HOW I ORGANIZE HOME PROJECTS

Hi, friend! Do you want to know how I plan and organize home projects without breaking the bank?

Check out the video above! I share a “before” room tour before I share my first update to this room which will be a simple and affordable DIY organizer.

As a quick reminder, we are now at the closet organizing stage of our November Home Organizing Challenge. So, if your closet is in need of some serious organization, now is a great time to join the challenge. Click here to receive your free calendar now!

So, the furniture in this room is something else. I mean, it’s like 80’s art deco, and, of all the times that art deco came back, the 80’s version of art deco was just not good. On top of that, the finishes are 90’s finishes with dark wood and dark granite and to top it off, it isn’t even real wood or real granite, it’s all manufactured material that easily lifts and peels. To update this room, I made a plan to create some updates over time. So, here is how I organize home projects:

1. BIG PICTURE FIRST

Whenever I decorate a room, I always make the full plan before I do or purchase anything. That way, I eliminate the impulse buys of décor that may be pretty in the store but will not necessarily go with the entire room once it is completed. Also, I save time and money as I won’t be purchasing and returning things that just do not work out in the end.

In order to create a budget for any project in general, especially when updating the scheme of an entire room, it’s so important to note ALL of the updates you need to make because everything adds up. And that can be done with a simple checklist.

Jewel’s Room:
[  ]Make blackout curtains
My Room:
[x]Pick up wood
[  ]Sand wood
[  ]Attach wood to bed, nightstands, and desk
[  ]Remove mirror from dresser
[  ]Paint bed, mirror, and dresser grey
[  ]Paint nightstands, desk, and shoe shelf black
[  ]Seal all furniture
[  ]Change furniture handles (10 handles + 1 pull) brass
[  ]Decide if filigree needs to be added to headboard
[  ]After furniture is painted, revamp lamp bases (or replace)
[  ]Create DIY tray
[  ]Make blackout curtains
[  ]Add trim to whiteboard
[x]Replace bedding with a white cotton set
[x]-sew euro sham covers
[x]-sew rope trim on rectangle pillow
[  ]-create design with rope on white fabric for square toss pillow
[  ]-create white cover for bolster pillow
[x]Replace chair with wood chair
[  ]Create canvas with Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
[  ]Once mirror is removed and dresser painted, decide if wall decor is needed above cage
[  ]Once desk is painted, decide if desk organizers need to be changed

Start with the big-ticket items first, and then note the details. I also suggest taking care of the big-ticket items first and sitting with them for a bit before bringing in the details because the little things may or may not even need to happen once the big changes are made as I explain further now.

2. BIG-TICKET ITEMS

To start the plan of a home project update, you must look at the big-ticket items first. In this room, it is ALL the furniture. All the furniture fits perfectly in here and I don’t want to replace all of it, so instead, I will be refinishing it all. I prefer solid wood, so, as a compromise to not replacing the furniture altogether, I will simply be replacing the tops of the high traffic areas in this room which are the nightstands and the desk which show the most wear and tear. And I will be updating the look of the headboard by adding wood to the top and back. I happened to get wood for free, even cut for me which was just so perfect. I did prefer a more neutral toned would so that I could simply seal it and just paint the nightstands and desk a white or gray and then have natural wood tops. However, the pieces I received are quite orange in tone, so instead, I decided I would paint the wood along with the nightstands and desk black. You may wonder why I am still placing real wood on top of these pieces if I am going to paint them anyway. The purpose is for durability. The finish on the original pieces of furniture is prone to chipping and peeling and the real wood should prevent that altogether, especially once it is sealed properly.

For the headboard, I am taking inspiration from Christina’s beautiful bed from The DIY Mommy and adding the longest piece of wood across the top of the headboard along with a piece behind to make the headboard look like one solid piece. The plan is to paint the headboard and foot-board and dresser gray. I am still deciding if I should remove the gaudy pieces in the middle of the headboard and foot-board which makes these pieces look like 80’s art deco for sure. I want to see first if the paint itself will transform the look. If not, I will either pop them off and/or add some kind of filigree or molding to transform the look. I actually want to remove the mirror from the dresser altogether. I’m just not into the way it looks and don’t really use the mirror anyway .

