The Hygge Ranch: 2022 Home Goals & Projects
This time last year, I was in the thick of home projects and had really only been to think about our plans for The Hygge Ranch. We were brand new homeowners and just happy to be here! And to be honest, as a content creator, I definitely fell into the early trappings of "how can I monetize the projects I'll be sharing?"
Yeah... we won't be doing that again.
Prior to buying a home, I'd never even given myself project goals, and really was just tackling renter friendly projects as they came along, be it by necessity or just a surge of creativity. Now, however, this being a home we own, we would have to be more intentional about every project - taking into account how it would impact our finances, our schedules, and our overall quality of life. With what feels like a never-ending list of projects, we forced ourselves to sit down and prioritize. While a lot of these plans are far from fully fleshed out on account of my planning a whole in person conference - more on that later - starting to put pen to paper on what we want to have done by the end of the year has def tempered our over ambitious home project tendencies.
It's also taken me the better of 3 months to put this list together, so how's that for taking our time?
Our home goals & projects for 2022 is comprised of projects - big and small - that can realistically be tackled this year... not to be confused with our wishlist, which I'm still undecided on writing about.
What projects are we hoping planning to accomplish this year?
Photo Credit: Mariah Texidor Photography
Interior Projects
Powder Room
Fun fact: this was supposed to a 2021 project. The "plan" was to renovate the launderette, then the kitchen, then the powder room. Oh how very very naive we were. By the time the kitchen renovation was finally complete, neither one of us had any desire to jump into another renovation. We figured we'd finish out the summer (the kitchen reveal was in July) and pick up the powder room in the Fall. HA! Life had other plans. Being that this was a project we were going to DIY - like the launderette - between my husband's work schedule & my own personal challenges... well here we are around the corner from spring 2022.
This project will get done. There's no question about it. It's just all about timing.
Is it a necessary project? Nope. It's just one that we really want because it's the most dated bathroom in the entire house and will be a fun lil glow up.
Mini's Bedroom
The mini's room is one that has had small touches down to it here & there - window treatments, custom closet, new flooring, new rug, and new overhead lighting - however what it's in dire need of is having the popcorn ceiling removed and a fresh coat of paint. Similar to the bonus bedroom, this is actually a pretty low lift project... it just comes down to making the time & space to get rid of the popcorn ceiling and then the bigger challenge of selecting paint colors. She's a very particular kind of client with a very particular kind of taste... so yeah... we'll see if we make any progress this year.
Main Bedroom
Like the mini's room, this is def a low lift - popcorn ceiling & paint... that's it - however, for very different reasons. Whereas the mini's room just doesn't require anything else, our bedroom is one we plan on doing some MAJOR renovations to down the line... like 3+ years down the line. It wouldn't make very much sense for us to, for example, upgrade the closet, when there's a very strong chance we'll be completely ripping it out in less than 5 years. TBH... we may not even bother with the popcorn ceilings till then because that's how extensive the work we have planned is. Paint tho... extremely low bar design project.
Carpet Removal
Last year we took all of the old carpet out of the bedrooms and it was the BEST decision we made! We left the carpet that runs through the living room, dining room, and hallway because that was newer carpet in much better condition. We figured we'd save some time & money and tackle projects that were much higher priority since removing the carpet in those spaces would likely mean having to tackle whatever is happening below it... and that's just a lot of square footage of unknown! The other issue that could be potentially costly for us is that the flooring in this area has two other flooring types that are not the same - close but def different - and both no longer being made. When we tackle the carpet we'll, in effect, be replacing all the flooring in that area... INCLUDING the kitchen that we just renovated. We're in no rush to open that can of worms... not to mention the fact that there's popcorn ceilings also running through the living & dining rooms. It's something that we wanna just tackle all at once, including painting & installing recessed lighting.
Actually...
This isn't a carpet removal project... it's a living/dining room redesign. LOL.
Photo Credit: Ellie Lillstrom
Flex Lounge Doors
In case you missed it... our last project of 2021 - the flex lounge - is situated between our launderette and our media room. When we opened up the launderette wall, we never installed a new door to separate it from the flex space. The opening to the media room, on the other hand, was one that was always there. We never rushed to place doors in any of these openings because it's just not a priority.
Typically people want to have doors for their laundry spaces for privacy and/or as a sound barrier. Neither one of those is a pressing issue for us - no one's in our home & our laundry appliances are pretty quiet... all things considered.
As for the passage from the flex lounge into the media room, we actually go back & forth on whether or not we want a door there. Most days, we do - as a sound barrier & for privacy. This is because when one of us is working at the desk, we won't be distracted by whoever may be watching a movie next door. On the other hand, it's nice to have that opening because it can be super convenient whether it's watching a movie while working out or being able to keep an eye on the mini when she's at her work station.
For the laundry room, we already know that when the time comes, we would do French doors with frosted glass fronts that have a similar design to the already existing interior doors. For the media room a pocket door would be the best of both worlds - push it open to connect the spaces, pull it closed to separate em. Sounds simple right? HA! Problem is, while we know we have the depth to accommodate pocket doors, we have no idea what's actually happening in that wall. We wanna make sure when we pull the trigger, we're mentally & fiscally ready for whatever may come.
