It’s the most exciting day of the year!!! The day we get to share with all of you the projects we have planned for the upcoming year. Last year was a really big year growing year for our business side of things; with our team and with our product lines. Each and every collaboration is so rewarding to see come to life. As exciting as they are, they also took a lot of time and effort (there are design calls, photoshoots, supporting launches, etc.) I didn’t get to tackle as much as I had wanted to as far as home renovations last year.
This year, I feel like we have things set in a place where I can have more time at home, so we’re focusing more on at-home projects!! I want to get back to doing what I love, which is improving our living spaces and surroundings, so they better reflect our design aesthetic, and we can enjoy them for years to come. And! Sharing that whole process with you.
Shop The Mudroom
I feel like it’s always helpful for me at the beginning of the year to create my project list of what I want to accomplish. Sometimes, circumstances and opportunities have pulled us in other project directions, and that’s fine! And fun! I’ve also learned from experience that I have to be realistic in order to feel like I’ve succeeded in my goals!
So, I’m keeping it to three spaces this year:
1. Renovate the Primary Bathroom & Our Closet
Oh the bathroom. I feel like I’m coming from around the corner and whispering it…I don’t want someone to call my bluff!! But it’s really happening. It took literally reorganizing my whole business plan to make sure it’s a priority!!
We are stealing space from our bedroom to expand our closet and going to have a beautiful bathroom. I shared some ideas last November, and I’m so excited to sign off on the final designs this Friday!
For Christmas, Chris bought a lovely vintage skirted vanity stool from Chairish (not pictured above!). He even asked Jean Stoffer (who I just love) to help him pick it out. This will be the first piece ready for it—can’t wait to show it to you so soon! Here’s my Primary Bathroom Pinterest board of all my inspiration in case you can’t wait to see the direction.
2. Update the Entryway
Shop The Entry
I firmly believe you shouldn’t jump into a project unless you’re sure about what you want. The truth is I want to wallpaper our entryway! I want the entry wallpaper to be a very thin neutral stripe throughout the whole space. I’m either going to find one or I’m going to design one!
I want to add trim as well and paint it and all the interior doors, too. I was originally thinking black for everything, but I’ve seen some amazing inspiration lately that’s leading me to a rich dark color. This project will also add a cased opening to the landing at the top of the stair for that space to be a little more defined for a future project.
3. Renovate the “Playroom”
Over the Christmas break, we did a big cleanout of this room. The girls helped by picking out what they don’t play with anymore. There are some dolls that stayed, but the Ikea kitchen is gone (the end of an era!). We filled up the entire back of Chris’s truck to donate what was left over. I may need to rebrand this room to be the rec room—the girls are in a new age bracket!
We’re reassessing that space, and I don’t want to see any white when we’re done with it. We’ll have the TV, a game table, and the arcades that we added to the wall. For design, I’m envisioning wallpaper, trim, show-stopping lighting. We are playing with different layouts now, and I don’t know if the leather sectional we got from the RH Outlet will be able to stay or not. (It’s too wide if we need to turn it.) We’re not going to design a whole room off an existing leather couch (or the basketball hoop eek)!!
I’m very excited for it. At one point I had envisioned a built-in beds in the recessed nooks under the windows with pull-out storage. As far as the primary color palette, I think about colors we’ve used in the house that haven’t been used again. It might seem like we use it a lot, but actually green is not upstairs at all—just in the study downstairs. We need a callback to green! I think there would be a nice flow from the blue bonus room into the green rec room. I’d love to wallpaper the whole ceiling, too.
And you may want to hold onto something when I tell you that I want to do wall-to-wall carpet. I know…it’s shocking. It’s just such a giant room…I have an 11×14 rug in there, and it looks tiny. I hope to find a carpet pattern in a deep plaid or something similar. Just think what a fun surprise that could be for a future owner decades down the line to find hardwoods underneath. 😉
And Bonus Points If We Get To….
“The Wrapping/Craft Room”
My vision for this is for it to be gift wrap central. Our hidden door storage room off the bonus room needs proper cabinets. It’s the only room left in the entire house that still has the original carpet from when we moved in! It’ll be a place to store all my wrapping paper and ribbons (It’s one of my favorite things to collect), craft (tape, scissors, stamps, markers), and other gift wrap supplies. I also need a place to store gifts. I love to have a closet with gifts on hand—and this would be the perfect spot for that.
Phase 2 of the Living Room
Shop The Living Room
All we ever did was paint the living room (a beautiful Pigeon by Farrow & Ball) and add furniture. I see phase two as putting in the window that’s sitting in our garage (the last piece from our whole-house windows replacement) where the doors are on the left. And that is going to domino into trim/paneling, hardwiring some lighting, adding some built-ins, and possibly new furniture. Beams on the ceiling would be incredible. (I would like to add beams to the dining room ceiling too.)
We’ve talked about adding a skylight to the living room, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. In the winter I’m fine with no skylight: It’s just so cozy with the lamps on and the fire going. It’s such a vibe. But in the summer the room is so dark because of all the thick trees out back. It’s shade city!
Seal the Copper Gutters/Flashing
Last year we replaced our gutters with copper gutters, and they were like the crowning jewel on our home. I wanted them to slightly patina, but not turn completely green. I’m noticing the copper flashings on the roof are already oxidized, so I need to contact our contractor and start the process to seal our copper gutters! It’ll be a process, so I’ll report back on how it works.
That’s all I want to commit to. And I can’t wait to get started. As always, I’ll keep you updated on the progress and plans! First up, that bathroom!