3. THE DETAILS

Once you’ve settled what you want to do with the big-ticket items, then come the details. And the details add up! For example, as you evaluate all the changes you would like to make to a room, you may decide to update the colors or finishes of furniture. Then, you may find that you want to update all the handles and drawer pulls. You must count how many handles and drawer pulls there are. It seems like this is obvious, right? However, this little detail is often forgotten when updating kitchens as well. Noting that number puts things in perspective when budgeting for these seemingly minuscule details. Turns out, there are 10 drawer handles and 1 drawer pull to replace in this room, so I need to factor the cost of those into my plan.

Then, you must decide on the floating pieces. As opposed to handles and pulls that are fixed, things like wall décor and art and toss pillows and bedding and maybe even curtains are a bit easier to change. This is where you can save the most money. While you may want to invest in good quality fixed pieces, you can get away with getting the trendier or more seasonal items for your accent pieces because it is likely that your tastes and styles will change over time and these are the easiest and least expensive items to update and change out. Again, I suggest getting the little things last after the big items are changed or updated so that you can have a much better idea about what will coordinate well.

BEFORE TOUR & PLANS

So, the changes I’ve already made to this room are that I have already gotten new bedding on clearance for $40, and I’ve sewn euro sham covers for the euro sham pillows because there weren’t any included in the set. You may have noticed the top of a chair in my more recent videos which has already replaced the big, very manly chair which I have sold.

What I would like to change is to add some additional toss pillows by recovering ones from my previous bedding set. The lamp bases are from my old living room décor where they did coordinate well but, here, they obviously do not coordinate at all. I am still deciding if I will do some kind of DIY treatment to the lamps or replace them altogether. The lamp shades have been replaced as they were damaged between moves. The nightstands will get new wood tops installed on top and will be completely repainted black. I will be replacing the handles with brass handles which compliment the brass light fixture over my desk and brass door knob. To update the headboard, I am hoping the wood pieces added to the top and back along with grey paint will be a nice transformation and lessen the art deco look. If it still doesn’t look right to me, I will do something about that center block on the headboard. I am hoping a good seal over chalked paint will prevent further chipping and peeling of the faux finishes. Regarding the wood that was so kindly cut for me, my pastor was throwing out some trash at the back of the church and, as I happened to be walking to my car, I saw him and asked about some wood resting against the church wall and he said that they finished repairs in the church at the wood pieces were leftovers they no longer needed. He said he could have the other pastor from the other church who uses the building cut it for me if I texted him the measurements and they did just that! It was such a blessing! I have some tension rods and black out curtain material ready whick I will use to create custom blackout curtains for both mine and my daughter’s rooms. I am thinking I will just remove the mirror above the dresser. However, I am still going to paint it grey along with the dresser so that I can replace it back onto the dresser and it will coordinate with the dresser when I move and get real wood furniture. These handles on the dresser, nightstands, and desk will be replaced with brass handles. I have a closet organization post, small desk organization post, and whiteboard posts here and here for your reference if you would like to see how these areas are organized in more detail. If I am not liking the look of the desk organizers after everything is painted, I am leaning toward some DIYs with natural wood tones.

So, all of these updates are going to happen over time starting with a simple DIY organizer next week. Do you have any home projects coming up? Share in the comments below! I hope my tips can help you save time and money.

Don’t forget to grab the November Home Organizing Challenge calendar here. That way, you can have your home in order and be prepared for our Finance Organizing Challenge beginning next month. In my next video, I will show you how I create a simple, inexpensive DIY organizer so be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the notification bell, so you can know the moment it is up and never miss another organizing video.

Happy Organizing!