The 13 Home Projects on Our 2023 List

The time has come to share our annual list of home projects we plan to do in 2023. Along with setting family goals, personal goals, and financial goals, Chris and I take the time to get on the same page regarding all the things we'd like to accomplish in the home! In 2022 we took a little detour from the official list but still accomplished so much, and we celebrated every step of the way. So here's to a brand new year, new intentions, and more ways to learn and grow together!

1. Primary Bathroom and Closet

The project I'm without a doubt the most excited about is our bathroom and closet renovation! We have made the most of this space with organization bins and trays, and turntables, but this is as good as it's going to get without reconfiguring and restarting. But the time has finally come (almost).

We're completely giddy about working with Unique Kitchen and Baths to show off their passion and talent for beautiful, functional cabinetry. The design phase is ongoing, but I can't wait to share more about the process with you.

Since moving in, Chris and I have been drawing up possible floorplan solutions for this ensuite area, but it has been a serious head-scratcher.

It's tricky to convey through photos how truly narrow these jack-and-jill closets are. I sometimes daydream about the closet in our last house, and I'm hopeful that we can somehow make this space just as good, if not better.

One major lesson we learned (the hard way) in 2022 is NOT to start demo until you have everything you need on hand. There are already too many things that can derail a home renovation, so we're hoping to avoid major pauses and delays as much as possible! So while this is top of our list, it will take some time before any action occurs.

2. Attic Purge and Organization

Welcome to the attic! I revealed this clutter cave in Love Letter just last night, along with my goal to purge and organize all of this before the month is over. Maybe we'll have a yard sale by the end if it's even okay with our HOA!

I'm hoping this purging will give me some momentum to purge the other cluttered areas in the home (ahem the garage).

3. Skylights and beams in the living room

Once upon a time we had big dreams to open up this fireplace wall and put in a big arched window similar to what we did in the modern cottage. In case you missed it, we've pivoted and are keeping the fireplace arrangement. It's really working for us and It's so full of character and we don't want to lose the original charm of the house. What we really want is more light, and I think we can accomplish that way better with skylights. We've already had a structural engineer talk it through with us and I'm so excited to see it become a reality.

I've also found the most incredible colonial beam inspiration that I can't wait to share with you!

4. Cricket's Room/Pool Bathroom

This takes the cake for the least photogenic space in our home. Picture a pool bathroom with an entrance to the outside, and a built-in kennel situation. For now it's just a hobnob of vacuums, brooms, more clutter, and cricket's stuff (which is more than you think).

There's already an outside shower so this just be equipped with toilet, sink, and possibly an undercabinet spout for Cricket's water bowl. Oh, and of course cabinet space for pool towels!

5. Tile the Back Hallway

One realization we have had since bringing Cricket home is that this back hallway gets an outrageous amount of foot and paw traffic. There's the door to cricket's room/pool bathroom, two separate garage entrances, a small closet, and the staircase that leads up into the bonus room. It also happens to be the area of the home where the hardwood floors expand and shrink the most (if you look closely you can spot a gap). So to make our lives easier, we plan to extend whichever tile we end up using in the pool bathroom, into this back hallway!

Would also love to paint all the trim back here. Maybe a glossy merlot? I can picture it.

6. Cleaning Closet

This little closet right through the swinging door is in desperate need of attention. For a minute, it was a game closet, but we really needed more space for brooms, vacuums, and cleaning supplies especially since Cricket moved in!

7. Patch the gym floor

I managed to secure just enough FloorPops in the last release to patch up the gym floor after removing the staircase! So we'll be adding those, and maybe add more mirrors to the now bare walls? I don't know. There's already a lot of mirror happening in there so time will tell. Other than that, I feel like removing the stairs opened up even more possibilities in here.

8. Add pocket doors and built-ins to the study

Although we did transform the study as a dining space twice over the Holiday break, we use it many times throughout any given day as a home office. So we want to add pocket doors for some much needed privacy and noise blocking. I've got my heart set on finding some vintage wooden doors to use.

To make this possible, we'll be narrowing the cased opening and while we're at it...

We might as well add some built-in cabinets and shelving on either side of the opening. We're desperate for storage to keep the "ugly" office necessities like printer, filing cabinet, paper shredder and more and I think this will be the best way to preserve as much of the mural as possible.

9. Trim in the Entry

I haven't found the exact trim I want to do yet, but I know I want to add some drama and character to the entry.

10. Music room on the landing

This landing at the top of the grand staircase has so much potential to be the coolest space in the house! We're actually going to be extending the hallway and adding a cased opening so it feels more like the music-box of the home. I'm picturing grasscloth wallpaper, piano, guitars on the wall, a little table, some chairs... Like a quaint little snug.

11. Faye's bedroom

We've spent some time in both Polly's room and Greta's room, but Faye's room remains pretty untouched. Aside from a new bed and rolling out a rug, I've been giving Faye a chance to discover what she might envision for her room. She's my kid who's so interested in design and the process so we're leaning into the process together to make this room special for her. This is her year!

12. Landscape front yard

No explanation needed, especially if you saw the series of unfortunate events that occurred with the sewer line over the Holidays...

13. CLJ Studio

Almost a year has passed since we first announced that we would be leasing an "unfinished" office space for our team. The process hasn't been smooth and to make a long story short, we ended up switching buildings and are leasing out a different space! We have been busy behind the scenes working on getting it all finished and it should be finished any day now! Here's a little sneak peak.

Things we might do this year:

The list is lengthy, but I if the budget and time allow, here are a couple of things that would be nice to have done but are lower on the priority list.

Replace the windows and the roof - All of the windows are original to the house and not energy efficient at all. The seals are broken and in the mornings we can see cloudy condensation making its way in. As for the roof–it's been in rough shape since the day we moved in. We're hoping we can skate by with a bit more time before replacing both...

Playroom/Game Room - With the newly removed staircase, we're settling right into this room. It's working beautifully and we're not in any rush to make any big changes, but if we end up having more time or budget (unlikely) we might add it to the list!

Things we probably aren't doing this year:

Besides the fact that I'm never really "finished" with a room, there's are also some spaces that will likely remain untouched this year. Here's that list... but also, never say never.

The guest house

Storage Room

Finishing the Attic

Polly and Faye's "Jack and Jill" bathroom