I know this is a month late but hey ho. I never make resolutions for myself but I decided to make a couple of house resolutions this year. I think both Jules and I felt frustrated by the end of last year at the extent of work we could do on our house but not having the funds to carry any of it out.
Therefore, my first resolution is to not spend any money on home accessories this year (I have a long list of things I want, believe me!!) and instead try and save any money we can. If there are things that need to be done or bought (for example, we could do with a wardrobe for Mimi’s room) I will use eBay or Gumtree etc to source one and ensure I sell something from the house to cover the cost.
Secondly, we have resolved to clear out our loft. I have no idea whatsoever how or why it is so full considering we moved from a two bed flat – where oh where it was stored in there I will never know! Anyway, it is bursting at the seams and it is a literal and metaphorical weight on my shoulders so it needs to be sorted. Lots of it can be sold, some can be passed on to friends/family and the rest can be donated or recycled. Of course, there are a few things, like Christmas decorations, that will be stored up there but otherwise it has to go. It’s a massive job so I’ve promised to get two large things or one box down each weekend and get rid of them in a very considered way and I hope that makes it a more manageable job.
There are definitely quite a few things that we still want to do inside the house: the hallway floor to be tiled, the stairs to be carpeted, the fire hearths to be tiled, the spare room to be accessorised, fitted cupboards to be installed in our room and I still want to wallpaper the living room. However, Jules and I have both agreed that we are going to leave all those jobs for now and focus on the outside of the house. Firstly, the house needs to be painted, the front garden and fence needs a complete makeover and back garden needs a complete overhaul.
So there you go, I’ve written it down now so it has to happen, right? How about you? Any house resolutions of your own?
Katy x
I sympathise with your ‘no budget’ frustrations! We are now towards the end of our reno and have no cash left! We are saving up to do our bedroom (plastering etc etc) but I am so embarrassed by our guest room I am going to do a ‘tart up’ job on a budget – lots of Polyfilla, white paint, ‘shopping my home’ for artwork, accessories and trawling charity shops too.
I created my garden from scratch 18 months ago – My tips would be to check Facebook marketplace for things like paving. Visit auctions for garden furniture (wooden benches) and accessories (pots etc) you can upcycle, approach green-fingered friends and family who would be happy to donate cuttings and small plants to you – they may look a bit sparse for the first 6 months or so but will soon fill out! Any gaps, fill with fast growing summer annuals such as poppies, cornflowers or wild flower mixes to fill a space – good luck!
For the loft tidy up; can I REALLY recommend clear big boxes. Not only is it super easy to see what is inside but you can switch the labels making it easy to see what is inside. Has helped massively with my loft storage and I think they are quite reasonably priced from BM bargains etc.
Our attic looks similar than yours. 🙂 This year we want to clear it up.
My other plans for the house:
1. New runner for the hall.
2. Sell all furniture we don’t need.
3. Herb garden.
We got our stairs carpeted for about £90 in a really lovely woven wool, pale neutral carpet. It was from a local shop in East Ham and cost about a quarter of the price quoted from John Lewis. Just about to start a renovation in our new house- love your home. It’s one of my inspirations for our new place! Xx
I like doing resolutions like this! Can’t seem to jump on board with the personal development kind, haha. For our house we want/need to replace light fixtures. We have a couple terrible offenders from the 90s, at least one of which isn’t even installed correctly, and another is in a bathroom we renovated, but I couldn’t find a light I liked that would give off the right kind of light for getting ready in a bathroom (though I may have found one just today! TBD!). Also, finishing baby proofing our kitchen. Our girl is almost 1 and I still put her in the pack n play when we’re in the kitchen. 😬🙈
A thoughtful, pared down plan – I like it! We just moved from a London terrace house to a beautiful stone Scottish house and it has a huge loft. I made the decision that (unlike the loft in our London house, which was full of ‘excess’) nothing was going to go into the loft. I like the mindfulness of that decision…sleeping without chaos above our head. Good luck with your mission 🙂
Somehow it seems partly achieved, once it’s written down doesn’t it? We have lived in our home for far too long for it to be acceptable to use the just moved excuse… long enough for our woeful amount of storage to overflow. So that is my main aim – a sort!