It’s funny how cyclical life can be sometimes. Every year, I get so excited about the holidays for many reasons, but deep down I think I’m welcoming a break from renovating and DIY-ing. I’ve always made myself stop house projects to enjoy the holidays with family, savor the holiday décor and get out of the house. At the same time, each year around mid-December I start dreaming up the following year’s project list. This year was a little bit different, because the 2024 project list daydreaming started at the beginning of December.
There is so much I want to accomplish this year, but I had to reel myself back a bit and try to make this as realistic as possible. In no particular order, here’s my condensed 2024 project list.
Dining Room Molding
The dining room has seen a lot of change over the past year and we’re almost complete at this point. As I was setting the space for Thanksgiving this past year, I couldn’t help but think about how traditional the space is and how it’s really missing molding below the chair rail.
Molding is on my list for at least two additional projects this year, so I plan on diving into some tutorials and getting familiar with power tools. I’ll likely start my molding journey with the dining room because it’s a smaller amount of molding that will need cut. Stay tuned for more on this space!
Laundry Room
Okay, everyone has this one room and this one is mine. The laundry room is the catch all space. The unsightly room that just can’t seem stay organized no matter how hard I try. I need to start moodboarding color schemes for this space but my initial plans include adding a chair rail and wainscoating to the bottom 2/3 of the space, and then wallpaper on the top 1/3.
I recently laid these floorpops just to make the space a little less of an eyesore when the door is open, and while I’m happy with them, I’m daydreaming about tile for this space. Learning how to tile has been on my list and I’m fantasizing about a classic penny tile with a fun border.
Back Entry Way
Last year, I color drenched the cozy tv room and ever since then, I’ve been questioning my decision on where I stopped the color around the doorway casing. I think I should have gone in a little bit deeper.
Well, wandering minds can’t be helped. I’m officially going to carry the color into this back hallway trim, and then wallpaper the space. We’ll add a new light, paint the ceiling and this existing rug I purchased last year will still be perfect. I’m still a TBD on whether or not I’ll paint the back door the same trim color, or if I’ll attempt to strip it down to it’s natural wood finish.
My Office
Similar to so many, back in 2020 I officially converted an upstairs extra bedroom into an office space for myself. Since then, there’s no going back as I love being able to separate work from my other living spaces. However with the new flooring, I want something a bit more elevated and refined vs the peel and stick banana leaf wallpaper I hung.
I plan to add wallpaper to all four walls, paint the trim / doors / ceiling an actual color, swap out the light fixture and add in a new rug. I’m truly so excited to convert this space and feel more inspired while I’m doing work at home.
Primary Bedroom
Similar to a lot of spaces in my house, the primary bedroom has gotten several band-aides since I bought the house nearly six years ago, however it’s time for a full makeover. I plan on fully color drenching this space, adding in new blackout curtains, updating the bedding, switching out the nightstands and adding a cozy rug. Once I fully moodboard everything out, we’ll see if the pink fringe chandelier will still work for the new space.
Exterior
This has been bugging me for years. At one point in time, it must have been trendy to match your trim color to the color of your brick mortar. I’m itching to update the exterior trim color and am leaning towards a dark charcoal grey.
I’ll be photoshopping this in the coming months and would love to have this completed in the first half of the year. For better or worse, the exterior work is going to cause a domino effect of work, as there’s some wood rot along some of the casing and I’ll likely need new gutters. And if you subscribe to my monthly newsletter, you’re already aware about the drama with the garage door. So I’ll be getting a new one of those as well this year. We may as well landscape while we’re at it, right?!
The Kitchen
Am I saving the best for last? Maybe. The previous owners had partially updated the kitchen by adding granite counter tops and painting the existing cabinets. Since I’ve moved in, I’ve scraped the popcorn ceilings, updated the cooktop, replaced the refrigerator and dishwasher, and added new hardware to the cabinets.
As much as I had hoped that would get us to a good place with this kitchen, we’re just not there. After the new hardwood flooring installation, and all the updates to the surrounding spaces like the cozy tv room, dining room and powder room, the kitchen needs to catch up to the rest of the house.
I’ve updated the little breakfast nook with a new table, some antique chairs and a beautiful antique art-deco light fixture. This tiny space that feels completed is giving me just enough of a tease that I’m finally ready to attack the larger portion of the room.
Since the kitchen is truly the heart of the home, I’m not taking this design lightly. Expect to see more in the coming months as I work through a few final big decisions I’m struggling with. In the short term, expect to see some progress on the back entry way to give me a little momentum as I work up to these bigger areas.
