Happy New Year, everyone! If you’ve been here a while, you know how much I love the start of a new year. It’s a clean slate. A new beginning. And of course, it’s a great time to refocus on goals.
I have been making these lists of home goals at the beginning of the year for several years. Some years I do better than others. Last year was a pretty successful year and I hope this year will be too. I have a few big projects I want to tackle (and complete) this year. I’ve never fully completed any of these lists in a year, and I doubt this year will be any different. But I like having these lists so I can stay focused on the end goal. With that in mind, here are the things that are on the agenda for 2026.
The master bedroom
The first task this year will be to finish our bedroom. I made a lot of progress on this room last year, so I’m picking up where I left off at the end of last year. If things go as planned, I believe I can finish this room fairly quickly and then move on to the next project. Before I can cross this room off my list, I need to do the following:
- Hang the padded headboard (I did this on my break but it’s just sitting on the floor right now)
- Finishing the upholstered bed frame (I finished most of it during my break, but there are still some details to finish),
- Finish the second lamp makeover,
- Finish sewing the curtains (I made progress on this during my break but still have a long way to go),
- Make a cover for the attic access,
- Build a TV frame,
- Have the new artwork matted and framed and
- Paint the small side table next to the armchair.
Outside bedroom
Last year we had a window removed and a door installed in the bedroom. It looks great from the inside, but from the outside it is still unfinished. The original purpose of the door was to give us a quick exit in an emergency, so I could easily get Matt out of the room, but unless I build steps and have ramp access, it won’t serve that purpose very well. So I have to…
- Paint the door and trim,
- Build steps and determine the ramp situation
- Add some landscaping
The foyer of the bedroom suite
This area is nearing completion. There are usually only small projects left. I still have to:
- Sand and paint the ceiling where the ceiling light used to be.
- Replace the damaged wallpaper,
- Add a small border around the cabinet door where the wallpaper ends.
- Paint the doors (they all still need a coat of paint),
- Move the router and patch the small hole in the ceiling.
- Apply privacy film to the glass of the French window and
- Install all door handles/handles.
The storage room of the bedroom suite
The room that has been our main guest bathroom since we moved into this house is being converted into a storage room. I know this sounds crazy to most people, but this room is in our master bedroom. And it’s just weird to have a guest bathroom in a master bedroom suite. But we also need storage space for Matt’s equipment – wheelchair, shower wheelchair, Hoyer lift, etc. And this happens to be the space in our bedroom suite that is just the right size to serve this purpose. We also need to get the water heater out of the sunroom and this is the perfect place for that too. To convert this room from a bathroom to a storage room I need to…
- Rip out almost everything,
- Repair or replace the drywall,
- Have the water heater installed here,
- Add or replace flooring (there are no tiles under the bathtub),
- Arrange and organize the space for storage.
The studio bathroom (i.e. the new guest bathroom)
This room is a mess for several reasons. First, the pump for the toilet and sink stopped working just over a year ago, so this bathroom hasn’t been used since. But at some point I also had a plan to convert this bathroom into a walk-in pantry. At this point, any plans to finish this bathroom or make any repairs were put on hold because I didn’t want to put more money into it and then rip it out.
But now the plans have changed. The bathroom will not only remain, but will be our only guest bathroom for the time being. I’m hoping this is temporary and we will eventually be able to build an addition to our home that includes a brand new (and more centrally located) full guest bathroom. But until then, this will be the only guest bathroom in our house. And even if that happens, our plan is to keep this bathroom in my studio. To prepare this bathroom for guests I need to…
- Have the pump repaired or replaced,
- Wallpaper the walls and
- Replace some trim (including around the mirror).
My workshop
This time last year I focused a lot of my energy on the outside of my workshop. I have completed most of the major projects to transform the original gray boring box of a building into something that looks like a cute little cottage in our backyard. These projects were fun, but other than the front steps and concrete ramp, they didn’t really improve the function of the workshop. So this building served as a warehouse last year. This year it’s time to turn my attention inside and turn this building into a functional workshop where I can use my woodworking tools. To do this I have to…
- Run the power to the workshop,
- Add lots of lighting and outlets,
- Seal walls (probably with OSB, not drywall),
- I have built many storage and work tables for my tools and
- Install a garage door opener.
And externally I still have to…
- Create a planting bed around the building,
- Add outdoor lights to the front door and garage door.
The breakfast room
I don’t have a current picture of the breakfast room but will add one as soon as possible. But we’ve been using this room as our temporary bedroom for the past year while I worked on our new bedroom suite. So imagine that the lounge chairs, floor lamp, and table are gone and there’s a queen-sized bed in their place, and you’ll have a good idea of what the room looks like now.
But I’ve also collected a lot of items from this room over the last year to use in different areas of the house. The curtains and wall art are now in my walk-in closet and one of the benches is in the foyer of our bedroom suite. Now that this room will no longer serve as our temporary bedroom, I need to restore it to usable condition and replace the items I have collected for other areas of the house. This will not be a major renovation but the plan is to convert this back into a dining area. To finish this room I need to…
- Make new curtains,
- Build or buy a new dining table,
- Buy new dining chairs,
- Build or buy new cabinets to complement the pantry door (more on that later),
- Create new artwork for the walls next to the pantry door.
And finally…
The winter garden
I hate this room so much and believe me I would like to tear it down as soon as possible. But the fact is that we need space for our training equipment. So until we are ready to start building our addition, the space must remain and we must use it as a temporary home gym. I don’t plan on spending a lot of money on this area as it won’t last long term, but I need to make it usable in the short term. I have to…
- Clear everything out (sell it, give it away and bring it to my workshop),
- Remove the carpet,
- paint walls and ceiling,
- Replace the broken air conditioner wall unit.
- Set up our training equipment.
So that’s where I’m going this year. Of course, I would like to add other things, like a complete kitchen renovation, but I’m trying to be realistic about time and budget. I think if I get these projects done it will be a successful year and then I can potentially start the kitchen renovation I’ve been dreaming about next year.
