The Dappled Willow

A couple of months ago I wrote about how we’re trying to make our house a home. We’ve been in our home for nearly 5 years now but I was a 23 year-old expectant mother when we bought it and since we didn’t have much money to beautify the place we furnished it with hand-me downs, secondhand finds and a few curb rescues. Don’t worry though, our master bedroom mattress was purchased brand new.

I’ve enjoyed refinishing a lot of the pieces in our home and I love that almost everywhere you look there’s a piece with a backstory. But it’s crazy how quickly you accumulate stuff! And lately, I’ve been craving simplicity (less clutter). Plus there are so many projects I’ve been itching to get started on but I didn’t know where to begin. 

I challenged myself to do one thing every day to improve the house buuuuut unfortunately (and obviously) I failed that challenge pretty quick. I did however successfully complete the Budget Room Refresh of our master bedroom in a timely fashion. I can’t wait to share the tutorials I wrote up for some of my DIYs. I love our bedroom so much now! I feel tension release from my shoulders and neck when I catch even but a glimpse of my little bedroom retreat. 

In my last post about my goals for 2020 I mentioned that my home is one area I’d like to focus on this year. I’ve taken time to reflect and I’ve set SMART goals for myself so that we see real results. In case you haven’t heard that term before SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.

The Goal

I want to continue with my Budget Room Refresh challenge and declutter, reorganize, and redecorate each room on the top floor and main floor of the house by the end of the year. 

The Plan of Attack

Since it’s a refresh, not a full-on reno, I’ve set a maximum budget of $500 for each room. Once I get to $500 on a room I have to move on. 

I’ll tackle one room at a time. The top floor, which has two more bedrooms and a bathroom, refreshed by mid-year, and the main floor, which has the kitchen, dining room, living room and two entryways refreshed by the end of the year. 

I’ve drafted myself a more detailed plan for each room with a wish list of potential changes to be made. I’ve got a calendar and a schedule and I’m ready to hop to it! 

My Motivation

I know even the best laid plans change, so I’ve given my husband instructions to remind me of my ‘why’ if I become discouraged. My motivation to do all of this is to finally make our house a home. I want our house to be a reflection of who we are and our style instead of the mishmash of thrifty finds it currently is. I want to make it more functional and fun and hopefully we can find a bit more peace.  

What will ‘success’ look like? 

The wish list will be the main indicator of success. I could spend $500 on a lighting fixture for each room but then I would still be left wanting. If I can check most of my wish list items off, remain on budget and complete all the rooms by next year then I’ll be thrilled. 

So there you have it! I hope you enjoy following along as I tackle this 2020 goal.