The Adored Abode

Every year I make a list of goals and projects we want to complete in our home! I would do this regardless if I had a blog or not. It’s a helpful way to remind yourself of priorities and can be so rewarding to look back at all you accomplished in the year!

Below are the main priorities we have right now. Some are big projects, some are small projects and others are overall goals. As life goes, I know other projects and priorities will sneak in, but this is our starting point.

1 | Simplify and Live With Less

The main goal I have for our home is to focus on living with less and simplifying our home. This feels ever more important as we get ready to welcome a new family member.

I easily get overwhelmed with clutter. For many years our house has been in a constant state of ongoing projects. We would shift furniture and belongings around from room to room as we completed projects. Essentially, it’s felt like our house was some sort of in flux state for the past 6 years. We are still doing projects, and probably will be for years because there are many things we’d love to still do to our home and is anything ever really done?

One thing that has become really clear to me in the past few years is that the more belongings you have the more mental space they take up and the more you have to care for. I am not a minimalist by any means, but I do aim to live more simply.

Having a “home” for every item in our home is one way I am going to help us reach this goal. If everything has a home things are easier to find and clutter doesn’t accumulate as quickly. Parting with items that we no longer use – and being more consistent with the mindset to only have items in our home that are either useful or beautiful (or both)… or of sentimental importance.

I don’t have an exact science as to how I am going to further simplify our home, but hope to share more of my process along the way in case it may be useful to you!

2 | Playroom

Last fall we made the decision to make our downstairs den / office into a playroom. Since Nathan was going back to working in the office almost full-time we didn’t need to dedicate the room to an office anymore, he has a work space in the guest room now which works well!

The playroom is well underway and should be finished in the next few weeks. Leo loves having a playroom and I love having a room on the main floor for all the toys.

3 | Leo’s Room

We moved Leo to his new “big” room in preparation for baby boy’s arrival. This was another project we started at the end of last year. It’s nearly done as well and I can’t wait to share more!

4 | Nursery

Baby boy will need his own room too! His nursery will be the room that was originally supposed to be Leo’s nursery. The bones of the room are done, which gives us a good start. We are only going to swap out the light fixture and add black out shades. We will use the same crib, dresser, rug and curtains, but I plan to bring in other decor accents and artwork to make the room feel different. I originally wanted to add more bead board, rather than just having a bead board accent wall and repaint all of the bead board and trim, but ultimately decided the room is sweet as is and we can use the budget and time in other places.

5 | Main Bedroom

Our room is currently painted a darker blue/green/gray. We love the color, but I’ve been craving something lighter in the room. The plan is for a simple refresh with paint, new bedding and maybe new window treatments. Especially with a baby on the way, I’d love to make our room feel like a retreat.

6 | Upstairs Hallway

The upstairs hallway has been a blank slate for years. The walls need to be repainted as they have been dinged over the years. I would love to add more art, including a family picture gallery wall, and replace the can lights with simple flush mounts. We have a vintage wood storage bench from Nathan’s grandma that needs to be sanded and resealed, which will be perfect for storing a few things in the hall. It won’t be major project, but I’m hoping it has a big impact!

7 | Kitchen

Window & Door in Kitchen

We just signed a contract to get a new window above our kitchen sink and a new patio door!!! Our current sliding patio door is over 40 years old and is so so hard to open because the track is very warped, which is not ideal with 2 dogs and a kid who like to go outside multiple times a day. The new window and door should be installed in March or April! We cannot wait. This will be our largest project in terms of budget, and we think it will be well worth it.

Kitchen Refresh Part II

After the new window and door are in we plan to do another light / bandaid kitchen renovation while we save up for a full kitchen renovation. Our faux concrete counters have seen much better days and the cabinet paint is showing a lot of wear after 6 years. We’d love new wood flooring to match the rest of the house, but most likely a temporary solution (like painting the tile or vinyl floors) will be the best option for now.

8 | Guest Room / Office

Along with the rest of the upstairs room switching around, we are in the process of making a combined guest room and office. Nathan now works mainly at the office so it made sense to combine the guest room with an office space for him. We have all of the furniture we are going to use and the room is already painted (since it is Leo’s old room!). Mainly we want to style the room and get new bedding! This should be an easy project that I can hopefully finalize after baby boy is here.

9 | Backyard Landscaping

Next fall we would like to address our landscaping in the backyard. We have a large mulched area in the back that desperately needs fresh landscaping, ideally something evergreen to give us a big of privacy year round! We also want to add more river rock around our patio. This project will likely be the second largest in terms of budget – buying mature-ish landscaping is pricey!

10 | Patio furniture Refresh

A few years ago we had a new stamped concrete patio poured. After the new patio was installed we just plopped our existing furniture down and called it a day. We would love to get (maybe build?) a new, larger outdoor dining table and get an outdoor sectional for more seating!

I look forward to sharing more about our projects for the year as we go.

Sending love and positivity to you in the new year.