Goal Keeping

Despite rarely ever completing all my goals for the year, I really enjoy taking a look back & seeing what all I accomplished & what still needs improvement. I only shared four goals on the blog & was able to cross all but one off the list. Let's take a look at my goals for last year...

The first item on my list of goals was to update the morning room. As my style transitioned, this room was stuck in it's dark & dreary past. I finished it up in November as part of the fall One Room Challenge. You can see the reveal here as well as links to all the projects.

One of the first projects I started to tackle in 2015 was my son's bedroom makeover. His room slowly evolved from a small dark bedroom to a bright spacious room with the help of new paint & space saving furnishings. You can check out the reveal here.

My daughter's room was also in need of a makeover this year, as she had grown out of the sweet, princess room from her preschool years. Her room now is much more cheerful & suited to her fun-loving personality. You can see the reveal post here.

The one item that we did not finish (or really even start) was the master bedroom makeover, which leads me into my goals for 2016! 

When we had our house built over six years ago, I didn't think we would still have rooms & projects that were unfinished. This is the year I hope to start improving on some much needed areas in our home. I don't know why, but I really want it to be finished enough that if we had to suddenly move, the house would be ready to list. (Moving is not at all in the plans at this point though! I really love our home & hope to stay here for a while longer!)

1. Master Bathroom

That being said, the first room I would like to tackle in 2016 is the master bathroom. I'm sure you can't tell from the pictures, but this room is disgusting! I would love to replace the floor & tile, but that won't be in the budget for years, so I plan on focusing on simple changes to improve this room. I hope to paint the walls & cabinets, add shelving above the toilet, replace some of the trim, & add new curtains & accessories.

2. Master Bedroom

Once the master bathroom is spruced up, I plan on moving into the master bedroom. This is another room that hasn't been touched since we moved in. Well, we did purchase a new headboard & chairs last year, when I thought I might actually get around to decorating this room, but then I lost focus! This year I hope to paint the walls, replace the dresser, nightstands, bedding, & mirror, & add art & accessories. 

I hope the main focus for us this year can be the back yard. Once we realized how sloped our backyard was (after building) we planned on building a two-tiered retaining wall to span the width of the backyard. While that won't happen this summer, getting these other exterior spaces in shape will help us prepare for those future projects.

3. Fire Pit/ Picnic Area

Two years ago we bought supplies to build a retaining wall to the right of the fire pit area. The wood is still sitting in our basement waiting to be used. This is the year, I plan on getting that out of the basement. Then, we'll add a picnic table & the hammock we got my husband for Father's Day (two years ago).

Due to a drainage issue, the fire pit stairs & patio are a mess & will need to be worked on. I also want to add a small deck behind the Adirondack chairs, to add space for more chairs & stain the fire wood storage box.

4. Deck

We need to replace several boards on the deck & it is in need of a good staining. Our umbrella & table will hopefully get replaced this year too.

5. Play Space 

The final outdoor area that needs some help is the kids play area. We really need a sandbox cover, toy storage, & I am hoping to add some additional play areas for the kids.

 

So, that's what I would really like to happen on the home front this year. We'll see how far we get!

A Few of My Favorite Posts

On Wednesday, I shared the most popular posts from 2015, & while they were nice, a few of my favorites slid by without much mention. Here are a few of my personal favorites that didn't quite win the popularity contest this year.

Tween Boy's Bedroom Reveal

My son's room was actually the first makeover I worked on in 2015, but I took a break from it when the One Room Challenge popped up & I decided to make over my daughter's room. I really love the way his room turned out & I think it is a great representation of him. Click on over to see how I gave the room personality & worked in some of Zeke's most treasured possessions.

Curtains, Pillows, & the Letter Z

During Zeke's bedroom makeover, my husband & I worked together to build this Z marquee letter. I really love how it turned out & especially the glow it gives his room at night. Zeke's room only has one window, so adding this unit really brightens up his space.

How to Trim an Arched Window

We have slowly been trimming out all the windows in our home. The last room on the first floor that needed trim had us stumped. We couldn't figure out how to add moulding around the arched window. Amazingly enough the Internet did not have an answer for us, other than basically hiring it out. Fortunately, we figured it out & shared the easy solution with you in the post.

