2013 Home Goals Finale

Now that 2013 is officially over, it’s time to look back at the goals I made last year to see what I accomplished/what I slacked on. My original goals and comments are in blue. You can see my original 2013 Home Goals post here and my mid-year recap here


#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. 

I think I did really well on this one. The kitchen is pretty much complete, the living room is no longer embarrassing, and the office is actually functional (and cute). I still have a lot more decorating to do, but I made a lot of progress over the past year.

#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. 

Done and done! In February, I finally bought the stove I’d been wanting and in May I bought a new sectional.  I’m still happy with both purchases. Now I need to stop procrastinating and start working on the backyard!

#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.

As I mentioned in my mid-year recap, I hired a house-cleaner this year. She’s made my life SOOOO much easier! Of course I still wipe up the kitchen after meals and run the vacuum every few days, but I don’t have to spend my weekends scrubbing or mopping anymore. I'm so much more relaxed and probably a lot easier to live with...definitely worth every penny!

 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…

Eh, I wouldn’t call this one a success…I did really well for awhile, and then I slacked, then did really well, then slacked, and so on. I wasn’t consistent, so this is staying on my goals list for 2014. 

 
I also called myself out and listed a few projects/rooms I wanted to work on over the year.

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!

Done! Full details next week! Here's a sneak peek until then...

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.

Not started…This is going to be on my 2014 goals list!

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. 

I didn’t end up switching the rooms around as originally planned, but the office got a major overhaul this year. I’m so happy with the progress and love that it’s actually functional for 2 people. Plus I love that my boyfriend built me a desk! I can’t wait to finish up the room in 2014.

Overall, I’d say I did pretty well keeping to my goals. I’m definitely happy with my progress over the past year. Next week I have a fun comparison post planned to show the changes I made to the living room/dining room/kitchen area in 2013.

Did you make any 2013 Home Goals? Were they successful?