What We Have Planned For 2016!

Happy New Year!

It’s that time of year when goal setting and New Year’s resolutions are high up on most people’s agenda. Whilst we don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions, we’re definitely big goal setters when it comes to renovating our home and this year is no different.

It’s our way of keeping an overview of what we’d like to achieve and setting ourselves a list of 10 projects for the year always seems like a manageable amount – at least at the beginning of the year – although it’s always surprising how the months seem to pass more quickly than the projects are completed!

Last year we didn’t quite manage to complete as much as we would have liked, but this year we’re going all out to get as much done as possible and it’s going to be huge in terms of home improvements.

Here’s what we have planned:

1. Install a new kitchen

After putting up with the kitchen we inherited from the previous owners of the house for over 5 years, we’re finally planning on installing a new one!

It’s no secret that I hate our current one with a passion, so this is definitely one of the improvements that I’m looking most forward to.

2. Install bi-fold doors in the dining room

Most of the improvements that we’re planning this year are focussed around the kitchen/dining area and the garden leading off it, which is why the next project on our list is to replace the existing patio doors with bi fold ones.

3. Build a decked area in the garden

Leading out of the new bi fold doors we’d like a decked area. We’re not 100% certain on how exactly this will look/work yet, but the general idea is to be able to fold away the doors and have a large living space that reaches from our existing dining area through to the outside.

Admittedly Manchester isn’t exactly known for it’s abundance of sunshine, but that’s why we think it’s even more important to make the most of what little we have.

4. Lay a new driveway

This year we’d also like to get a few more outdoor projects completed – starting with finishing our driveway. It was on our list of projects for 2015 and whilst we have already taken up the existing tarmac and removed two full skip loads of rubble and clay-y soil, we have yet more ground to remove before we can start to build the driveway.

This is a project that’s high on our priority list, as the whole area is now a soggy mess of squeegee clay and soil which is impossible to walk through without getting covered in a load of mud.

5. Install a driveway gate

Along with the new driveway, we also need a new driveway gate. Yes, this is a project that was also on our 2015 list.

It’s silly that we didn’t get this one completed, as we’re not even planning on doing it ourselves!

6. Finish the cellar

Last year we removed the existing floor in our cellar, laid a damp proof membrane, had a new concrete floor installed and painted all of the walls.

The work we’ve already done has completely transformed the space, but we still need to finish everything off. Now that the new concrete floor is dry, we can finally get it painted. Then we can finally add some new storage and a few finishing touches.

7. Install a new bathroom

This is another project that was on our 2015 to-do list. I hate our bathroom (almost as much as the kitchen). Because it’s the only bathroom in our house, we’d always planned on installing another bathroom in our loft before we started to rip this room to pieces.

As we’ve still not started with our loft (and aren’t planning to do so this year as we have a few other big projects planned) we’ve decided that we would try to get this room updated anyway. Needless to say, this is going to be an interesting project – especially as it involves temporarily removing the only toilet in the house!

8. Lay new kitchen floor

Along with installing a new kitchen, we’ll also be installing a new floor. The current floorboards are okay, but they do have a bit of woodworm damage.

We’re still considering options, but I’d love to install an endgrain wooden floor.

9. Finish Bedroom 4

There’s not much building work left to do in here – we need to box in the steel and plaster around the window, add the architrave and sand and repaint the window sill.

Mainly though it’s about adding all of the finishing touches. We’d like to add some shelving, art, a rug and more lighting.

10. The Big One

Is so frustrating that we can’t be more specific about this project, but we don’t want to jinx it as we’re waiting for a few things to be approved before we can go ahead with our plans.

With a bit of luck we’ll be able to share all of the details around the end of February, so watch this space! We’re already really excited as this one is going to be big!

What do you have planned for next year? Do you have any home improvements planned you’d like to get done in the new year? Do you set yourself goals or resolutions?