2013 Blog Goals

Earlier this week I shared my 2013 Home Goals (plus 1 personal goal), so I’m back today to share my 2013 Blog Goals. Yep, the ol’ blog is getting some much-needed attention this year.

Consistency

I’ve been posting about 3 times per week for the almost-2 years I’ve been blogging…except for the last few months. I really slacked off and was good for maybe 1 post per week. I had a stressful couple months at work and really lost myself my motivation during that time. Anyway, I want to get back into my 3 posts per week schedule this year.

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Content

I’ve come to realize that I’m not going to have DIY/craft/room makeover posts ready to share multiple times a week. I work full-time and try to have a life outside of blogging, so I just don’t have time to finish everything that I’d like to. However, I’m also trying to be a consistent blogger. So in 2013 expect to see more personal posts (puppy updates, vacation, living healthier, etc) and more recipes/cooking posts. Did you know that I cook a full, sit down meal every night except Friday and Saturday? I love cooking and I spend a good portion of my night preparing dinner and lunch for the following day, so I figured I should incorporate a little more of that into this blog. That being said, I don’t want to post fluff just so I can say that I post 3 times a week. So if I don’t have anything to write about, there won’t be a post that day. Simple enough.

Navigation

I want to make The Junk House easier to navigate and quicker to load. The navigation bar needs to be updated so it loads faster – and now I know a better way to create a navigation bar, so that should be good soon. I also need to update my house tour page with more recent pictures and update my project gallery. I also want to add an Instagram and favorite posts section to my sidebar.

Style

The look of The Junk House has come a long way since I started blogging 2 years ago, but there’s always room for improvement. I’d like to update the sidebar labels, change some of the fonts, get a new profile picture, etc. I’m still pretty happy with the look overall look of the blog, especially since I designed pretty much everything (except the button) myself. So, I’m not talking full re-design…just refinement of my current look.

Comments/E-mail

I’m just going to say it: I suck at managing my inbox. I read all your comments and save the e-mails planning to respond, but I only follow through about 25% of the time. I try to either reply via e-mail or stop by your blog and leave a comment about one of your posts. Speaking of, do you guys have a preference? E-mail replies to your comment or stopping by you blog and leaving a comment on your post? Regardless, I’m going to try to be better about responding to comments and staying on top of my inbox, but no promises. Oh, and don’t take it personally, I suck a managing my personal and work e-mails too…

Do you have any other blog suggestions for me? What do you like/don’t like about what you see now or what I have planned? I really want to make The Junk House entertaining and user-friendly, so please let me know if you have any suggestions to make things better/easier.

Christmas Break Project #1: Mirror + Bonus

So I only finished 2-ish projects on my Christmas Break To-Do list. I blame it mostly on the fact that I made that list without considering how little time I’d actually be home during the break.  After spending time with my parents and a couple days in Las Vegas with my boyfriend, I was only home for about 3 days of my break…not enough time to get everything done that I’d planned. Regardless, I had a great Christmas Break and didn’t lose all my money in Vegas!

Of course I started with the easiest project…I only really put it on the list so I’d remember to do it. Anyway, my boyfriend has to use the guest bathroom because the master bathroom is so small. I’m 5’4” so I originally hung the bathroom mirror at what I considered to be a reasonable height. Well, he’s 6’3” and couldn’t see the top of his head in the mirror, so the mirror needed to be raised a couple inches.

Before

Are you ready for this amazing after picture?

Yeah, it looks almost exactly the same…

Of course I can’t write a post that’s only about raising a mirror 2 ½ inches, so I’m throwing in a bonus. You might have already noticed it in my last post:

Yep, I finally found something to hang in the kitchen. I bought the Bon Appétit sign in October at the Lolly Jane Crafty Bloggers De-stash Bash (aka yard sale) for $3. Eventually I’d like to make my own sign, so I can make it longer for the space, but I’m loving this sign for now. And let’s be honest: it’ll take me a year months to make my own sign, so I’ll definitely get my $3 worth out of this sign.

