In the year of our home 2024, it was the year of larger proportion home projects. We finished the basement bathroom after many mostly hope, little action the years prior. We competed the living room fireplace after years of start-stop progress. And also important, but on a smaller scale, we cleaned up the final 5% of several previous projects; from adding an outlet and kick boards in the mudroom to laying new landscaping fabric. 2024 was also the year of circling back entirely. We refreshed the first room we redid after moving in, painting the walls, refreshing furniture, and building drawers for a built-in closet feature.
So behold, with a new year is my first ever roundup of aspirational projects I’m aiming to complete in the more near than distant future. Perhaps it would be more time bound to cage the idea to 2025 but I like to leave a little room for mystery and adventure too. Heck, I didn’t map out a home project this far in advance last year.
(And after having no actual blog posts to link back to for any of these projects, that may be another home project goal…)
Guest room
Throwing myself a softball from 2024, this year will see the refresh of a guest room. Think boutique hotel, think a lived in feel. I usually create spaces for my family first and foremost, but after all my travels, I’m aiming to create a space that offers and inviting hug in a home-away-from-home. The next phase of this project involve plenty of touch-ups on the newly installed trim installed (it’s all installed if you’re reading this realtime and following along on social media!). Afterward it will be a different kind of design challenge for me as I apply all my ideas and theories for creating a guest sanctuary to the finishing design touches.
Basement
Continuing the 2024 trend of finishing larger proportion projects, 2025 WILL be the year to finally finish up the basement. Past of my determination to have this space completed is the fact that it’s the last unfinished space to be completed in this house. But, even bigger than that, I am absolutely looking forward to the memories and opportunities that this area will create once complete.
The basement will really be four home projects in one:
1) the living area – painting, adding moulding, a recreation area or two… and these are only the parts that get to be done once the actual structures in the room are completed (framing, electric, drywall XD)
2) mini library – distinguished as a mini-library because how fun it is to dream of a library with a ladder for one day! The ceilings are a bit low down there for me to realistically consider this feature for this home. As a bibliophile, however, I an excited to make a central home for my growing collection of books.
3) reading nook – I could have more storage or I could have an dedicated space to have a built-in reading fort.
4) outdoor sport storage – we are an outdoor family (and I a self-proclaimed outdoorsy homebody). We need somewhere to organize all of our equipment that is easy access, organized, and (optional for some, not optional for me) aesthetically pleasing.
We’ve been purging and organizing to turn this previous dumping ground for items we weren’t grabbing for on a day-to-day basis. Daily, I am honing the vision and mood boards of these spaces. If you’re interested in seeing how my ideas are evolving, you’re invited to follow along on Pinterest.
Basement Guest Room
The basement guest room received light attention – in the form of a paint refresh – when we first moved into this house. This room is the main bedroom that feeds usage into the more recently completed basement bathroom. It only felt right to me such a beautiful bathroom across the hall should feed into a bedroom retreat. I will take any homey ideas I garner from the other guest room. Fresh paint, new light fixtures, and more intentional homey touches will turn this room into a new space.
Main floor Hallway
Once the basement is complete, the doorway to the basement will require some attention. After finishing a majority of the stair wall moulding in the main living area, I left the doorway to the basement untouched. Nothing super cumbersome will be done – I will make this area match the stair moulding that is adjacent. This space also connects to a separate tiny hallway I would love to drench with personality (read: a pop of color and maybe even some wallpaper).
Kitchen
Pre-social media sharing of any home project, we painted the cabinets and added hardware. In the next phase of the kitchen, we (T especially!) is looking forward to installing a new sink and faucet. There was also never any backsplash in the kitchen so I will try my hand at that (gotta be easier than tiling the basement bathroom though?!) Also, I hope to *gasp* paint everything again. There are some signs of normal wear. I have also gained different techniques and skills in the 5 years since these were originally painted. To grow my skills, I would love to replace the above-the-stove microwave with a range hood. Once loving to experiment in the kitchen, I hope a kitchen refresh will be an invitation for me to love the activity again, even if only to cook for my family.
Primary Closet
Okay, so maybe this should go before the kitchen, but sometimes “needs” are not as exciting as wants. I need to re-trim the doorway where I took the door out to use in the basement bathroom last year. While I’m in there I also need to touch up paint after I added trim to the closet storage fronts, and as a nice-to-have, add an additional hanging rod.
Primary Bathroom Water Closet
Arguably also a need, this is one of the last areas that needs updated baseboard. Although an easy task, I will find a way to add pizazz to an otherwise mundane update.
Home Project goal for 2025?
I don’t entirely know what this year will hold – or if I will get to all of these home projects – and that is okay. Part of my power is not in predicting and controlling the future, but in being adept at adapting and problem solving. Projects are a happy place of creativity for me, and big or small, I look forward to what this year has in store.
I’ll see you on social media and back here on the blog a lot more than in previous years too (🤞🏾)!
