Almost exactly one year ago, I posted a list of a few house-related goals for 2015. And then I did a mid year check in back in the summer. And now I’m here to do the final analysis of how successful we were in knocking things off the list….and I have to say, it’s going to look a lot like the mid year check in. It’s been a slow second half of the year, house goal accomplishment-wise. But that’s okay! I do the list more for fun and give us a little focus than anything else; I’m not sure if the fact that I don’t get very upset at all about not accomplishing this stuff means I’m good or bad at doing list of goals.
Finish the master bedroom:
Finish the Basement:
Well, yes. But then the cat came along and UNfinished it by getting locked in here and peeing on the futon, so refinishing it (by buying a sofa) is on the list for 2016.
Big Garage Clean-out/Organization:
SIGH. 2016 is going to mark the third year in a row of putting this on the list. Which is getting so embarrassing that maybe 2016 will be the year we actually get it done! I think Dave will be more motivated to build stuff for me if he has a nicer work area. Also, the kids got new bikes, and we need somewhere to put them where we won’t all trip over them.
Open Shelving in the Kitchen:
Expand/fence in Garden Area:
The final project was less ambitious than we originally intended, but we got it done! I won’t say anything about how successful the actual garden we planted in there was. Some things grew. We actually have a fairly impressive crop of lettuce out there right now, that I don’t remember planting. So that’s something. Accidental fall/winter garden!
Work on the Den:
Every year it seems like there’s one thing on the list that we’re frantically working on in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. The den wins for this year! As I type, Dave is painting the den (Instagram followers have seen the previews). I should probably go help him, in fact. We did buy our still very beloved Karlstad sectional about this time last year, and we’ve made a couple of other small changes over the past few weeks (which I’ll talk about soon). But painting it is probably the biggest project in there (because we’re doing all the trim plus the fireplace, too). Once that’s finally finished, we have a few other projects to do and few decisions still to make, but I’m anticipating a finished den early in 2016 anyway, which makes me very happy indeed. Only one more year of putting the den on the goal list!
So. Overall? Eh, I’m happy with what we’ve done. We plan to be in this house for the long haul, so there’s no rush to get it all finished. There probably should be a rush to finally get around to that stupid garage, though, because someone’s going to hurt him/herself out there if we don’t get rid of some of that crap. But I’ll talk more about what we HAVEN’T done yet when I do the 2016 list…..Monday, I’m thinking.
Happy New Year to everyone! What projects from the past year are you most proud of (and which ones did you put off for yet another year? Or are you more responsible about goal lists than we are?)
whoop whoop i call this a win here, friend! you did great!
Thanks, Cassie! I think my word(s) of the year every year might be, “eh. close enough.” 😉
I think “close enough” could be my words of the year, too.
I call it a win, too. (The basement: finishing things doesn’t mean they STAY finished. That’s how projects work.)
This is the year I broke down and paid someone to paint my bedroom. I had hoped to get it done before I moved in, but the bank that owned it was so dilatory about setting up the closing that I couldn’t. I just couldn’t face painting the ceiling with half the furniture in the middle of the room. So I endured the dark in a dark blue with black stripes (horizontal) gloom. Now that it’s white–semi-gloss white!–I can actually see to read in bed with only one lamp on instead of two, and better than I could with two.
On the down side, it’s been three years that I’ve put off hanging blinds at the kitchen windows (blinds I had when I moved in!) This is fine most of the time, but it means that for a few weeks every year I can’t see the stove for the sun in my eyes, and for a few other weeks I can’t see the sink. So just getting this done would be nice. But it involves using power tools over my head on a ladder, so I keep putting it off.
Every time we move into a new place, I say that THIS is the time we won’t put off getting all the relatively little things done, but it always happens anyway! I was thinking about you and your dark room aversion while we painted our den navy this week :). I think we might give up some DIY cred this year to pay someone to sand down the textured walls in our downstairs half bath….neither of us can stand the thought of dealing with the time + mess of it ourselves!
Of course I had the excuse for the first eighteen months that I was working seven days a week. Of course I would get it all done when I had two days off again….
Sometimes it is time to get out the check book and get something done. This guy wasn’t a professional painter, but he did a better job than I would, and faster, too.
The garage is on our list, too. Again, too. Maybe it’ll happen? 🙂
One must never give up the hope of someday having a clean garage.