the mold.
10. Stencil Master Bathroom accent wall- I started this project in late December. I thought this project was going to take 2-3 days to complete. You have to have a lot of patience for the stencils. It will look great once it’s done, but it turned out to be a little more time consuming.
11. Master Bedroom Shelf wall- We have a wall in our Master bedroom that is just plain. I saw these really neat wood shelves on pinterest that I thought would be a nice added addition. This project isn’t a priority, I think we want to test it out to see if we would be happy with the shelves first.
12. Paint Common areas- Deciding on paint color is extremely challenging. Thankfully my husband and I have the same taste in paint. We are not ones for bright colors, we think in our home it just is too tacky, plus our furniture would not go with it and I do not think my husband wants to take the “new furniture route.” There is a “Home Depot” app that is pretty neat, you can take a picture of your room and then pick paint colors and test it out to see how it would look.
13. Stuffed Animal Zoo- We have way too many stuffed animals. I have all of mine from my childhood, along with all my sisters which I just do not have the heart to get rid of either. My sister and I loved our baby dolls! So does my daughter, it is so cute to see her cling to the dolls that I grew up with. She gives the dolls kisses and will wash them with a burp rag or towel that is around, it’s so adorable. So anyways, we need to find a way to house all these dolls and animals. I think we are going to build this zoo upstairs in either the bonus room or the guest bedroom. We do not want a big one, we are thinking something that would fit into the corner. Building this would eliminate a handful of boxes and shelf space that the animals/dolls currently take up.
14. Relax and take a Disney cruise- Sometime this year, we are going to take our first Disney cruise. We have heard nothing but great things about them, plus we are going to need a little break in between projects!

So there it is, as you can see we have a lot on our plate this year! December was a busy but fun month, we started projects, Mabel met more of the family and we had our first date out since baby. I will try to update more but for now things are a little hectic getting back into the swing of things.

Also I am back to work at 40 hours a week. I have had Fridays off since I came back from maternity leave. The weeks flew before, now I know they are really going to fly by working 5 days week! My boss is awesome and is letting me work at home one day a week. This is so that I am able to still spend time with my little girl (even though I will be in "work mode.") I am a little nervous because I have to prove to him that I can do it. It is definitely going to be a challenge, but I am going to give it my all because I truly appreciate this opportunity.