Replace Closet Doors
Plainly & simply put, we hate all the closet doors in this house. All of em. LOL. They're basic doors - some bi fold, some sliding - that either obstruct the full view of the closet or keep coming off their tracks. We hate em. We want em gone. That's it.
Exterior Projects
Illustration by: Nicole Updegraff
I have been design daydreaming about our exterior spaces since we moved in. Did we cross a handful of things off the list? Yeah... I suppose. Truth of the matter is we were paralyzed by inexperience - we didn't do anything because we didn't know what to do. This go round, having more of a plan should help alleviate our design stalemate.
Back Yard Fencing
Our biggest hurdle when it came to the fence was the out back fence was barbwire since the land behind it - formerly all trees - is currently being turned into a new housing community. After a year of looking into construction and worrying about our privacy, we finally got a proper fence installed along the back of our property. This now leaves our two side fences that we share with the neighbors - we don't like em... the fences that is, not the neighbors lol. They don't match our new fence - not in height, style, or finish - so the plan is to redo em both to match. This is something that we're likely gonna take on on our own - not with our neighbors - because they're fine with the existing fence & don't wanna spend the money which is fair. This is definitely a want, not a need, on our part.
The back fence isn't a project I shared because in addition to our physical privacy, I worry about our digital privacy, and I have yet to figure out a way to share an exterior fencing project without possibly doxing myself. That said, when the time comes, you probably won't see the side fences get done either.
Front Yard Landscaping (Phase 1)
Throughout last year, I did my best to learn all about the landscaping we inherited. Then we went through and decided what we wanted to keep and/or add. Having gotten rid of everything we wanted to get rid of, we have a general idea of what we'd like the front yard to look like. In the spring, we'll see which perennials return and then come up with a loose plan for phase 1. We already know that what we want the end result to be isn't something that will be completed this year. The plan is simply to look like we had a plan lol.
Back Yard Raised Bed Gardens
When we bought the house, it came with a MASSIVE garden bed in the back yard - 12' x 16' to be exact. As far as we could tell, they grew all kinds of fruits & vegetables... although we could not for the life of us figure out how they ever used the middle of the garden because of the size. Last year, we were even able to harvest some strawberries from the garden, which was nice. Since the wood of the raised bed was splitting, once the season ended we began dismantling the entire thing. There was no sense in salvaging it just for strawberries.
It's taken months to slowly relocate all of the soil to 4 smaller beds (4' squares) we've placed in the yard and we are no where near done. We're not even sure of those 4 garden beds are gonna stay where we placed them. By the end of this year, we'll be happy having simply cleared out the original garden bed. We can do so much with that land once the garden is gone & we can see the condition of the land below it... and we already have a few ideas in mind.
Back Yard Landscaping (Phase 1)
This, like the front yard, is gonna be a huge undertaking... bigger actually. We spent most of last year clearing out landscaping we didn't want and trying to get the yard to feel less like the previous owners. From there, we've simply been learning more & more about our yard...and also trying to enjoy it. For most of our plans, we're likely gonna bring in a landscape architect because we don't know the first, second, or third thing about landscape planning. Phase 1, however, will consist of being able to maintain our green grass, see what perennials return throughout the yard, decided what to try & grow in our smaller garden beds.
Driveway Repair & Redesign
Now this is definitely a want, not need, because there is technically nothing wrong with our driveway... it's just not uniform. The previous homeowners had an RV parked along side the house, so what we've surmised is that this driveway came after the original driveway that goes up to the garage. We have no need for an RV driveway so we'd likely also shorten it, essentially redesigning the driveway by shortening the depth, without compromising the width. This will also include some fence work so yeah... a lot of moving parts.
This year isn't the year this'll get done, so much that it's the year we prepare for it by maintaining the current condition of the driveway and also getting quotes for the work that we want to do.
Siding & Roof Replacement
Last year we had to have a part of our roof patched after noticing some water pooling marks inside the house. That was not a fun time, however, we are so thankful it wasn't worse! During our inspection, we learned that our home is at it's maximum limit for roof layers so we know that next go round - I forget how many years - we'd have to likely replace the roof. We have some time to worry about that, however, having that patch scare, we want to at least begin getting assessments and estimates.
Similarly, when we got out inspection done, we learned that the decorative siding was compromised and with it, could effect the actually siding of the house. Last year, we actually had someone come take a look & give us an estimate for replacing our siding. WHEW! Talk about sticker shock! Again... not a 2022 project, however, 2022 is when we get our ducks in a row.
This list is small but pricey mighty!
If the past two years have taught us anything it's to expect the unexpected and to be able to roll with the punches. This year, we wanted to try & take a proactive start to our home projects, taking into consideration our timelines & budgets, instead of just tumbling from one project into the next. Last year was beautiful in many ways, however, it was exhausting AF, and we refuse to repeat that pattern of hyper productivity. We didn't buy a home to constantly be in a state of repair & renovation.
We want to spend time enjoying our home more than we spend time fixing our home.
Above all else, this year's goal is to enjoy the home that we bought and that we spent so much time last year laboring over. Not for nothing, we also have so much to learn about the maintenance of our home. Earlier this year, for example, we hired a cleaning service and it was glorious. I want to maintain the home we've built so far - our systems, our routines. Compounded with getting ready to put on a conference in the summer - have you heard? - I would rather take on fewer projects if it means an improved quality of life.
