Step 1: determine my overarching reason to improve my home.

MY WHY…

Sometimes you've gotta take a step back and consider why you even want to do some of these projects to begin with.

Some choose to improve their home for resale value or to get it ready to sell, but my why is a little more fluffy.

I choose to pursue this homier home idea I have in my head because I want to create a space I can be proud of, feel cozy in, and that fits the needs of my family.

I want to create cozy style and functional beauty, so I can welcome guests in, but also feel welcomed when I enter the door, too. 

A TIP FOR FINDING YOUR WHY

I wrote a post at the beginning of last year about finding your why because I felt like without knowing why the heck you care about doing all these wonderful things to your home, you end up making one-off decisions that don't fit your vision.

This leads you to a non-cohesive home or worse the predicament of needing to redo what you've already done.

So, my tip for you is to take the time to find your why before considering what it is that needs to be done.

I promise, it will make every decision that much easier because your why is your driving force. 

Step 2: Prioritize using my Home Harmony Planning Toolkit

If you have been around awhile, you know that I have been preaching about how awesome this Home Harmony system is that I have created for over a year.

I was feeling so overwhelmed when we first moved into our current home.

I never knew where to start.

When I finally did decide on a room, I didn't know what steps to take next to make it the way I wanted. 

Finally, I read a few productivity books and found Trello to help me organize my thoughts and ideas.

What I came up with is a system I still use every time I go to start a new project.

I'm telling you… it's worth its weight in gold!

Definitely check out the full page of information.

Step 3: Set home goals: Needs vs. Wants

With the beginning of the year, there is always talk around new year's resolutions, goal-setting, and habit-making.

As I was writing this, I went back and forth on whether or not to use the word goals because sometimes it comes with a negative connotation depending on how goals have been presented to you in the past.

So, let me preface this section by saying that your home goals are merely what you want to accomplish in your home this year… plain and simple.

If you work through my home harmony prioritization system from above, this part will be super easy.

Keep in mind, there will be things you absolute must accomplish at some point throughout the year and things that will just be nice to have completed.

I like to keep these lists separate, so I can keep focused on what I truly need to do.

Here is what I came up with for our home this year:

MY NEED-TO-DO LIST

• Complete the nursery (Baby Ciz coming April 4th!)
• Finish majority of my declutter checklist (While I still have time, energy, and focus)
  • Master Closet
  • Coat Closet
  • Kitchen Desk
  • Pantry
  • Guest Bathroom
• Rework the layout of my master closet for better functionality (because oh my gosh it is horrible)

MY WANT-TO-DO LIST

• Other declutter checklist areas
  • Guest Bedroom Closet
  • Dining Room
• Finish decorating the dining room (focusing on functionality to clear up some cabinets in my kitchen)
• Invest in Fall decor (my fall decor is scarce and extremely lacking which is sad because it is my family's favorite time of year)
• Paint the garage doors (we got new windows with black exterior this year and now the garage doors stick out like a sore thumb)
• Make room for the hubs in my office (the work space/desk space is very one-sided… meaning all mine lol)
• Complete a screen-porch refresh (only if time and budget is working for us)

This will be a fun post to reflect on at the end of the year to see how much of this I was able to accomplish.

I encourage you to make and keep a list to look back on come December, too!

Let's see what we can get done this year!

Step 4: Set a timeline for the important projects.

Understanding your timeline is critical in my opinion.

There have been times in my early decorating life that I was forced to make rush decisions, spend more money than I had planned, and was still unhappy with some piece of the room.

Knowing how much time you have and/or when you need the project complete is so helpful when you want it done right and you want to stay within your budget because you can work backwards and give yourself plenty of leeway. 

For my Need-To-Do list, I am hoping to accomplish all of these items before the baby comes in April.

Now, I have been told that come the third trimester, I'm not going to want to do much of anything, so the clock is definitely ticking. Here are my timeline goals with all of this baby stuff and our schedules put into consideration:

JANUARY/EARLY FEBRUARY

• Operation Finish the Nursery.

Step 5: Start researching & take action

Last, but not least, you have to get started!

The key to getting your projects off and running is to start doing your research on your highest priority project.

This will help you come up with a budget and decide what it is you actually need to be able to complete your project.

This is also a great way to decide how much time you are actual going to need to complete what you want to do.

If you follow my Home Harmony system, making a list of all the things you want to happen in that room and prioritizing those individual tasks will be right at your fingertips. 

What great things will you accomplish in your home this year?