An Imperfect Momma: Goals for the Home

I love The Nester and today, she's having a linky party about the various goals we have for our homes in 2011. I wrote a post just the other day about goals I have for self-improvement. But today, it's all about the house and the things that make it a home.

We bought our house 6 years ago and immediately set to work updating it from the original decor from when it was built. In 1979. There was wallpaper everywhere, orange shag carpet, worn linoleum and ghastly light fixtures. We got a lot of comments about seeing the beauty under the beast, if you know what I mean. In the past 6 years we've come a long way and in 2011 I hope to continue that progress by:

* Replacing the carpet in our family room. Unfortunately this is not the orange shag, but it is a carpet in off-white that was stained beyond repair when we moved in. At the time, we had a 4 year old, a newborn, 2 dogs and a cat. Unfortunately, this carpet was going to stay for awhile. Now, the time has come to get rid of it. The family room is a long, narrow, rectangular room and I've convinced the Full Man Grown that it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to replace it like he thinks. Some time this year, the goal is to find the carpet that speaks to me (he won't agree to hardwood floors) and replace it.

This is an old pic and most everything in this room has changed, but you get the idea. Oh, and ignore the arrow, shall we?

* And while we have the family room carpet torn up, I'd also like to re-sheet the walls and tear out a full wall of built-ins. So I guess you could combine the two and say Remodel the family room. Like I mentioned above, the entire house was covered in wall-paper. Well, when we removed the wall-paper from the family room it didn't always want to let go. And sometimes it took chunks of drywall with the paper, or it left very old and crusty glue on the wall, or it just marked the wall from being on there for so long. We were so impatient to just get in the house that we removed it all "good enough," painted over what was left and that was that. As for the built-ins, the wall they cover is the very end of the long, skinny room. It 100% dominates the area and makes for only one option in furniture and all other types of arranging. I'm done with it. Thankfully, the Full Man Grown is a very handy sort and will be able to do all that himself with a handful of friends. I can. not. wait.

* Full Man Grown put flooring down 3 years ago to get rid of the horrendous linoleum in our kitchen and dining area. We still don't have trim (such is the life of living with a carpenter--my projects are never done). The goal this year is to finish and install the trim.