I know April is quickly coming to a close and we’re well into the second quarter of the year, so why not set a few house project goals for 2026?! I have yet to do it, partly because I felt like 2025 was a dumpster fire for projects, goals, and blogging (but boy did I tackle some personal development). But 2026 feels like a different year, focused on protecting our peace at home at all costs.
Last year was really tough. I set ALOT of big goals that weren’t realistic due to time and budget constraints. Plus, almost all the goals were home-renovation-related. I’ve been shifting the blog a bit more towards all things home and garden. The goal is to be like Martha Stewart Living minus the cooking and the beauty. Believe me…no one needs me giving beauty advice (I have precisely five makeup products, three of which I know how to use), and my creativity comes to a full stop with cooking and baking. I can follow a recipe, but that’s about it. I save my creativity to unleash on crafting and home decor projects.
So this year, I’m trying to reel back the goals to what is realistic and also add in some other home improvement goals in the decluttering and organizing category. I’ve also been ruminating on this room shift scenario, which the whole family is supportive of, so I think it’s time to share. Let’s get to it.
Goal #1: Finish The Greenhouse
We are well on our way to finishing the greenhouse. I vowed not to use it this garden season until it’s usable. Every day that I lug hundreds of plants inside and outside, I get just a little bit more motivated to work on it. Colby has been repairing the windows, finishing the siding, and attempting to critter-proof the bottom of the structure for the last couple of weeks while I’ve been working on a different project (see goal #2).
But we’ve hit a point where we are constrained by budget, and we’re feeling that $200 per month cap. We need to order some materials for the next few steps, like vents and glass to finish the gables. We also decided to add electricity to it for running a fan, installing lights, and running a heater on super cold nights. We might put a pin in the electricity for now until we have the money to do it. That could be a phase two project.
Anyway, we’re hoping to finish adding all the trim pieces on the inside this weekend and start painting it before it gets too warm to work on the inside. Which reminds me, I really need to take some fresh pictures and write an update post about the progress. Here’s where we last left off with greenhouse building.
Goal #2: Finish The Girls’ Shared Bedroom
FINALLY! I got both girls to agree on a design plan after almost two years’ worth of deliberations. Last weekend, we cleaned out their entire room except for the two bed frames and the wardrobe, repaired the walls, and painted their room, including the ceiling. They went to Grandma’s house for a few nights during spring break, which was a great opportunity to paint.
Our next steps are figuring out how to make a scallop chair rail, DIYing some gold glow-in-the-dark stars (I have ideas), and installing the wallpaper. Stars and wallpaper samples have been ordered, so here’s to progress. I would love to get this project done by the time the girls are home for summer vacation, just under two months from now. I think the budget is going to be my hindrance. Speaking of which.
To help raise the home improvement budget, we’ve started selling some things we no longer need. Like the stroller (I’m not crying, you’re crying), some toys, tools we don’t use, baby things stored in the attic, etc. We just started yesterday, so nothing has sold yet, but any money made from this effort is going straight into the home projects budget.
Here’s their updated room as of yesterday, with fresh painted walls and ceiling. It’s the same color as before (they love it).
Goal #3: Finish The Playhouse
Right up there with finishing the girls’ bedroom makeover is completing their playhouse. Structurally, it’s done, and when we last left off in the fall, we had finished the roof and chose the paint color palette before the snow started flying, and we put a pin in the project until the spring. Well, spring is here, and we’re ready to complete it.
Next steps are building and trimming out the windows, painting it, making a door and loft ladder, and then all the finishing touches, including decorating it. A few weeks ago, when we were at an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, I picked up a bohemian-style hammock to hang in their playhouse for $9. The girls were obsessed with it, which makes sense because they often kick me out and hog my own hammock every summer.
I cannot wait to finish this space for them, hopefully by summer, but that’s a stretch. After the actual building part is done, we have phase two plans, including a cottage-style garden (and fairy gardens) around it for them to play and explore. The vision in my head is magical. Now to make it a reality.
Goal #4: Finish The Laundry Room
Ugh. I don’t even want to show you a picture of the current state of the laundry room, which is at the end section of our first-floor bathroom, because it looks so bad right now. But I will. Here’s the laundry room plan and the before tour.
We did decide to remove the wall between the bathroom and the laundry room. We taped the washer and dryer footprint onto the floor and realized it was just too tight. So now the wall is gone, and the project has kind of morphed from just a laundry room project to a bathroom remodel. Slippery slope.
Colby worked on the room alot this winter with the big changes, including the removal of the wall and replacing the window. He repurposed a freebie window from work (he’s a door and window salesman and often brings home mistakes or damaged pieces that we can repair). It was a single sash that he’s turned into an inswing casement window. I’m thoroughly impressed.
We’re currently at a “how far do we want to take this remodel” crossroads. We have to patch the floor in a few places where the wall was, but we’re debating replacing the entire floor instead. And if we replace the floor, we might as well finish the entire bathroom while we’re at it. We have some time to debate it, since our current indoor project focus is the girls’ bedroom, but we do need to decide because we can’t keep our main, first-floor bathroom looking like this much longer.
