We’ve been in the dream house for a year and a half, and we’ve been hard at work making it into our kind of place. It’s been fun to own a house where we can change things and make it our own without worrying about the next renter or the angry landlord.

Like many projects, it’s a process. It depends a lot on time and money, so we can’t do everything right when we want. Here’s what I want to accomplish this year.

Finishing our basement.

Our basement was semi-finished when we moved in, with a plain concrete floor and plain drywall. As of today, it’s painted, and we are plugging away on a new floor. It’s been fun to do it ourselves. We have saved a load of money by doing most of the work that way, but it’s taken the time of course. Next is adding the trim back on, and then I want to add some bookshelves to look like a built-in along part of the wall that has a ledge. It’s coming along! Photos soon, I hope!

Kitchen counters

Our kitchen is in pretty great shape and does not need a full makeover. Unfortunately, the 20 year old laminate countertops are on their last leg. I’d love to give them an upgrade. This is the most expensive project on my list, but I think it will make the biggest difference in the way our kitchen both looks and functions.

Paint and wallpaper in the home office.

My office is a pretty sad shade of gray-blue right now. Not in a trendy way, but in a dingy way. I really want to get it painted this year. I’m thinking of doing it a really rich shade of emerald green or navy, and then doing one wall in an accent wallpaper (peel and stick, easy to get rid of when it’s not cute anymore).

Investigate what’s under the carpet

Our house has just one area that’s carpeted. The rest is the original hardwood. There’s a 10x20 chunk of flooring off our entryway that is covered in an old gray carpet. I’m curious what’s under there because it might change our plans for floor refinishing or adding a new carpet. The first step is to pull up an edge and see what’s under there. The floors are on our plan for refinishing, but this might change the plan enough that we can move it up on the list, or slide it down.