Now I just need to find something for the dining room wall…

2013 Home Goals

Last week we reviewed my 2012 Home Goals and so now it’s time to share my 2013 Home Goals. You’ll see a lot of similarities from last year’s goals, but I’m also going to list a few specific projects and rooms that I want to work on this year. I’m officially calling myself out on a couple projects that have been on the to-do list for way too long.

 

#1 Make Decisions and Kick Fear to the Curb

Usually I have a really hard time committing to a decorating decision. It’s partially because I’m indecisive and partially out of fear. My goal is year is to make decisions and not let the fear continue to do my decorating. I will hang more stuff on my walls and not fear nail holes. I will buy what I like (within reason) and not fear that I might get sick of it at some point. I will decorate my house and not fear that someone else won’t like it…my opinion (and my boyfriend’s) is all that matters.

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#2 Stop Procrastinating and Start Spending

This isn’t an open check to buy whatever I want, but a push to stop procrastinating and buy what I’ve already saved for. It’s mostly about being lazy – too lazy to stop by furniture stores to look at sectionals, too lazy to list my stove on Craigslist, too lazy to get time off work to meet delivery people, etc. But we need a new couch and I want matching appliances, so it’s time to get my act together! These 2 are leftover from 2012, so I really want to get on it early this year.

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#3 Live and Let Go

I live with 2 dogs that shed, drool and have muddy paws…and a guy who doesn’t care about decorating and has been known to leave dirty dishes around the house – our house isn’t going to be perfect. Things will get messy and out of order…and that’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We live in the real world not in a glossy magazine. And so this year I’m going to try to stop obsessing (and getting mad) and just let go. Obviously that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop cleaning and let everything go to ruin, but it does mean that I’ll relax and enjoy myself more. I want to spend that extra 30 minutes in bed on the weekends cuddling with my boyfriend and dogs instead of jumping up to clean the kitchen. Those are my favorite moments and I don’t want to miss out on them because of some dirty dishes.

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One Bonus Personal Goal:

Live Healthier

I’m not committing to losing a certain amount of weight, going to the gym so many days a week, or cutting out all carbs/sugar because those resolutions never work out for me. I simply want to start exercising more and eating healthier. I eat fairly healthy for the most part, but there’s always room for improvement (baked goods and/or sweets are my weakness). The biggest part of this is being more active. That doesn’t just mean working out at the gym – it’s taking the dogs on more walks, playing Just Dance 4 with my boyfriend’s niece until I drop, and actually using that treadmill I bought…

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Now it’s time to call myself out and list some projects/rooms I want to work on:

Painting my china hutch has been on my to-do list since I bought my house. I put it on my Christmas Break to-do list, but didn’t have enough time to work on it – so I’m giving myself the whole year! Time to act!

Our backyard is huge and has great potential, but right now it’s downright depressing. It’s full of dirt and weeds...and it’s embarrassing. I’d love for it to start looking presentable. However, it’s going to be a challenge because of the dogs, specifically Ringo the Destroyer. He’s destroyed everything I’ve tried to plant back there and pretty much everything else he can get his teeth on, so this is going to take some creativity and a lot of effort.

Lastly, our guest room and office aren’t cutting it – using those two rooms the way they are currently set up isn’t working for us. You’ll hear more about this later, but basically my plan is to turn the office into a man cave/guest room (daybed) and the guest room into a guest room/office. It’ll be a lot of work, but it’ll fit our needs a lot better.

My goals this year are definitely ambitious, but I’m hoping they’ll motivate me over the next 12 months.

And just for fun, here are a few pictures of my living room/dining room/kitchen as of right now. I thought it might be fun to take pictures of the same areas next year to compare the changes. Oh, and don’t mind the mantle…I just took my Christmas stuff down and haven’t had time to decorate it.

(Looks like I missed the giant nutcracker while I was putting away my Christmas stuff!)

 

What are your goals/resolutions for 2013? Or do you skip making resolutions because you never keep them?

