Along with setting our own personal goals, and goals as a family, we like to set goals for our home as well–a list of projects if you will. 2021's project list shifted when we moved but is still fun to look back on. We finished nearly all 8 out of the 9 projects from the list we made when we moved to North Carolina. That one unfinished project is now at the top of our 2022 project list!
1. Installing wallpaper and more in the music room
Rug | Ottoman | Chair | Throw Pillow
We’re installing a 360º mural in here and it’s going to be gorgeous. The lower part of the walls will have chair rail and a substantial wainscoting treatment, that will compliment the already existing crown. Still unsure of what color to paint the wainscoting, but I'm toying with the idea of deep red as a tribute to our last music room. Or a gray blue... I also have plans to hang a show-stopper bubble light in here!
2. Make our backyard plans a reality!
The backyard renderings are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and we cannot wait to see it come to fruition! The digging for the pool has commenced and we're told we'll be swimming in 20 weeks! Looking out the window at the Jurassic Park sized mud puddles is a little depressing, but I'm thinking long-term. We hope to be in this home for years to come, and having a pool to play in and lounge around has always been a dream of ours. And now we live in a place that's actually warm enough for it! We are meeting with a local plant specialist next week to talk all about the local plants we're going to be bringing in and I can't wait!
3. Build an upstairs laundry room
This is probably the biggest home project of 2022, and it's three-fold. Having a laundry room on the second floor is a must for us. I think we got spoiled with our last house, but it's literally the only thing about the layout of this home that isn't quite clicking for us. The girls are all on the second-level, and we can't stop thinking how incredible it would be to have a laundry room on the same floor as all of these clothes that go in and out all week. I wouldn't mind fitting a small set in our bathroom when we renovate it, too!
The current laundry room is on the main floor, tucked away near the garage entrance (right behind the dining room wall). It's a small room, that's not really close to ANY bedroom that we have other plans for. More on that in a minute! To create an upstairs laundry room, we're taking square-feet from Greta's bathroom, and the playroom. That bathroom is gigantic, and the playroom is gigantic, and both will lend to a more functional laundry space. You can see from the before picture of the playroom, that door that leads into Greta's bathroom. We're hoping to get started on this soon after the music room gets finished!
4. Greta's bathroom
With the laundry room build-out, Greta's bathroom will need some reconfiguring. There's a cluster-F of doors in there right now. First you walk through the door into the bathroom that has two vanities with so many cabinet doors and drawers. There's a door that leads to the playroom (from the bathroom, yes), a door to get to the toilet and shower, and a door to the linen closet. Too many doors! We're going to simplify the layout, shrink the square footage and make it more functional for a soon-to-be teenager.
5. Turn the downstairs laundry room into a...
POOL BATHROOM! Accessible from the outside and in, having a bathroom space to use from the pool is going to be an incredible use of space! Our main priorities in this bathroom is to have a toilet, a sink, and we would love to squeeze in a shower if possible. Oh and tons of towel storage is a must!
6. Finish the kitchen
Wood Baskets | Wire Baskets | Clear Canisters | Tiered Stand | Le Creuset
We've surrendered the timeline of the kitchen being finished to the arrival of the appliances. Until then, here's a punch list of all the things that need to be done for the kitchen to officially be completed.
7. Finish the dining room
Art (digital download) | Lantern Fixture | Table | Chairs
The ball is rolling in the dining room! We hung this gorgeous lantern fixture, and I ordered the cutest wooden antique chairs to go in this space. I've been unsure if I should do wallpaper in here or just paint, until I looked at these grasscloth Spoonflower wallpaper samples. My heart skipped a beat looking through them all and I'm currently day-dreaming about two. Decisions to make!
8. Phase one in Faye's room
Rug | Bed | Rabbit Table Lamp | Sheets | Canopy
Faye's room has sponge paint on the walls. I don't know exactly what is going to be done in Faye's room, but we will be painting at the bare minimum and probably swapping her bed for a twin so she has a little more room to spread out. Of course it will be something that goes adorably with the new canopy we got for her bed.
9. Kitchenette in the home office
Table | Office Chairs | Task Lamp | Smeg Fridge | Pebble Ice Maker
Above the guest house there's a really large open space, and it had a kitchenette in it when we moved in. This is our home office for now, and we decided to put a kitchenette back in–in a more streamlined way. We're using IKEA cabinets, paired with our line of Semihandmade cabinet fronts! We're making a trip to Ikea this weekend and hoping we can come back with cabinets!
10. Phase one in our primary bathroom
We really wanted to do a full bathroom renovation this year, but it's just not in the budget, time-wise or financially. To tide us over until next year, we're at least painting over the lime green walls, I have a fun plan for the floors and some updated lighting. We'd also love to get a bidet because we're completely missing ours!
And that's the 2022 project list! What's on your list this year!!!
