Happy New Year! I just love this time of year. Starting over with a clean slate plus all the new possibilities for the new year; it just fills me with such excitement!
This isn’t going to be a post about resolutions. The past few years, I’ve gone with a word of the year that becomes my mantra and gives me focus throughout the year. This year my work is “growth”.
During my week long planning session for 2022, as I reviewed 2021 and started thinking about where I wanted to go in the new year, it was clear that my goals, both personally and professionally, centered around the idea of growth.
So, with my theme in mind, I wanted to give you a rundown of the goals I have set for the year and then below, I’ll share a general list of projects that B and I plan to work on this year.
Goals for 2022
With the theme of growth in mind, my goals for the year are as follows:
Grow Bethann Renee
After a lot of debate, I have decided to continue with my current posting schedule (when I’m consistent) because I haven’t been able to devote my full attention to this space, I still don’t feel 100% confident that I have established my core topics.
In addition to keeping up with my posting schedule, this year I plan to put a much larger emphasis on readership and followers. You’ll notice that in many of the topics I’ll be covering and in the way I promote the blog. Growth will be my theme with every task I complete.
Integrate with Raspberry Creative
it’s no secret that in addition to this blog, I run a stationery company as my official day job. For years, I’ve wanted to find a way to mesh these two worlds together but mixing the two has been a challenge for me. I’ve decided that this year I’m simply going to do it and figure it out as I go. I’ve shared a bit about that world here but have never shared this world through my stationery company. This year, as part of my growth theme, I plan to officially link these two worlds and cross-promote on both platforms.
More intentional Self Care
As I get older, the importance of taking care of myself physically, mentally, spiritually, etc. Becomes more and more important. While I’ve been doing more and more to take care of myself in these areas, this year I want to be more intentional about it. Not just go through the motions but be more mindful about what I’m doing to bring more joy and intention. Things like reading more self-help books, learning new recipes / food, travel and time away from work, more consistent daily devotions, nurturing of relationships, etc.
These are just generalizations of my goals for the year but I think it gives you an idea of the mindset I’m starting the year with. So, now that you know what my goals are for the year year, it’s time to take a look at some of the projects B and I will be tackling this year.
Projects for 2022
Phase 2 of the Beach Cottage
The most obvious project for the year is the beach cottage. We have the first floor nearly finished, and all the mechanical and utility systems complete. While there are still small tasks like trim and hanging the interior doors on the bedroom and laundry closet, planning has already begun on the second floor. We have the floor plan finalized and framing is set to begin in January.
Also at the beach cottage, we’ll be rebuilding the front porch and adding a deck/patio and outdoor shower in the back yard.
The beach cottage gives us enough work for the entire year but we also have plans at home for 2022.
Finish the side porch
I have to include this one but realize that it may not happen to the degree I’d like this year. It’s been sitting for almost two years in its current state and I’m tired of looking at it but B and I know that it’s going to take much more than a weekend or two to get this project complete.
Shop/Studio/Office Renovation
For me personally, this is the big priority. For a couple of years I’ve been throwing around ideas for my commercial space but for various reasons, have been hesitant to dive in. 2021 was one of my busiest years ever and more than ever I knew it was time to start looking at ways to make the space work for the business I have today.
This project will likely take some time to complete as I’ll have to do it in stages since I’ll be working in this space throughout the renovation.
The first phase will be the small office in the back. Once that is complete and I’m moved into the space, we’ll start prepping the shop / studio area for paint, new flooring, built-in cabinetry and the rest of the project.
Finish Second Floor at home
Do you remember pre-pandemic when we started our upstairs den? That room was finished all but sealing the floors and we had started prepping for the front bedroom when everything came to a halt. B and I didn’t accomplish much at home once the pandemic took it grip on the complete halt to life as we know it.
Last year, the beach cottage took top priority and while I’m glad we got it to a point where it feels like home, B and I have had detailed discussions that it’s time to get back to making things at home priority. More on this to come.
Clean Out and Reorganize the Garage
We have an amazing garage. It’s one of the things that sold us on this property. It’s got stalls for three cars plus a work bench room and a huge second floor with tons of shelves. It’s such a cool space and there was a time where I considered finishing the upstairs space to turn into my “work” room so the shop could be used for meetings and all the pretty.
As my business has changed and evolved, B has decided to make the upstairs his “woodshop”. We did some structural work to the garage last year to make sure the second floor was solid enough to house all his large tools and then he began moving in. The work bench room downstairs will become my work area and we have plans to add a door to the garden area where I’ll have a gardening table, sink, and prep area to tend to our tiny garden.
This is the year to continue working toward that vision. I’m not counting on getting it 100% finished this year because life so often has it’s own plans but I really want to make sure we stay on top of this project more this year. I can’t wait to share more about this with you!
Backyard Refresh at Home
2021 was not a good year for our yard. We essentially did nothing but mow this past year. We never finished our garden, we never added fresh mulch, or any of the other things we had on our list maintenance or new projects. This year, the goal is to tackle at least some of the projects on our yard list. This includes things like finishing the garden, new / more stones in the patio area, more plants, residing the garage, closing in the underside of the deck, etc.
I’ll be getting into a lot more detail on our back yard projects as we get closer to spring. For now, this at least keeps it top of mind for us moving forward.
Bathroom Updates
Last year I had visions of redoing our rarely used back bathroom upstairs and our hallway bathroom. These are two spaces I’ve never shared here on the blog and a space that we never really did much with after creating it when we reworked the floorplan in the early years we lived here. It was cheaply done and now it looks that way and for a long time, I’ve wanted to make it feel like the rest of the house.
After more than 10 years living with our master bathroom, this space is starting to show it’s age too. This again was a room we renovated very early on when we were on a much tighter budget.
While tackling one or all of these bathrooms are a bit of a “stretch goal” I wanted to include them.
That completes my list of primary goals for the new year. It’s a tall list given we’ll be spending half our time at the beach house but I think with proper planning, we’ll get a lot done this year!
What to Expect in 2022
In addition to these primary goals, I’ll be tackling some other, smaller projects around the house as I more clearly define the direction I want to take our décor style. I’ll be taking you along for the journey because I know that like me, you probably struggle a bit with style too.
To help with defining your style, I’ll be breathing new life into a series I started last year, Style Made Simple.
You’ll also see a lot more how to and DIY posts. This is what you seemed to get the most out of last year so I’ve been putting in a lot of time planning helpful posts to help make your life easier.
This is going to be a big year, a big year of growth! I can’t wait to see what unfolds in 2022.
What about you? Are you a resolution setter? Do you set a word for the year? Set goals? I’d love to know how you tackle the year.
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