It's About Time

My plans for the house in 2014 are probably my most ambitious yet.

No, not probably. Definitely.

My goal is to be able to call most of the house done. We have lived here over a decade, and I have never felt a room was done. There's always something lacking. There's always a project that has been pushed off because of budget or time or simple laziness. For years I've settled for good enough because making it awesome seemed impossible.

Usually, I tell myself that the motivation is to get it sale-ready. My dream for selling this house is speed, but I'm extremely rational and know that, in this market and this location, we're probably looking at a fair amount of time with a "for sale" sign in the yard. My goal is to get it as ready as possible, to fancy up this ol' lady to the best of our budget and ability and make her desirable.

But also, more and more, I've wanted to feel like rooms were done because, quite frankly, it's time.

Now, there is a part of me that believes a home is never finished. It's job is to evolve and rise to whatever challenge we ask of it, like three kids and homeschooling. But at the same time, a room can be done in the sense that there are no major projects hanging over our heads, or if there are, it doesn't feel that way when I look at it.

So, lofty goals, yes. But I'm determined, and we're *this close* to being out of debt, so our cash flow might be a little better this year. Time is still a tricky issue, since Seth still works two jobs, but hopefully we can make it work.

We'll be starting with the living room as soon as the Christmas decorations come down. We're starting there because a) it's easy--mostly just patching and painting and b) it will segue into the kitchen, which we're hoping to do when the weather warms up. The big jobs in the living room will be sanding down a repair in the ceiling (that has been proudly ugly for years), and if that doesn't work, we're going to have to cover it with something like beadboard. I'm really, really hoping that sanding alone will be good enough. I don't care as much about perfection as I do not visually horrifying. There's also some patching on the walls to be done. Our walls and ceilings aren't drywall, but rather plaster, so that makes it a little trickier. Then, once those jobs are done, paint and decor.

The hardest part in planning has been narrowing down my style. If you look through my Pinterest boards, you'd think I have style ADD. There is far more that I like than I don't like when it comes to home decor, but I want the house to flow and make sense, so I'm trying to make my decisions based on the big picture. I don't like anything too modern, but I think I'm leaving my country/cottagey phase into more transitional territory. So, I have to figure out how to like something, but be ok with not including it in my own home.

Here's my list of what I know I gravitate toward:

1. Lines and angles more than curves.
2. Geometric patterns and stripes more than florals and paisleys.
3. Deep colors, like navy, mustard, kelly green, turquoise--set against a contrast of crisp white.

And above all, I need it to work. I need to take advantage of every square inch without it feeling cluttered or overwhelming.

PS: Sorry for the lack of pictures. All in good time, my friend.