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Great post
Consider all the towels you will use at the pool. You will be moving them up and down stairs if your only laundry is on the top floor. Maybe a laundry in the guest house closet if there's no space on the main house 1st floor,
Happy New Year!! I'm SO excited to follow along as these projects unfold! I get so much inspiration & joy out of all that you share & everything is so darn beautiful:)) Can't wait!! xo
So exciting! You mention that you'll be using the open space above the guest house as a home office "for now." Do you have different long-term plans for your office? So curious : )
We can totally see it as a game room/hang out. Pool table/ foosball, game table. Hopefully a place our kids can hang out with their friends. No plans immediately though
I am still laughing at the cluster f comment! I appreciated that! I am so excited to see what I can learn from you in 2022! Your house is really start ing to reflect your style and that is beautiful to see! Happy new year to you and your family!
Looking forward to seeing these unfold. I really love how you keep things moving and always have something to show in progress until it's done and revealed, and it sounds like 2022 will be chock full.
How do you keep from being overwhelmed? We are gearing up for some projects and my most common action is non-action so far. :)
There are definitely times where I feel overwhelmed, but I do think the worst of it—having an unusable kitchen for months!-is behind us. We focus on projects that excite us and make our own pace. So if it’s feeling like too much, we pivot!
Good luck with ikea, I’ve found their inventory #s to be spot on, so try to be there at opening if it says they have your cabinets. After many failed trips we were able to purchase some at Menards that we really like. Not sure if that can be a backup plan for you (we’re in Ohio).
Also, as a pool owner, I love having laundry nearby for towels, clothes, etc. and agree with those suggestions about maybe adding that to your current plans for the pool bathroom.
Thanks for sharing!
Hah! Finale comment about the bidet is a surprise! Are they really that much better?
They really really are. I feel like bidets are one of those things that once you use one, there is no going back. I don't know why everyone doesn't have one.
It’s true! We miss ours so much.
Meanwhile you could put a temporary one on very easily! I put one on every single one of our toilets. Does that mean I have a cluster–F of bidets??
Can’t wait to see the new projects! I appreciate that you share all the details of the projects!
I never thought reading someone else's New Year project list would make me so excited. I thought only my own list did that! Cannot wait to see the laundry room and Greta's bathroom renovation take shape!!
Loved reading/seeing everything, but "cluster-F". Really? This doesn't seem like your language at all!
Haha sometimes I try to write how I talk. We literally called it a cluster-f of doors. I try to keep it casual here, but I’ll try to censor that in the future
eh - FWIW, it DOES sound like a cluster-f of doors
I actually really appreciated cluster-f! Makes me feel like I'm not alone 😂
Funny to see the different reactions to this! I was actually taken back as well, your blog is so classy! But clearly it made other readers feel right at home. So excited for all the great projects, Chris Loves Julia is such and inspiration!
Such *an inspiration! ;)
Julia- please please PLEASE don’t censor! That bathroom is EXACTLY a cluster-F.. I would actually say the real word 😂😂
I think it’s a very real comment. And for the record you are classy AF.. ❤️
All the changes are amazing! Could you share the size of the tree prints you downloaded and where you purchased the frames. I love them!
Thank you!
I want to talk dining room wallpaper! I want to suggest that William Morris fruit paper in the black background. To me it pulls a little bit from a lot of the ideas you got samples of and would look fabulous in this space.
I SO appreciate that you share your Phase 1 projects! It's nice to know we're not the only family that has to cut projects down because of time or money. Sometimes it feels like amazingly successful bloggers can get it all done! I appreciate you sharing that little bit of realness. :)
Yes to all of this!
I'm so happy you're in love with your new home, and all the exciting changes coming up! I was surprised you were thinking of painting your music room red in tribute to your last music room though............for some odd reason that color never seemed to really jibe with your style to me. You surprised me!
Oh man! Love that burgundy! Red is definitely making an appearance in our new house somewhere!
When and why did you change out the dining room table. You previously posted a longer/oval table with a pretty trim. Now you have a round one. Did you move the other one to a different location or ultimately decide it wasn’t love?
I shared it on Instagram, but basically, our round table was stuck in moving purgatory (held hostage in Idaho--literally!) and we bought that beautiful longer table, but once our 17' island went in, it was clear the dining room was desperately in need of a round table to break up the long rectangles in the space. A few weeks later, our old table arrived and we tried it out and the shape felt a lot better! We sold the rectangle table to a local :)
I’m excited to watch every one of these projects!
Your home office? Isn’t that where your CLJ office is located? Did that move?
We have an office space 1/4 mile up the road now where most of the team works now where it's clean and quiet (the construction noise has been a LOT this year!) and spacious! But we still have a landing spot in house for shoot days!
I’d love to see how you have this new space decorated - I liked the home office you had in the last house!
Definitely put at least a stackable washer/dryer in the pool bathroom for towels and such. I think you’d regret it if you don’t.
Second this! And an outdoor shower if the w/d combo pushes a shower out of the pool bathroom. Can't wait to see where you land.
Excited to watch this unfold! As a pool owner, I wish we had laundry in the pool bathroom. We have our laundry upstairs, near the bedrooms, which I love—except for the dozens of pool towels at the end of each weekend. So if you can, consider a stackable washer/dryer in the pool bath.