Summer Learning Challenge

My children are proof that keeping up your studies over summer break can prevent the "summer slide" that occurs at the start of each new school year. After participating in the school's math & reading challenge for several years, we created our own last summer, when the school decided to drop the program. I posted about it at the beginning of the summer & am happy to announce that the challenge was successful! The weekend before school started, they were able to open up that sparkly envelope for a fun weekend away. The system was easy to maintain & the mystery prize was motivating for the kids.

Making Special Memories on the Last Day of School

One of the all-time, most popular posts on my blog was written about how we celebrate the last day of school. (You can see that post here.) I find it amazing that without publicizing it at all, it is one of the top three posts I have ever written. Anyway, since that time, we have made some changes to our last day of school fun (we have to keep our kids on their toes!) & I shared about them in the above post. 

If you missed any of these posts, I hope you'll check them out & find some inspiration from them!

Favorite Posts from 2015

Now that 2016 is in full swing, it's time to take a look back & see what posts were most enjoyed in 2015. Without further adieu...

10. Home Tour: The Study

I started out the year with an updated home tour & the study was one of the most liked rooms on the tour. It has been a little over two years since I made this room over & I still love it just as much as I did when I first finished it. It is such a cheerful, happy spot to work!

9. Girl's Bedroom Makeover: The Furnishings

The One Room Challenge is serious motivation for me to get moving on projects, so for the spring challenge, I made over my daughter's room. Many of the posts for her room were among the most popular (as you will see) including one on the inexpensive furnishings I purchased for her room.

8. Girl's Bedroom Makeover: Pictures & Plans

The plans for Eliana's room topped the list of popular posts at number eight. If you want to see how bad her previously cute room had become, you can click on the link!

7. Morning Room Challenge: Painting the Secretary

I painted this oak secretary desk as part of the fall One Room Challenge. I really love the way it looks & am so happy I was able to style it using things I had around the house & a little creativity!

6. Girl's Bedroom Makeover: Free Art

I created a gallery wall of free art for my daughter's bedroom makeover. I used some rocks & shells from her collection, as well as some awesome free printable art I found online. Don't you just love it when talented people share their art for free???

5. Girl's Bedroom Makeover: Paint, Paint, Paint

This is a pretty boring picture, but one of the top five posts from my blog this year (um...does that say something about me?). I loved the color I painted the family room so much that I used it in my daughter's room as well!

4. Morning Room Challenge: The Big Reveal

This room went from drab to fab in the fall & now works with the rest of our main floor. I do see a few changes coming to it in the near future, so I will update pictures when that happens.

3. Home Tour: The Bathrooms

Okay, so this feels like cheating again! For the past three years, this bathroom has made my popular posts. I still really love it, so I don't mind, but I haven't done a thing but take pictures of it since I decorated it in 2013.

2. Girl's Bedroom Makeover: Third Time's a Charm!

It took me three tries to find the perfect shade of pink curtains for my daughter's room & you'll never guess how I achieved it. Well, unless you read the original post!

1. Girl's Bedroom Makeover: The Reveal

Three rooms in our home received makeovers this year, but my daughter's room was the reader favorite. It has already had some slight changes, so it might be time for more pictures. I will just need motivation to iron that duvet cover, so don't plan on it until at least 2017!

So, there you have it! What are your favorites from the list? I would love to hear! I will be back in a few days to share some of my favorite posts from this year. 

From the Back to the Future

I love to make lists.  The satisfaction that comes from crossing things off, makes me weirdly giddy!  That’s why I love this time of year so much.  There is so much promise & possibility in the future.  Like, for instance, maybe after being on the list for three years, I will finally figure out what to do with the morning room!  Wishful thinking!

The problem I always run into is that I tend to make loftier goals than I can actually fulfill.  Last year I was a little more realistic & accomplished most of my list (4 out of 7).  Here’s what we did:

After several years, I finally finished the last of the living room projects & revealed it on the blog.



I mentioned in last year’s goals that I wanted to make some tweaks to the family room.  By “tweaks” I meant change every single thing about it!



I finally painted the front door black & added some new lighting to the front of the house in this update.



We also added a wall of storage in the basement to make it a safer space for our kids to play. 



Unfortunately, time & money did not permit us to beautify the backyard, make over the morning room, or re-decorate the kids’ bedrooms.

