We have big organizing plans for 2021... but they might be a little different than you'd expect! 😉
At the beginning of each year, I set some organizing goals for our home. Sometimes I complete all of them. Most of the time I don't. But putting my goals out there for the whole world to see helps to hold me accountable and set some direction for the upcoming year. And I truly feel like it helps me check more items off my list!
You can see previous years' organizing goals (and updates with what we did/did not accomplish) via the links below:
The 4 Big Organizing Projects I Want to Tackle in 2018 | 2018 Organizing Update
The 2 Big Organizing Projects I Want to Tackle in 2019 | 2019 Organizing Update
The 3 Big Organizing Projects I Want to Tackle in 2020 | 2020 Organizing Update
Now you may notice that in previous years, I had a definitive number of items that I wanted to check off my organizing list. But this year is a little bit different.
This year, rather than saying, "I want to organize this space and this space and this space," Donnie and I decided to declare a "theme" for our 2021 organizing.
That doesn't mean that every single project we do or everything we post will have to fall under this theme. But it does mean that throughout the year, no matter which space we're working on, we are going to have this overarching theme in mind and try to incorporate it wherever we can.
Any guesses as to what the theme might be?
(No, it's not "aqua." Though that would be a lovely theme. 😂)
Our theme for 2021 is...
[drumroll please]
[Is the anticipation killing you yet...? 😉 ]
...SMART HOME!
Yes, smart home! If you've hung around this blog for long, you know I'm all about streamlining and making things easier and more efficient whenever possible. Ever since we moved into our house, Donnie and I have wanted to implement a smart home ecosystem that all works together to do things like...
- improve security in our home
- control things like lights and switches and our thermostat even when we're not in our house
- make our home safer with smarter smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors
- control certain devices in our house by voice
- incorporate cameras so we can see what's going on even if we're not here
- and so much more!
Like a lot of technology, the smart home stuff can be really confusing. There are a bunch of different options out there, so it can be overwhelming and hard to know where to start.
Our hope is that we'll be able to put in the research and legwork to figure out the most efficient way to incorporate smart home systems in our house and then share our findings as we figure it out.
We'll still be organizing plenty of spaces and prettying up rooms along the way, but if you notice that we're working some fun technology into several of the projects we do this year, you'll know that it is intentional!
We're starting out as total newbies to the whole smart home thing, so I'm sure we will make mistakes and learn a ton along the way. But hopefully our mistakes will help others to not make the same ones.
And by the end of 2021, we're excited that we'll have a lot of time and sanity-saving systems in place at our house!
To give a more concrete picture of the smart home plans we have for the coming year, here are some of the things we hope to accomplish:
- Install a smart thermostat
- Install a smart doorbell
- Update our security system with smart home elements
- Add smart cameras
- Install smart smoke detectors
- Add smart locks to our exterior doors
- Create a system for smart lights/switches
Do you have any smart home features in your home that you've loved? What should we add to our list? Or if you have smart home features that you've tried and hated, we want to hear that too! Please share your wisdom in the comments below!
Join us for a decluttering challenge!
Since we could all use a little extra motivation to start in on our organizing projects this January, we've decided to host a FREE Kickstart Your Organized Year decluttering challenge next week, January 4-8, 2021!
We will focus on decluttering key spaces in our home AND making organization a habit so we can keep our home tidy all throughout the year, not just in January!
We'd love to have you join us for this free challenge! You can get more info and save your spot here.
Thank you so much for following along! Have a wonderful week!
Great theme for the year, Abby. I've been incorporating smart elements into my house this past year. I found and love using FrontPoint, and recently added the smart video doorbell. (Only qualifier is that it requires a hardwired doorbell to supply electricity & to connect, but I found it was worth it to install a doorbell anyway.) Love it. I also have a variety of Alexa Echo Dots and smart plugs in my house and my next tech-related project involves integrating them plus amping up my wi-fi coverage so that it's a bit more reliable in the far reaches of my house and on my deck. Happy New Year to you.
Thanks so much for the suggestions, Kathryn! Glad to hear you are loving your smart home features... we are excited! Hope your year is off to a great start! <3
~Abby =)
I love your theme for the year! And I think Aqua would have been beautiful too! LOL! I love the pics of your home (I'm new to the blog).
Thanks so much, Karri! I'm sure there will be plenty of aqua in 2021 as well! 🙂 Hope your year is off to a great start!
~Abby =)
Our home is "smart" with switches that are programmable and the Nest thermostat and cameras. We love it and have saved lots on our energy bills - not to mention we will more secure.
Love to hear that it's saved you money too! Definitely a perk!
~Abby =)
We love our Nest thermostat and doorbell.
My husband loves our smart bulbs, but honestly I miss having a switch to flip. At 3 am when I'm just getting some water or a bottle for the little one, I don't want to have to talk. We have Phillips Hue bulbs, and apparently they are coming out with something like a switch that will work with the smart bulbs and not just cut electricity to them. The routines are nice though, and we use them daily.
Our Roomba and Braava are also connected to our smart home and controlled from there. It's wonderful, and those two are my favorite things. Almost.
My absolute favorite thing is smart lock. We have the Yale x Nest and it's amazing. We both have push to start cars, so having that lock means we never....ever...ever have to get our keys out. It's the most amazing thing ever. It is battery operated, but if the batteries die, there is a way to provide power to the lock enough that you can unlock it and get inside. You still need your code, but you aren't completely locked out of your house. I also love that we can add family members and contractors and limit or remove access, while we are away from home.
No keys sounds AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing, Jennifer! Helpful things to consider. Hope your year is off to a great start! <3
~Abby =)
We have the Nest smoke detectors and I love that I can silence it from the app on my phone. We also have a Nest/Yale keypad lock that I love. I can see if the door is locked and lock/unlock it remotely. I like that it has a keypad as my kids can use it without a phone and there is no fob to carry. It is so nice not having to carry keys around with me on my daily walks. I highly recommend it. I can give visitors their own keycode. It's really awesome.
Ooo the visitor keycode is a great feature! Love that. Thanks for sharing, Jen!
~Abby =)
Hi Abby! I absolutely LOVE your theme and it is definitely something my husband and I have talked about for a few years. We actually were able to start it during quarantine as we were home so much! We had our kitchen remodeled and decided to start using some smart features starting in our kitchen. We installed NEST smoke detectors/carbon monoxide detectors throughout our home. Next we decided to strengthen our wifi throughout the home and got Google Home wifi beacons. We just recently added smart plugs to the living room and can tell Google to turn the lights on/off, adjust the strength of the lighting, etc. Next will be the thermostat and the doorbell....I've wanted to utilize these features for so long and I love having them be part of our home. I know you are going to love creating a SMART home!
Yay... this makes me so excited for the changes this year! Thanks for sharing, Robin!
~Abby =)