Home Goals for the New Year
If you're like many of us, you are welcoming a new year with arms WIDE open! A new year always feels like a great time to wipe the slate clean, start fresh and make new goals — especially after a rough year. While common resolutions for a new year may focus on bettering oneself, why not shift some focus onto bettering your home this year?!
5 Tips for Setting Home Improvement Goals for the New Year
Brainstorm
Brainstorm on projects, big or small that you would like to tackle around your home and break these goals down over the next 12 months. We suggest focusing on (and accomplishing!) a task a month, depending on the level of effort/time that is involved. You may need to paint your kitchen, reorganize the garage, or work on the landscaping in your yard. Decide which projects are a priority and if any are time-sensitive (landscaping in the snow won't work out very well 😉) and plan accordingly.
Think big picture, then get granular
Thinking about everything that you would like to accomplish in your ENTIRE home can feel very overwhelming. But keep in mind, you've got the whole year to work through your projects. Start by thinking about your big picture home goals and then work your way into the smaller ones.
You may decide that one of your projects could occupy a whole month while others can be done in a day. Or, you may have a very time-intensive project that might take more than a month — in which case you should break the entire project down into "chunks" that can be accomplished each month, allowing you to slowly chip away at the larger goal while still completing a goal each month. Carefully planning out these projects by the month will help you feel better about accomplishing all of your goals this year.
Be realistic
Remember, it's important to be realistic about what projects you will be able to accomplish throughout the year. While we applaud an ambitious attitude, what you don't want to do is set yourself up for what may feel like failure. Struggling each month to complete your goals and staying in a constant state of playing "catch up" will only lead to frustration and a lack of motivation to complete anything.
So, for instance, if you know that during the summertime you spend most of your free time at the beach it would be best to plan your projects accordingly — scheduling quicker, cut and dry projects over the summer months, leaving the more involved tasks for other times throughout the year.
Use this project template
Staying on track with your projects is always easier when you have a constant reminder. We've put together a project tracking template for you to use and keep up with which tasks you plan to accomplish each month. We suggest printing out the tracking template and hanging it somewhere that you will see it often — possibly your office workspace, refrigerator or even your bedroom.
The purpose is that by seeing the project tracker every day, it will act as a constant reminder to complete your projects and stay on track to meet your goals. Download it here!
Reward yourself
Don't forget to reward yourself for a job well done! Decide what your reward will be and work towards it! Whether it's a special grill to sit on that newly built patio or a nice dinner out, something to look forward to will help motivate you throughout the year on those days when you would rather spend a Sunday afternoon binging your favorite TV show.
Yes, committing to goals that encompass an entire year can feel overwhelming at first. But, with some careful planning it becomes much less daunting and who knows, you may even have some fun along the way! ☺️ And remember, even if you don't accomplish everything you had hoped to, at the end of the day, any goal that you complete over the year is a positive step forward in making your home a better place! Here's to new years and happy homes!