This year, I want to make over four spaces in our home.  Here they are in no particular order:

1. Update the morning room to better reflect the style of the main floor.



I am hoping to update this space & give it a more modern-traditional glam (mod-trad-glam) look.  I plan on keeping the table, light fixture, & new secretary (not pictured) & replacing the chairs, buffet, & curtains.  I would love to trim out the windows, but the arched window will add a challenge to the project, so I’m not sure if that will happen.  New accessories & possibly a rug will give the room the extra personality it so desperately needs!

2. Make over my son’s room



This was one of the first rooms I revealed on the blog, & it is time for a change.  This small room has only one window & combined with the orange walls, it is a pretty dark space.  I hope to lighten up the space with a lighter, neutral color.  We will replace the twin sized bed with a full one, add more storage through shelves & double nightstands, & replace the director’s chair & desk.  New bedding, curtains, & accessories will complete the look.

3. Make over my daughter’s room



Oh boy!  This room has definitely gone downhill!  It all started when we switched out the twin-sized bed with the one from our old guest room (now the nursery).  Since then, almost 3 years, she has been using a twin sized comforter on a full sized bed!  The addition of a gerbil & a 1980’s Barbie house haven’t helped the aesthetics any!  My plan is to keep the bed (we have had a brass bed in storage for 1 1/2 years), dresser, & light fixture & replace pretty much everything else.  More storage will be added in the form of a desk, shelving, & a rast dresser.  I will paint the walls a neutral color, & add new bedding, curtains, accessories, & chair. 

4. Decorate the master bedroom



I can happily say, three pieces of furniture in the above picture have left the house!  Other than mounting a TV on the wall, no progress has been made on this room since we moved in 5+ years ago.  If I’m honest, changes probably won’t be happening in 2015 either, but I would love to see color on the walls, new bedding, & updated furniture & accessories. 

It’s not likely to happen (history tends to repeat itself) but if I could accomplish these four things this year, we could finally start saving for all the big changes we want to make: hardwood floors, solid surface countertops, converting our laundry room into a mudroom, finishing our basement, & adding tiered retaining walls in our sloped backyard.  I hope that by creating spaces that are neutral & classic (with modern touches) we can live with our makeovers for a little longer & spend more of our time & money on more expensive projects that will add value to our home.

What are your plans for the new year?

My Favorites from 2014

I mentioned on Monday that I was planning on sharing some of my favorite posts from this past year.  Obviously, many of my very favorites were featured in Monday’s post & since I don’t want to be redundant, I am sharing some of my favorites that didn't quite make the cut.

Here they are in chronological order:

1. Defining My Style



In this post, I explained how multiple decorating mistakes made me finally figure out my style to help me create better spaces in the future.

2. Our New Danbury Sofas



These sofas were a lesson in patience for me.  First, because I had to live with a style of couches I didn't like for a while before being able to purchase new ones.  Second, because they took more than three months to arrive, with a roller coaster of ups & downs!  It was a happy day in our house when both of these sofas arrived safely last January.

3. A New Look for the Nook



Despite being an impossible spot to take a picture, I really love the way this nook makeover turned out.  The gold frames on our gallery wall were constantly crooked (or being taken off the wall by a toddler) so I decided to make my create my own artwork & frame it in Plexiglas.  It’s such a happy space to walk passed.

4. The View From Here



Right now my house is a hot mess!  The endless amounts of laundry I have been working on are taking up most of the family room, & the kitchen floor is a mess of cracker crumbs & art supplies.  Having a few spots of “pretty” helps me see past the imperfections & enjoy the home we are creating as a family.

5. Reupholstering Chairs



I am still shocked at how “easy” it was to reupholster these chairs!  Thank goodness my husband helped me this time around.  If only my toddler wouldn't have taken a purple marker to the back of one!  Oh well, at least it’s only the back, that faces the wall!

I hope to be a little more productive in 2015.  I’ll be back to share my home goals on Tuesday!

The Best of 2014

It's always fun to look back over the past year & see which posts & projects were hits.  Here are the reader favorites from 2014:

10.  More Progress in the Family Room

It's no surprise to me that most of my popular posts were a result of my family room makeover.  This post featured a hodge podge of projects from painting the walls, to refinishing furniture, & creating free artwork!

9.  Updated Pictures of our Gray & Coral Kids' Bathroom

So, having this post on the list sort of feels like cheating!  I did nothing to this bathroom, except take slightly better photos & put them in a new post.  Santa brought me a fancy, new camera this year, so hopefully the blog pictures will improve!

