House Resolutions

I've already confessed to be a lover of lists and resolutions. No surprise that I've got a list of New Year's Resolutions for my house.
I did this last year and found it quite helpful — not just as motivation for me to get things done, but it also helped with budgeting for projects.
This year's list isn't very fancy. Because we want to save money to possibly finish our basement, I am focusing on projects that use items I already have or come with a minimal price tag. I'll do more detailed posts on each project so you can see the before and afters. And I may also be soliciting advice on what to do ...

This bathroom was in the Utah Valley Parade of Homes last spring .. so fresh and fun

1. Makeover the kids' bathroom. Unlike other rooms in my house that I've rearranged and redecorated several times, this upstairs bathroom has received no love. It's not very big and there isn't a lot of wall space due to door placement/gigantic mirror. I'd like to give it some attention this year and spruce it up on a budget. Challenge: Keeping all of the same fixtures but making it look different.

via pinterest via house and home

2. Finish my laundry room makeover. I recently painted stripes in my laundry closet (calling it a room is definitely a misnomer) and LOVE it! It was such a depressing little space before and now it's got some life. But it still needs a little finessing before I can call it good. Challenge: Pack a small space with lots of functional style on a shoestring.

dreamy bedroom by Belmont Design Group

3. Finish decorating the master bedroom. This is one of the aforementioned rooms that I've never quite finished but changed plenty of times. The DIY headboard I made is on its third upholstery job! Don't worry, I've done it all on the cheap. Challenge: Come up with inexpensive accessories, pillows and artwork to tie together the basics I already have.

Gallery wall from Emily A. Clark

4. Figure out the TV wall. This one has me stumped. We have a wall-mounted TV and I want to think of a way to decorate around it. I've got a gallery wall on the stairs near to the TV, so that option is probably out. Challenge: Decorating around our TV.

If you have any ideas or inspiration images to share, send them my way!

2012 Resolutions

As I wrote yesterday, I am a big fan of goals. I like to make lots of goals, some big, some small. I also write things down on paper after I've done them just so I can cross them out. Tell me I'm not alone. (And, do you cross things out or check them off? I've found people are firmly in one camp or the other).

In the spirit of tip No. 4, a.k.a. accountability, here are three of my goals for the year:

1. Go to bed earlier! Wake up earlier! Exclamation marks because this will be a big deal if I can make the switch. I am a night owl at heart, and it is much easier for me to stay up than to wake up. However, I've discovered that I can wake up early if needs be — like if I am subbing a 5:30 a.m. Spinning class at the gym. And there have been a few times in my life when I consistently woke up early and it was really great. The main reason I want to go to bed earlier is so that I exercise and get in some work before the kids get up. I am going to go to bed no later than 10:30 p.m. and wake up at 6:30 a.m. Monday to Friday. (p.s. The seed for this goal was planted when I read The Happiness Project, an excellent book if you haven't already read it.)

2. Start a blog. Tah-dah! Now I have to keep it up. That's where the measurable tip comes in handy. I am going to post at least three times a week for the first six months and then assess. To help myself out, I made a huge list of things I want to post about that should get me through until then. 

3. Save money to finish our basement. My husband and I have gone back and forth on this topic for the entire time (five years) we've lived in our townhouse. Because this isn't our forever house, and because we bought when the real estate market was high, we always go back and forth on whether or not we want to pay the money to finish the basement. This year we are going to save as much as we can for the project and once we have it in cash we will decide if we are really going to do it or use the money to pay down our mortgage. For this goal, we have an overall amount we want to save and have broken in down in to a projected monthly figure.

So, there is a look at a few of my goals for the year. Anyone have any similar goals? Or similar list-crossing-off tendancies?