Home Project Notebook: Operation House to Haven

Learn how to make a simple DIY home project notebook to tackle all of those home projects once and for all & turn your house into your haven!

If you follow along on Instagram, you have seen me post about “Operation House to Haven.” I recently set a goal to turn our house into a “haven”, despite it not being our “forever home”. Being home more, due to Covid-19, has made me realize that our home is not a space where I am comfortable. There are pockets of clutter, unfinished projects and an overall lack of “coziness”. I want our home to be somewhere we LOVE to spend time and somewhere that we are truly able to relax- a space that is truly our haven.

To help me take action on my goal, I created a home project notebook. I wanted this notebook to have ALL of my home related lists in one place: 1. so they won’t be scattered all over and ultimately get lost and 2. so my husband could access the lists easily. After posting about the notebook on Instagram, I got a few requests to see inside. This post will be showing you what all this notebook entails.

Disclaimer: This notebook is NOT fancy. It just a spiral notebook from Walmart and a some fairly simple lists. I felt that it defied the purpose to make each list super pretty…after all I am trying to simplify my life 😉

What to include in your home project notebook:

Master List:

This spread shows the big picture of all that I want to accomplish. I originally created the “let’s simplify” list in January with the intention of simplifying one space in my life each week. Pregnancy slowed down my progress a little bit, but I’m ready to get back to it!

On the other side I listed all of the rooms in my home. As they become complete (simplified, calm and cozy) I will mark off my progress!

Room pages:

I dedicated a full page for each room. Each one is set up with the same three categories: declutter, simplify and house to haven, with appropriate tasks under each. I am treating this like a working document. While creating this notebook I listed what I could think of for each room, but as time goes on I can only imagine that the lists will grow 😉

I have a general idea of the direction that I would like to go for most rooms- BUT some rooms look like this right now! For now, I will be focusing on the rooms that are already in progress and will get to these rooms later. I at least wanted to make a list that I can jot down ideas as they come!

Current Projects:

Having dozens of pages of lists can be slightly overwhelming 😉 I made this page to help me prioritize and focus on a few things at a time. This spread kind of looks like a lot-but my husband is home this week so we are trying to get a lot done! Most weeks will have significantly fewer projects going on.

Most of the time (for us at least!) we do tend to have several projects going on at one time between us. This is a good way for us to stay on track and help manage our time well. Using sticky notes allows me to reuse this same page over and over again, and just switch out the sticky notes when needed! (P.S. these full stick Post It notes are amazing!)

My “why”:

I tend to start projects with all the enthusiasm in the world- but eventually I fizzle out. I wanted to create a few simple pages to inspire me when my motivation drifts. Remembering why I want to do this will help me keep going when I want to give up!

Decluttering earnings:

This is another page to motivate me. Sometimes I have a hard time decluttering because I essentially feel like I am throwing hard earned money away. Selling a few things here and there helps make me feel a little better. I think it will be fun to see how much I can make by the end of this!

An added bonus? I can use this money to help pay for some of the projects we are doing!

Decluttering tracker:

Finally, I am storing my 1000 Declutter Challenge tracker inside this notebook. Anytime clutter leaves my house, I can track it quickly and easily!

Having everything in one spot and creating a plan has really helped me feel less stressed about taking this on! I hope that this encourages you to try a home project notebook as well!

If you would like to follow my house to haven journey- make sure you are following along on Instagram. I will be using the hashtag #operationhousetohaven if you want to join in on that too!

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