New house: Prioritizing projects
We moved into our new home in the middle of a pandemic, with a toddler, and 5 months into a rough pregnancy. Needless to say, I didn’t have the mental or physical energy to deal with a ton of house projects. But the previous owners had a completely different style than ours and we wanted to make the place feel more like us before the baby arrived. How did we decide which house projects to do first? We focused on two dimensions to help prioritize the list: what would make the biggest impact and what would be difficult to do with two kiddos underfoot? From there, we narrowed the list down to three projects:
Paint: It was a no-brainer that we needed to paint most of the rooms. Not only was there crayon all over the walls, but I’m fairly certain each room was a different color. I recall there being lilac, lime, mustard, and royal blue just to name a few. To bring cohesion to the space, make our current furniture work in the space, and help make the rooms feel fresh, we painted most of the rooms white with undertones of blue and gray. Since our kitchen and living room are semi-open, we wanted those two rooms to feel like one, large space while also tying in colors from the countertops. It took just about a week to complete but as soon as we saw the final results, we knew it was worth the effort. “Goodbye, lime!”
Light fixtures: I think a light fixture can really make a room shine, no pun intended. And, you don’t have to spend a ton of money on new fixtures. You can get some really beautiful pieces for a reasonable price if you’re willing to do your homework and wait for deals. In our house, the previous owners had outdated fixtures that made the rooms feel drab. We chose to change the kitchen island pendant, dining room light, and both of the kids’ rooms because they are high traffic areas and we needed ample lighting in those rooms. For under $900, we were able to drastically change four rooms in only a few hours.
Create storage: Our new house is charming - charming being synonymous with small. When we moved in, there wasn’t a ton of storage space and the space it did have wasn’t well designed. As a NAPO professional organizer, I know how important it is to maximize storage, especially with two little ones. For example, the laundry room only had a pole to air dry clothes and the detergent was stored on top of the washer. For under $40, we put in shelving above the washer and dryer to get the detergent and dryer sheets safely out of the way. Another place we added storage was by the door to the garage. There is a hall closet but most of the time, we’re going in and out of the house through the garage. We added 2 benches, one shelf, and one small shelf/key holder to create a space where we could keep shoes, bags, and coats. In an ideal world, we’d do a custom build but for now (and for under $150!) there is room for all of our stuff.
We had to buy some big pieces of furniture as well but I’m grateful we paused on most projects. As a certified interior decorator (CID), I often advise many clients to live in the space for a while before making any big design decisions or purchases. Now that we’ve been in the house for over a year, I’m really excited to move forward with our bigger ‘wish list’ projects. I recognize we may never be truly done since I love decorating and rethinking spaces, but I can say that the house is really starting to feel like our home.
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