Goal #5: Replace The Playground Canopy
I owe you so many posts about how we finished the playground. It’s done done, except for making a cover for the sandbox. One of the projects we tackled was replacing the old canopy with black striped outdoor fabric. It looked great for about the first year, but over the winter, it started to fade really badly. Today, it looks terrible. I don’t regret the project, as it was a super low-cost way to make a roof, but I’m ready to replace it this summer.
I plan to replace the canopy with a real roof, because I don’t ever want to replace it again, and I’m thinking of installing scalloped roof shingles. Wouldn’t that look adorable?! Here’s a playground pic from when it looked good (which I’m realizing was before we finished the monkey bars…SO behind on updates!).
Goal #6: Add A Reading/Writing Zone To My Closet
Okay, here is where the room switching begins with a distinct order of operations. First up is to add a reading and writing zone to my converted attic closet. My closet is massive, and I really don’t need this much space. I’ve been exploring just about every idea under the sun for how to use the attic space better, and I’m finally 100% on board with this idea.
Currently, I have a small writing desk outside my craft room. This one.
But it’s not the best for blog work. It barely has enough room for my laptop, let alone the camera, my planner, or even a cup of coffee. It’s pretty cramped. Plus, it’s in the hallway, so when I’m working and the kids are home, they regularly make me move to get to their room. But the kicker is that I love, love, LOVE how it looks here. I’m a big believer that spaces should be beautiful AND functional, and it’s lacking in the functional world. Plus, I need to move it to make goal #8 below happen (insert wildly creepy evil plan fingers because goal #8 is SO GOOD).
So the plan is to add a desk to my closet and a big ol’ comfy reading chair. I want the space to be a quiet room. It’s tucked far enough away from the kids’ zones of terror (their bedroom, playroom, and soon-to-be reading room…again…see goal #8), that I think it will work. Sometimes, I want some peace and quiet to either read or write, and the only time I can get it right now is when everyone is away. I have this exceptionally naive, I’m sure, idea that my closet could provide that type of sanctuary when everyone is home.
It is a little odd that the space is off our primary bathroom, but it could also be helpful. Just shut the bathroom door, and fingers crossed, no one bothers me. Colby and I joked that I need a sound machine that plays fart noises and also to figure out if there’s a diffuser blend for that to really play up the “leave mom alone, she’s in the bathroom” vibe. Bahaha! When has a closed bathroom door ever stopped a child?!
Goal #7: Move My Craft Room To The Old Nursery
The next move is relocating my beloved craft room (shock! gasp!) and moving it into the old nursery. Here’s what’s weird yet kind of cool about the move. The rooms are mirror images and just across the hallway from each other. They’re also painted the same exact color. Here’s a view from my craft room into the nursery.
The one difference is that the old nursery has two doors in it. One door from the hallway into the nursery, and one from the old nursery into our bedroom. Is it odd to have a craft room attached to a primary bedroom? Perhaps. But it’s not like we need or want a sitting room, we don’t need it as closet space, and our nursery days are over.
Plus, I’ve been wanting to do a major declutter of my craft room and give it a more definitive purpose. It’s gotten so cluttered, as it’s become the home for so many things that don’t belong. Since becoming a certified aromatherapist last fall, I want more space to dedicate to the supplies for that endeavor, along with storing my craft supplies. Things like the kids’ school years memory boxes, baby books, and other memorabilia can go elsewhere. Along with office supplies.
The plan…pare down what I keep in my craft room and basically move the entire room across the hall and set it up pretty much just like this.
Goal #8: Make A Narnia/Harry Potter Reading Room
And my favorite, the piece de résistance, the elusive goal #8 that’s been referenced far too much already, turn the old craft room into a Chronicles of Narnia slash Harry Potter reading room. So take this image here.
And then remove the desk and chair and replace them with a big old wardrobe that goes over the door but has a secret, back-panel door in the back of it. I mean, c’mon?! What childhood reader of the Chronicles of Narnia didn’t want a secret wardrobe door?!
When you go through the door, it will be more like a Harry Potter world. Bookshelves filled with all the kids’ books, portraits on the back wall (the Gryffindor common room’s portrait of a fat lady has been requested), and bean bags or cozy floor cushions to curl up and read. Three other requests have been made for the room. One, a night sky ceiling like Hogwarts’ great hall. Two, floating candles. And three, replace the floating candles in October with floating pumpkins. I fully support those requests. My eldest is deep into the Harry Potter series right now, in case you couldn’t tell.
This all sounds magical, and I’m on board with making this happen. Now, to finish the other projects first, so we can work on this one.
Goal #9: Declutter 10,000 Items From Our Home
I’ve mulled the goal of decluttering 10,000 items from our home, and I really want to make it happen this year. We just have too much stuff, which isn’t uncommon in American homes these days. The stuff overwhelms me and burdens me, and per my word of the year, I just want more peace in this season of life.
Come back tomorrow as I share my plan to kick off decluttering in May. Although I’ve already started the process with the girls, in cleaning out parts of the attic.
Pssst…Now you tell me, what’s on your home improvement goals list for the year? Any other decluttering projects or magical endeavors geared towards kids? I feel like that’s what is driving 75% of the projects these days.
