I had an absolutely fantastic holiday with some family members this month however, since I have been back home all I seem to have done is sit in the house looking around at the state it is and noticing just how far we are behind on the jobs we wanted to get done this year, there were a lot of jobs varying in size and basically nothing has happened. It is starting to drag me down a bit too as everywhere I look I am picking out bits that really need changing, in some places wallpaper is now literally hanging off the wall and I am sick of it. There might not be many months left of the year however, I am determined to make the most of the remaining time and get through as many jobs as possible, granted some are going to be harder to do that others but fingers crossed we can get through a good chunk of these jobs to get a bit of a head start so we can start to prioritize those bigger jobs we know are going to need doing further down the line when funds are available. So here are those jobs we are hoping to get done by the end of the year...

The home gym

We are determined that we are going to get the home gym completed by the end of the year and the sooner the better as I really want the space in the house back, there is still equipment dotted all over the place and it is one of the main things that is driving me mad these days. At least we have made some progress so far this year though as the old structure is down but now we need to really get cracking on with getting new structure built, getting the structure decorated and having electrics run to it. Then it is onto the fun part of moving everything in and sorting the layout and overall styling out. I can't wait for this whole thing to be done as it has been a big priority for so long but things just haven't worked in our favour yet. Once this is finally done and out of the way, workouts can resume properly and money will be freed up for other projects. This is definitely going to be the biggest job of the year with the amount still to do. 

The spare room

This room is a bit of a home office for myself alongside being a bit of a dressing room. I am determined to get this room done by the end of the year although it is going to massively depend on the cost of the gym and how long it takes to do overall. I am budgeting a couple of hundred pounds for getting this room done and up to a standard that I am happy with. As this is a home office area for me with some things coming up I want it to look perfect so if it is done by the end of December I will be super happy as it means the projects I am working on will have a great background like I have been imagining for a long time now. The plan for this room is to get it plastered which is going to be a big chunk of money but then also get it painted and styled which we will be doing ourselves to keep costs down. This is a pretty big job in terms of budget however, once we get started on it the room should be complete in no time.

Declutter the shed

Oh look a job we can get done with no money needed if it comes to it however, I would like to get some racking so that once it is decluttered we can get everything sorted and easier to access. At the moment the shed is more or less a death trap when you open the doors everything comes flying out and nothing is easy to get to. This is easily a job that can be done in half a day we just need the weather to be on our side so we can do it without getting soaked in the rain. Once this is done it is going to free up plenty of space elsewhere for us too and we can actually take note of what we have in there.

Organise the loft

The amount of items that have gone missing since going into the loft is a bit ridiculous but the whole space is an absolute mess and a bit like the shed to be honest. There are items we don't really need to keep a hold of up here too a big clear out is required. Once everything is cleared out we are thinking of having designated racking and/or storage boxes so we know exactly where everything is and know that we aren't keeping things for the sake of it. This will make life so much easier especially at Christmas time when we are looking for decorations and who knows we might even set aside a space for any gifts we buy nice and early in the year. I think a label maker might be on the to buy list for this too. 

Declutter the bedroom

This is a job I just keep on putting off but I am determined that by the end of the year this will be fully decluttered and staying that way. At the moment the bedside tables are covered in junk and filled with it too, the drawers and wardrobe are exactly the same and lets not mention the top of the wardrobe as that is a disaster waiting to happen. This space just needs sorting out once and for all ready for us to start again when the bedroom finally gets redecorated but more on that later. At least this is a job that won't cost us any money and can be done in a day no doubt.

Get quotes for the bedroom 

As I just mentioned above the bedroom is on our list of jobs to get redecorated and as we are planning to get the spare room done this year the bedroom is the final room upstairs to be done before we move onto the hallway and downstairs. The bedroom is going to take a bit longer than the spare room and cost more though as we want the built in wardrobe ripping out and redone.  So we are going to need quote for the plastering and a joiner for the wardrobe if we go down that route but we will be looking at budget friendly alternatives for this too. Once we have got the quotes for these bits of work to be done we can go ahead with the rest of the planning and realistically see when we can get on with the works.

Declutter the hallway

So this one is going to be split into two parts, upstairs & downstairs. the upstairs is basically one set back section that is eventually going to be made into a wardrobe. This area has become a dumping ground for rubbish so the plan is to get this cleared out and only put back in what needs to be in there as it is open for everyone to see at the moment. This will be a nice quick and easy job which should take a few hours max but will just tidy up the space. The downstairs though is going to take a bit longer, it is filled with coats, accessories, shoes and workout equipment. I want to go through and really reduce the amount of items in this area so I can access things much easier and not be overwhelmed every time I walk past it. This area will be improved loads when the workout equipment is in the gym but for now a declutter and a bit or organisation will go down a treat. This will no doubt end up getting dragged out over the course of a day as there are a lot of things in this space that need sorting out and I need to stop holding onto things for the sake of it. 

Some of these jobs are definitely quicker than others so the plan is to alternate between a quick job and a time consuming job just to mix things up a bit and so not all our free time is spent doing jobs. Those big money jobs are certainly going to be spread out but the number 1 job is 100% the home gym, the sooner that is done the better as everything else should then just fall into place. Luckily the majority of these jobs will be very low budget or no cost involved at all so there is no need for us not to be cracking on with them when we have a break from doing the gym. By getting these jobs done it will also stop me from heading out shopping which will be a huge benefit as it means rather than spending for the sake of it I can save money to put towards other jobs we want to get done that will cost a lot more money ie. the bedroom, hallway and all of downstairs. Time could be an issue with football being back however, those shopping trips will be sacrificed and evenings after work will be used to make sure we get as much done as possible. I am really looking forward to having a nice decluttered, deep cleaned house with more space once that gym is built as it might make me want to stay in and enjoy the space once more.