This month is going to be about, in the words of my paternal grandmother, the “odds and sods.” Or, in the words of Sherry from Young House Love, “Dude Get On That Already.” (I’m pretty sure my grandma never used the word “dude”).

It took me awhile to land on a goal for March. After our success in February with finally painting the hallway, kitchen and foyer, I really wanted to keep the momentum going and choose another item from the Home Goals 2014 list.

Furniture kept popping into my mind because I have some updates to share in this area. Plus we extended our painting to include one wall of the living room expressly so that I could set up my bookshelves. Clutter overflow in the basement is making me more impatient to find some of the furniture pieces that I’m looking for, but I need a reminder to check out kijiji and my thrift stores regularly.

Setting furniture as a goal would absolutely address all of these wants. However, the main task in furniture month will be painting the bookshelves, and the idea of spending another month with a paint brush in my hand really did not appeal.

So cross furniture off the list.

Then I thought of the kitchen. I have a bunch of small fixes that I want to do in there. Now that it’s freshly painted, it makes sense to finish the rest of the tweaks. But the kitchen doesn’t seem pressing. I can live with it. Why bump it to the top of the list?

Then, the nagging little tasks rolling around in my brain suddenly coalesced and said, “What about us?” I thought about it for a minute. There’s that. And that. Oh yeah, and definitely that. I felt excited. I felt energized. I felt like I’d found my goal for March. So I said, “Yes, please.”

A lot of this month’s tasks stem from last month’s painting. I don’t know about you, but when I finish a project usually tools and materials are spread around everywhere. That chaos causes other messes, and I ended up feeling very disorganized.

So it may not be the most creative or challenging collection of tasks, but March will definitely be full of variety. Most rooms have some issue that needs to be addressed. Spoiler alert: This month you will see my most shameful space, my poor, poor catch-all office.

My challenge is to avoid making March’s plan read too much like my regular to-do list. After all, dusting and vacuuming and mopping do not make the most interesting blog posts (although starting on spring cleaning is definitely on my mind).

Here are some of the major odds and sods on my list:

1. Set up the ping-pong table

• Figure out how to configure the legs and what I need to attach them to the tabletop – By March 11
• Buy lumber, screws and whatever other materials I need – By March 11
• Build a frame – By March 16
• Drill the legs – By March 16
• Attach the legs and frames and tabletop together – By March 16
• Set up the net – By March 16
• Practice my ping-pong skills… which currently do not exist

2. Get my home office under control

You don’t really want to see the before, do you?

Ohhhhh. I cannot tell you how much I don’t want to post this picture.

Argh.

Sigh.

I’m so ashamed.

File this under the category of “keeping it real.”

Aaaah. Please stop looking at it.

Keep scrolling until it falls off the screen.

Let’s look ahead at how I can fix this disaster.

• Sort and file the mountain of paperwork that’s built up on top of the filing cabinet – By March 16
• Add organizers to the new dresser and start filling the drawers – By March 22
• Make a bulletin board – By March 22
• Pull together all of the forms that we need for our taxes this year – By March 30
• Figure out how to make better use (temporarily) of the closet – By March 30
• Unpack a few boxes, repack some of the boxes, repile the boxes – By March 30

3. Pretty up my work office

• Make a bulletin board – By March 16
• Recover the shade from my desk lamp – By March 16

4. Finalize light fixtures

• Buy a second light for the kitchen island – By March 9
• Finish foyer light fixture – March 10
• Install foyer light fixture – March 11
• Install a new light fixture in the bathroom – By March 16

I may even make time for some sewing. I try not to post too much about fashion or sewing here, but I have had a wonderful green dress cut out since November. Julia Bobbin is running her annual Mad Men Challenge this month, and I think my dress would fit in perfectly. The April 1 deadline and cleaning my office so I actually have some sewing space may be the motivation I need to finally get stitching.

You’ll notice that I have March 16 as a deadline on a lot of things. That’s mainly because as of 4pm this afternoon I am on vacation for a week. Yay! Forget jetting away to a tropical destination or cozy resort, I am excited to have a week of uninterrupted farm time to connect with family, work on my projects, sleep in and “get on that already.”

This month will definitely be a mixed bag (to borrow another term from my grandmother). You will hear about some of our new furniture pieces along with these other to-dos. As usual, I’ll keep you updated and hold myself accountable throughout the month.

What’s on your list for March? Do niggly little tasks build up for you too? Anyone else have any odd sayings that you use regularly?