After getting so many projects crossed off our list last year, I’m excited to share our 2021 home improvement goals with you!

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Last year, we spent a lot of time and effort sprucing up some spaces around our house. We moved in over 11 years ago and there were several spaces that hadn’t really been touched in the time we’ve been here. With so much time at home, we knocked some projects off my list and I’m so happy we got them done!

Home Improvement Projects We Did in 2020:

• Removed old wallpaper, added new wallpaper, a wall treatment, molding and a new vanity, faucet, light fixture and mirror to our powder room
• Removed our old dining room furniture and purchased a new dining table, chairs and my dream buffet
• Painted our laundry room cabinets, tore down our old cubbies/lockers, hung a countertop and drying rod and added a new faucet and rug
• Added wallpaper to our foyer focal wall, painted our dresser and added a new mirror
• Reupholstered our family room chair
• Painted + updated our tween daughter’s bedroom
• Power washed our front porch and steps
• Lots of restyling using items around the house!

It was a lot! But I’m so happy we got these home project goals crossed off the list!

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2021 Home Improvement Goals

I have lots of home improvement goals and projects for 2021. Our home was built in the early 90’s and while we have replaced a bunch of the main items (roof, furnace, some windows, etc.), there are still some to go. I absolutely hate spending money on this type of stuff but of course, it really can’t be avoided. So we will try and balance those sorts of home improvement projects with the fun kind! The boring ones for this year include hopefully getting some new windows upstairs and a new pool heater. Wah wah. Super boring, right? So let’s talk about the fun home improvement goals instead!

Dining Room Chandelier

The last component of the dining room makeover is to replace the dining room chandelier. I have so many favorites but why is it that the faves are always the most expensive? Ha! I’ve included some of the ones I really like below. Tell me what you think in the comments!

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Family Room

I’ve blogged about my frustrations with our family room before in my Then & Now house post. Something about it bugs me that I just can’t put my finger on. It’s not bad, it’s neat and clean and everything coordinates buuuuut it’s also dull and boring. Truthfully, I feel like I’ve made a lot mistakes in here with my paint and furniture choices but unfortunately, those things are expensive to fix!

We’re not happy with the sectional that we got a few years ago. It’s not very comfy and the back sits a bit too low for my husband. We would like to get something else if the right item (and price tag!) comes along.

(Please ignore the mess piled up behind those glass doors. We have a new puppy so we’ve had to stash a lot of stuff in the toy room!)

We have a lot of space on our tv wall. I’m thinking about doing a gallery wall around the tv or adding frames to just one side with a plant on the other side to balance everything out. Built-ins would be ideal but since we have them right above our family room, I’m not sure that will look right. It sounds confusing so I included a picture below so you can see what I mean.
Nevertheless, I am determined to get this family room looking the way I can picture it in my mind. It will likely involve a new rug and possibly a new coffee table. I’d love to repaint this room but since that’s quite pricey due to the size and ceiling height of the room, I want to bring in lots of bright white furniture to offset our dark couch and blue walls. These family room designs are what’s inspiring me!

Stairway Railing

I’ve hated our railing for a very long time. The orange-y oak color doesn’t match ANYTHING else in our house. It didn’t match the old cabinets and hardwood floor stain and it doesn’t even match the landing on the built-ins I showed above! When we did the remodel, I looked into having it sanded and stained but it was just too expensive. I have wanted to paint it forever but this year, I’m ready to pull the trigger. I’m having a hard time decided what color to do though. Do I go dark on the rail and steps? Paint it all white? I think I’m leaning towards that option.

Kids Bathroom

Oh, this bathroom. I wish I could give it a total overhaul but that’s not likely to be in the budget this year so I’m going to start by making one major change – removing the dated old wallpaper and painting the room! Without a window in here (whhhyyyy?), this room doesn’t get any natural light so a light and airy color is definitely the way to go. I might use Sherwin Williams Crushed Ice (you can see it in my coastal paint colors post) that we used in our kitchen. It’s a very, very light grey and I love it!

If we can’t afford to remove the floors, I’d like to consider buying floor tile stickers to update the space. I included some of my favorites below. They can get quite pricey for a larger floor though, so I’m not sure it will actually be economical in the end. I’d like to learn how to DIY tile floors but I’m not sure we’re ready to tackle it ourselves just yet.

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Painting Projects

Our master bathroom is another room that should just be gutted but it’s DEFINITELY not in the budget. At the bare minimum though, it needs to be painted. There are some cracks in the walls from the usual house settling stuff. We’ve been here 11 years and have never touched the space so it’s definitely overdue. That fun job will go on the bottom of the list. Ha!

Our foyer and upstairs hallway also needs to be painted. If we just touch up what we have, I can do it myself. But if we do the whole thing, then my painter will need to be called in because I’m can’t get up on a ladder on our stairs.

I’m also planning on painting a curio cabinet for our dining room. It’s a dark cherry color that matched our old dining set but now it sticks out like a sore thumb. I’m thinking of painting it light blue, like Ashley from Schoolside Design did here.

Landscaping

We have several landscaping-related projects that I’m hoping we get to this year. We really need new sod in several different places (truthfully probably everywhere but our lot is pretty big which = pricey). I’d also like to see us spruce up some of the plants and flowers around the pool area as well!

So those are our 2021 home improvement projects and goals! Most of them are pretty manageable with some elbow grease and we should be able to get many of them accomplished this year!