8. Styling a Round Table



When I was in the process of making over our living room, I had a heck of a time figuring out how to style our round accent table.  Apparently, many of you struggle with that too, since it made this list!  I loved this table so much that I actually bought one like it for my family room (you can see it in the first photo).

7. DIY Coffee Table

When we purchased two full-sized couches, our small rectangular coffee table no longer worked with the furniture configuration.  My husband & I built this much larger, prettier table in just a few hours, for about $50.

6. Mirrored Console Cabinet

This is one of my favorite DIYs to date!  Not only is it a great place to stash throw blankets & toys, it is pleasant to look at as well!  Surprisingly, the glass is still in tact (knock on wood) & I haven't had to clean fingerprints off the glass once!

5. Perking Up the Powder Room

I am so glad I made the decision to paint the floating shelves in our powder room.  I really like how the space is brighter & the semi-gloss paint makes wiping globs of toothpaste on the shelves much easier.

4. Tweaking the Entertainment Center

This is another project I am so proud of!  We completely made over our existing entertainment center by separating the pieces, adding doors to the bookshelves, & painting the middle section black.  Okay, so it wasn't as simple as I just made it sound, but it was a relatively inexpensive project, with big impact, & lots of storage.  Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to show off the insides of the cabinets!

3. Basement Storage Shelves

I honestly cannot believe these storage shelves came in at number three.  They are not very pretty to look at, but they pack a lot of punch in the storage department.

2. Revealing the Living Room

I'm pretty sure I started this living room makeover in 2011, & am happy to say that three years later, I finally finished it!  I am so happy I took it slow & I absolutely love the outcome.

1. Family Room Reveal

With half of my popular posts coming from our family room makeover, it should come as no surprise that the most popular post of the year was the big family room reveal.  I love spending time with my family in this room & it's relieving to know that a clutter free room is only a few minutes away, with all the closed storage we now have!

Seeing all these projects makes me feel like I accomplished quite a bit around the house this year!  What was your favorite post?  I'll be sharing some of my favorites that didn't make the list on Wednesday.

The Best of 2013

Another year has flown by, & it’s time to wrap up 2013 on the ol’ blog!  At first thought, it didn't seem that I had done many projects or much blogging for the year,  (It’s hard to get things done with a curious toddler roaming the house!) but after a closer look, I realized I had accomplished a few things!  I believe the best part of my blogging about home decor journey is that I think I finally figured out my style & how to achieve it in my home!  (I’ll discuss that in a future post…)

Anyway, here are the top ten posts from 2013, in order of most popular:



The most popular post of the year was, the study makeover I did in the summer.  After getting our style all wrong on the first go round, I decided to try again & am still loving the results!



In May, I showed you some teacher gifts we created for Teacher Appreciation Week.  Apparently, a lot of readers appreciate teachers too, since these were such a hit!  (In case you were wondering, it’s May 5-9th this year!)



This past spring, I decided to finally make the kitchen more functional.  The DIY pull-out trash bin we created was the most popular post from that series.



The kitchen series ended with a complete picture of our kitchen organization.  It included links to all of the projects, which is probably why it was so popular!



When I first began making over our study, I had my husband dismantle our old “L” shape desk & create a free standing desk with the spare parts.  The X base desk he created gained a lot of attention.  I still love that we were able to give it a new life that better fit our design style.



I really wish I could get a better picture of the bathroom I made over for the One Room Challenge.  The neutral gray combined with the pops of color from the art & accessories make this space such a happy place for the kiddos to bathe.  If you’ll remember, it was inspired by the book Harry the Dirty Dog.  I was really hoping they would remember the lesson Harry learned in the book & actually want to shower.  So far, it hasn't worked!



At the beginning of the year, I decided to re-style our mantel.  The bright colors give it a much more cheerful look than before.



As part of our never-ending living room project, I re-upholstered a set of chairs I had.  After making several mistakes, I shared some tips on chair re-upholstery.



The cheap botanical art I created for the living room was also a hit on the web.  If these botanical prints aren't your thing, I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to free or cheap art.



Finally, coming in at number ten, was this baking birthday gift I created for one of my daughter’s friends.  It included a few girly kitchen gadgets, as well as a sugar cookie mix & gel icing.

Well, there you have it… The best of 2013.  I look forward to many more projects in 2014!  I’ll be sharing my project goals for the year on Friday. 

Have a great one!

I'll be sharing here:

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