I'm so excited to see how these projects unfold throughout the year! Hopefully you can find cabinets at your Ikea, I've heard the stock is low at a lot of locations :(
Cannot wait to see these projects and your vision unfold.
Have you thought about making the pool bathroom a wet room if you can't fit a shower? It could help for post-pool wash-ups, but if you one day decide to add another pup to the family it would also be an amazing place to hose off muddy paws. Especially if you bring another gentle giant home - we have a Berner and a room that could be totally wet would be ideal!
I'm sure everything will be amazing - thanks for taking us along!
The pool bathroom is a great idea! We had one at my house growing up - nothing fancy, just a bathroom in our basement that had exterior access, and it was so great for birthday parties and end of the school year parties!
My home goal for this year is to hire someone to paint my open concept, cathedral ceiling, living/dining area! It will make such a huge difference! It's a really dated beige/cream right now that looks quite yellow against the white trim and I plan to go with a more creamy white.
I agree with another poster that it's lovely to have laundry near the pool. But I love even more having a shower close by (a small one is fine). Being able to quickly rinse off chlorine or salt water is lovely, and leads to less mess in the house.
Yes - a quick rinse outdoor shower would be ideal for pool use.
I agree! I think an outdoor shower and laundry in the pool bath would be the most convenient, efficient plan for everyday use.
I thought you moved the home office that was a short walk away, why all the effort to add a kitchenette to that space?
In the future we see this as a big game room. Billiards, foosball. Also, it has the hookups for a sink, so why not!
I missed that your team is not working in this space still... is there a post where you discussed this so I can get caught up? Thanks!
We haven't done ANY posts on this space. lol. look forward to those this year!!
Maybe a outdoor shower for the pool and a washer and dryer in the bathroom. I am a big fan of the outdoor shower :)
i love outdoor showers
We are working on finishing our house (new construction). Currently rough-ins are about done, so the fun begins. I am going to be doing a LOT of painting in the near furture.
What a fun list! Excited to watch it all come together. Julia, Keep in mind a place to wash all those towels from all the fun pool parties you’ll be having. Lugging a lot of wet towels upstairs is not fun. Instead of a shower you might want a stackable W/D.
Oooh! That's smart! That would also save us from having to fit one into our bathroom
I'm most excited about your pool washroom! We moved into a house with a pool last year and the entry powder room is the closest bathroom option. It's ok but it would be nicer to have something closer and to have a shower that didn't involve trekking upstairs or downstairs. We're going to look at outdoor shower options -- if you end up prioritizing laundry space for towels over an indoor shower I'll be following along especially avidly. We moved cities a few months after you did and it's been so nice seeing you happy in your new home. Here's to a more rooted 2022!
Hello! This all sounds so exciting! As a fellow pool owner I just wanted to mention that you might really appreciate keeping some laundry right off the pool. Our laundry is also on the main level and while I generally wish it was upstairs, I really like where our is in the summer months when we have so many towels and swimsuits that need to be washed. And let's be honest, clothes that are left strewn about when kids decide to go swimming!😆
Oooh I love this list! We are tackling a laundry room this year too. Can’t wait to see what you do with the space!
I am excited for all the new projects! Can you share how you cost (time, budget, resources) each project? How do you determine what’s realistic to get done in one year?
What's realistic for us, won't be for everyone because this is our full-time job! But, we set budgets for the year, based off of previous years. It's a delicate balance of spending money to do projects, but not too much. We also definitely budget our time. Some phase 1 projects are quick. Some projects, like the backyard, we don't have to budget our time too much because we've hired it out, and some we know will take a LONG time (like the upstairs laundry room and bathroom) from previous experience. 13 years in and we can budget things out pretty well, but there's always a curveball!
So intrigued to learn more about the Spoonflower grasscloth wallpaper but I’m not seeing it at the link?
It isn't released quite yet!
This will be an exciting year to see your already beautiful home get even better!
I love this project list so much! The pool bathroom is the BEST idea. If you can’t fit a shower indoors, is there possibility for an outdoor shower? Also thinking about laundry - the guest house has their own laundry, right?
Gonna be another fun year to watch :)
The guest house doesn't have its own laundry at this time. Unfortunately. When we renovate that space, we'd love to add one.
So many fun projects! Can't wait to follow them all! 😍
I’m here for all of these! Cannot wait. The bathrooms are my most anticipated of your projects!!
I was told at my local Ikea that all stores now warehouse their cabinets in regional warehouses and you pay shipping to your location. I am not sure if that is to the local Ikea store or you home. You might want to try to call/email before making the trip. Good luck!
This is true, but only for the cabinet boxes. You can still get doors/drawers, etc at the stores, assuming they have stock. Even then (at least at our Ikea) you can’t just pull kitchen stuff. You have to “order” in store and have them pull it for you. We just put some cabinets in our basement with a beverage center so we just dealt with this in the last month. Good luck!