10 Projects to Look Forward to in 2012

Is this a resolutions post?  Kinda.  It's also a wish list.  Goals to keep us going.  A break down of some big and small projects you can look forward to seeing here in 2012.  There are a lot more than 10 things on our list to-do for our home in 2012, but ten feels like a good place to start--we wouldn't want to give away all of the tricks up our sleeves.

1.  The garage.  Oy.  It has become everything but a place to park our car.  We have paint cans and tools scattered everywhere on one side, and the other side is packed with things that used to be in our basement before it flooded earlier this year.  We are already making up plans to build (buy?) a workbench and get our tools organized so that we can have a place to work AND park the car.

2.  New hardwood flooring in the dining room, kitchen, living room, up the stairs and into the master bedroom (I still haven't sold Chris on the idea of hardwood flooring in the family room).  The flooring we have now on the first floor is okay, but it is laminate and it looks cheap and it sounds cheaper.  We already have our eyes set on some beautiful, deep mocha floors.  Now we just need to save up our pennies a little longer.

3.  The Master Bedroom.  We have made some progress in our bedroom, but it still needs work.  New lighting and window treatments will do wonders--and having hardwood floors in there.  Swoon.  We're excited.

4.  Paint all the trim in the house.  This isn't glorious.  It's not fun.  It probably won't even make a very exciting blog post when it happens, but it will make a big difference in freshening things up around here.  And goodness, it needs done.

5.  The kitchen.  Phase 2.  The kitchen has come far since we have moved in, but they have all been quick fixes until we can get new countertops and replace the cabinets and the rest of the appliances.

Chris and I are most excited about this project for 2012.  We discussed a few ideas of what we wanted to do with the kitchen back in August, and after more brainstorming and mapping out plans--we have scratched those plans and have decided on something even bigger, better and more functional for our family.  We'll be sure to break down the full layout for you in a future post, but as a teaser--the wall between the living room and kitchen is coming down!! Wooooooot!

6.  Plant an edible garden.   Both Chris and I grew up with fresh produce growing in our backyards and in 2012 we have plans to build raised beds for our own garden.  Which means the lonely, unused dog kennel will officially have to go.  Thank goodness.

7.  Tackle the third bedroom upstairs.  This is definitely a room in our home that has gone from bad to worse since we moved in.  It has become a storage room for decor, art, greta's clothes that no longer fit her and most recently, boxes that Christmas presents arrived in.  We definitely hope to add another Marcum to the mix soon, and I can't wait to decorate another nursery--but I'll settle for a playroom until then.

8.  Build a storage solution for Greta's toys and books in her room.  The girl has toys stored in so many places in our home except her own room.  Yeesh!  Time to remedy that.  Especially since her toys and books quadrupled over Christmas.

9.  Re-do the laundry room floors.  When we did our quick overhaul of the laundry room earlier this year, we knew we wanted to replace the floors but didn't have time.  The blue tile is dingy, cracked and...blue.  We're not sure where we will end up on flooring (pennies?) but we can all look forward to saying goodbye to the blue tiles in the upcoming year.

10.  Panel and beam the vaulted ceiling on the first floor.  It is such a massive surface that is so plain and boring.  With the wall coming down dividing the space, we think that adding more interest up top will unify the space and make it extra special.  I am giddy about it.

The inspiration picture:

Our current ceiling: