What Are Your Goals for 2011?

My first goal for 2011 is to keep praying that our salaries go back to 100% this year!  There are a ton of things that weI'd like to do to the house this year, and the extra cash would really help.  What do we want to work on, you ask?  Here is our list:

1. Fix up our half bath.   Our half bath is tiny.  It has a old vanity and medicine cabinet as well as a toilet with a crack in it and carpeting.. yes, that's right - I said carpeting.  How gross... who ever thinks that carpeting is a good idea in a bathroom?

We have already purchased the pedestal sink, a new mirror, a faucet and the tile for the floor.  We just need to pick up a  new toilet and a new light fixture - you can't see the light fixture, but think hotel in 1985....  We plan to keep everything in the same location, hopefully avoiding the need for a plumber.  We might need some help with the light fixture, but other than that, it shouldn't be a hard job.  We assume we have about another $200 to spend to buy everything to finish.

2. Basement curtains.  As we talked about in a post here - I really want to make that basement living space a little more, well, livable!  I plan on making the curtains out of drop cloths.  I think it is a clean look for that space with out spending hundreds of dollars on curtains for the basement.  We will need to move our TV in our living room to the basement.  It starts to make a high pitched sound when it's on for too long, which makes us believe that we need a new TV soon.  We are looking at either a 32" or 40" TV, varying from $350 - $500 dollars.  We will have to wait until I go back to full pay for that one, but we can finish the rest of the basement in the mean time.

3. Kitchen Remodel.  Our kitchen was a dream to us, after going through house after house of absolutely destroyed kitchens.  It was in decent condition.  However, since we have been here for three and a half years now we are ready to make it nice, and what we want to live with for the foreseeable future. 

Is it awful, no - we've made it comfortable, but it has issues.  The countertop is coming delaminated from the backsplash in certain areas.  The floor is composed 12x12 vinyl tiles.  It is impossible to keep the gaps between the tiles clean, so we'd like to do a nice clean floor.  The dishwasher is essentially dead, the cabinets don't exactly match and there is no consistent baseboard in this room.  This might be a project that takes place in stages, but I think a new floor, possibly a new countertop and definitely a new dishwasher could be in store for 2011.  These few things could run about $1500.

4. Bedroom Closet.  This is actually a two-fold issue.  We use our third bedroom as a walk-in closet, however in the next few years, if we decide to start thinking about starting a family, that room can no longer be a closet.  So it makes sense, that while we can take our time, we need to modify the storage in our room to remedy the current situation.  The first issue is the existing closet.  It is only 5' wide, and there is a 2' wide door all the way at one end of it.  We would like to open up the wall and put in double doors for better access to the closet, for us as well as for better resale.  We'll put in a nice new closet rod and shelves to make the closet functional.  The second step is adding more storage.  After pricing out wardrobes, we might be looking to construct wardrobes and shelves, add curtains and a bench for a nice built-in effect.  We would like to do this project for around $500.  This may or may not be possible.

5. Front Porch Painting.  We painted the front wall under our porch, where the paint was peeling, but the porch rails are all peeling badly and need a make over.  We need to sand all of the porch rails and columns, prime and paint it all.  We would also like to put a dark stain on the wood floor to make the old simple boards look nicer.  Top all of this off with a fresh  new coat of paint on the front door and possibly the screen door.

6. New Decor Items: Bench in the Mud Room.  The search has already begun for this item!  We haven't found what we are looking for exactly, but we will.  New lamp for the Living Room.  Our current second light source is badly broken, and I'm trying to find the perfect new fixture.  New Bedside Lamps.  This is another item that we can't quite find exactly what we are looking for, yet, but I look forward to all of the shopping to find the perfect ones.

Finish the list off with finishing our bedside table and you have a busy year!  We are looking forward to getting these projects done and adding a few smaller ones to the list.

What is on all of your lists for 2011?