2012 Home Goals Finale

2012 is officially over, so it’s time to look back on the goals I made at the beginning of the year to see what I’ve accomplished/what I slacked on. My original goals and comments are in blue.

You can see my original 2012 Home Goals post here and you can see my mid-year recap here

#1

It’s almost been a year, time for my house to stop looking/feeling like I just moved in!

This means I will finish unpacking boxes and actually make some decorating decisions.  Instead of waiting for the perfect piece I need to start using what I have. I can always update/replace things, but for now, something would look better than nothing.

I still have a lot of work to do around the house, but I’ve accomplished quite a bit over the past year. The house doesn’t look/feel like I’ve just moved in anymore. The boxes are all gone and there’s actually some decorating going on.

In my 2012 Home Goals Revisited post I mentioned the huge empty wall in the living room. We’ll that wall finally got some attention and now has a piece of furniture that fits the space (although there’s still more work to be done). I’m happy with my progress from last year and can’t wait to see what I can accomplish in 2013!

#2

Stop being a cheap ass and spend some of the money I’ve been hoarding!

I’ve been saving money for a couple big projects/furniture pieces, but I’ve yet to act on any of them. I’m planning to:

Extend the Back Patio

Buy a New Couch

Buy a New Entertainment Center

And I’m planning to use my yearly bonus (depending on the amount) to replace my stove and microwave to match the other kitchen appliances.  

OK, so I’m about 50/50 on this one…and I haven’t made any progress since my 6-month recap post. Just as a reminder, I had the back patio extended, bought a new entertainment center (seen above) and replaced my microwave to match the refrigerator and dishwasher.

And although I haven’t bought a new couch yet, I have been looking around for one - I just haven’t found exactly what I want yet. I also have my new stove picked out, but I haven’t felt like dealing with selling my old one on Craigslist or getting time off work to meet the delivery guys. This will be on my 2013 list!

#3

Simplify!

This one is going to be hard because I love stuff!

However, I don’t like dusting stuff. And I’m starting to feel like I’ve accumulated too much stuff! My boyfriend and I recently dropped off 2 boxes and 1 trash bag full of stuff to the Goodwill…it’s a good start, but I’m sure we have more.

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I’ve been working really hard on this one and I think I’ve done pretty well over the past year. I’ve taken a lot of stuff to Goodwill and now I’m purging the house in anticipation of our upcoming community garage sale. Yeah, we have garage sales in January in Phoenix…it’s too hot during the typical garage sale months.

#4

Stop apologizing for my house!

We work full-time and have a puppy - our house isn't going to be perfect. It will get messy and things will be out of order. I need to remember that.

And I think we all know DIY projects take time. I can’t expect everything to happen overnight. This year I want to stop being embarrassed about the things that need to be fixed and start enjoying the fact that I have my own house. I know I’m very lucky and I want to try and be more appreciative of that.

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I think I’ve done pretty well with this over the past year, but it will always be a struggle for me. I like things to be clean and in order, but my boyfriend and the dogs don’t necessarily feel the same way. I’ve been trying really hard to let things go and not let it bother me as much, but it’s still a challenge. I’ve been working on a cleaning schedule and so far it’s helped keep the house from looking like a complete wreck and it’s kept me from losing my shit over a dirty glass left on my clean kitchen counter. This will always be something that I can improve on, so expect to see something similar on my 2013 list!

Overall, I’d say I did pretty well keeping to my goals. I’m definitely happy with my progress over the past year. I’m putting my 2013 Home Goals together right now and I’ll share them next week.

Did you make any 2012 Home Goals? Were they successful?

Christmas Break To-Do List

One of the best things about my job is that we get a paid Christmas/Winter Break…and it’s much needed. I had a crappy week at work last week, including an almost mental breakdown on Wednesday. Thankfully everything is better now, but I’m still beyond excited that our site is officially closed down from December 22^nd – January 1^st. I’m going to spend a couple days with my parents, a couple days in Las Vegas with my boyfriend, and then the rest of the time I’ll be working around the house.

