2023 House to Home Projects: 12 Spaces, $200 Budget

I’ve been toying with this idea for a while now, and it is finally time to make it happen! My husband, Eric, and I decided at the end of 2022 that we needed to take a year off of major house projects. Instead, we want to focus our efforts on our family life, something that has taken a backseat in many ways the past couple of years. So, our 2023 House Projects will focus on 12 spaces to refresh and/or finish for only $200. These projects will be simple, DIY-friendly, and I hope to complete most of them myself!

To provide some background, we completed an extensive house renovation starting at the tail-end of 2019. We all know how 2020 ended up, but we pushed through. We “finished” in 2022 by finishing out our newly added basement (and we love it!).

2023 House to Home Projects: 12 Spaces, $200 Budget

Exterior BEFORE

Exterior AFTER

Now that all of the major work is done, we’ve got the 95% problem…many of our spaces are 95% done, and that final 5% is just nagging at me. There are little projects to do in each area that would really complete the space. So, I thought it would be fun to take each space, one month at a time, and get refreshed and/or finished. The kicker is that we’re only going to put $200 towards any one space.

Why $200?

We’re back in savings mode, so this budget will allow us to get finishing touches done, but not take away from our savings for future, larger renovations. Can we do it?! We’ll find out together!

I also love that because $200 won’t get us too far, I’ll need to be creative and resourceful with each space.

Why 12 Spaces?

That’s one space per month. I am a SAHM. Therefore, I’m juggling many balls on any given day. And, I don’t like to be rushed. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I just want to allow myself the time to do things right. One whole month seems like a lot of time, but I’m not doing this to break records. I want to do things at a real-life pace, and maybe that will provide you with some encouragement, too.

It will also be really nice to allow my brain to focus on one singular area of our home at a time. I have trouble with that when I’m trying to think about everything that needs work in our home. This will give me focus and clarity.

This is also a great setup to share content more regularly on my blog, which is a goal I have for myself this year!

I’m really putting myself to the test in January, as I start the project on the 24th. eeek! I like to think I work well under pressure. We’ll see how this ends up. I’ve been brainstorming for the Boys’ Room Refresh for quite a while. Now it’s time to take action!

Here are the 12 Spaces on my list for 2023:

This will probably evolve throughout the year and they’re in no particular order right now:

Little Boys’ Shared Bedroom (Janaury)
Primary Bathroom and Closet
Main Hallway
Stairwell
Basement Play Area
Kids’ Shared Bathroom
Living Room
Old Basement
Dining Room
“Office”
Kitchen
Porch/Entry

I hope you stick around to see our 2023 House to Home Projects come to life (and completion!). It should be fun! And if you decide to jump on the 12 Spaces for $200 train, please reach out to me and tag me on social so we can cheer each other on!

As a final note to get your gears churning… what is one space you can invest just a couple hundred dollars into to make it feel more like home for you and your loved ones?

2023 House to Home Projects: 12 Spaces, $200 Budget