Just like last year, I’m putting together a Christmas Break to-do list. I’ve come up with 6 projects (large and small) that I really want to finish during my time off. Of course we all know I’m not that productive, so let’s plan for 3 out of 6. Oh, and sorry for the crappy pictures...I didn't feel like taking new ones, so I just used what I could find.

Paint the China Hutch

Install Living Room and Master Bathroom Baseboards

Finish the Craft Room

Upholster Chairs

No picture =(

Raise the Guest Bathroom Mirror (it’s hung too low for my tall boyfriend)

Artwork for Above the Console Table

Wish me luck…

Christmas Mantel

My Christmas decorations are out and the entire house is bursting with holiday cheer (I even got my boyfriend to hang lights outside).Today I’m sharing my mantel, which turned out to be my favorite decorated area. It’s simple, somewhat traditional, but still fun (glitter and white spray paint).

I love having a mantel to hang our stockings on. Last year I just used the cheap 98 cent stockings from Wal-Mart, but this year I upgraded…to the $1.99 ones…big spender! I also needed to buy an A for Abby to match the JSR glitter letters that I had from last Christmas. I lucked out and Wal-Mart had the same glitter letters as last year (less than $1 each). Yes, Ringo and Abby have their own stockings…and Ringo has already pulled his down once. 

The garland is from Hobby Lobby (50% off, so around $20) and it's absolutely gorgeous - it looks real. The poinsettia/berry/pine swag hanging on the mirror was on clearance at Michael's (around $5). The angel candleholders are from my Christmas décor stash (and were on my mantel last Christmas), but this year I spray painted them white. I think they look so much better in white than the cranberry/gold they used to be.

I love how it turned out! Honestly, the mantel looks a lot better than it usually does, so I might just keep these decorations up the whole year…just kidding!

 

Red Front Door

As you can tell from the post title, I picked red. Actually, my boyfriend picked red. I went to Home Depot after work on Friday and grabbed paint cards in all the colors I was considering. I narrowed down all of the choices to one paint card per color. Then I couldn’t decide because I liked them all, so I let my boyfriend pick. The poor guy gets very little say in how the house is decorated, so I figured it was his turn…especially since he uses the front door more than I do (I park in the garage, so I come in through the laundry room).

Here’s what we started with – straight from the factory white:

As always, prep work is key. I taped off the window (which took for-ev-er) and removed the deadbolt and door knob. Yes, my drop cloth is an old bed sheet…

I’m not going to lie…I was freaking out a little bit after the first coat. I was super bright and almost hot pink-ish. But I just kept telling myself it would dry darker and look better after a couple more coats. Oh, and I should note that the paint is Geranium by Behr.

Three coats later, the door was bright red perfection (although, this picture looks almost exactly the same as the first picture)!

But you can’t paint your door all spiffy and then put your nasty old brass knobs back on, so I went out and bought all new deadbolts/door knobs. If you’re wondering why I didn’t just spray paint them, it’s because they weren’t worth saving. The deadbolt on the security door was one of those double key ones and we thought it was a pain (although I’m sure some people like them) and the door knob was finicky. Sometimes you could turn the lock just fine and then sometimes it would stick and you’d have to wiggle it a few times to get it to turn. The door knob on the front door was missing the lock piece, so it was pretty much just there for show. Sketchy…I know! (Don’t worry - we still had plenty of working locks and were safe…they were just inconvenient.)

Anyway, here’s the big finale – red paint and new deadbolt/door knob:

And just for fun, a before and after comparison:

The security door definitely helps tone down the color and hides the change from the HOA. From the street you can see the red, but it doesn’t stand out so I’m thinking I’m good. We’ll find out!

Oh, and not counting the new locks, this project was less than $20. So, if you’re thinking about painting your door, DO IT! It’s cheap and easy. You just have to start in the morning and plan on being home all day (since your door will be wide open for the paint to dry).