These are the projects we’ll be prioritizing this year, and we can’t wait to dive in! Follow along here, Substack for the messy and real, and @yellowbrickhome so you never miss an update.
In This Post
Hello, 2026!
Happy New Year! We hope that your holiday season was restful. We spent time with friends and family in Cincinnati and Michigan and celebrated the season with ice skating, holiday lights and lots of down time here in Chicago. We had movie marathons, played board games and baked cookies. It was restorative and relaxing and just what our family needed.
We’re feeling recharged and excited for the year ahead, and simultaneously exhausted and saddened by the events happening here in the US and around the world. Two things can be true at the same time.
Personally, we’re hoping that 2026 will be a big year for transformation of our spaces, both at home in Chicago and at the Red House in Michigan. Here are a handful of exciting projects that we have in the works moving into the year.
1| Build a Bookcase Surround In the Red House Living Room
The Red House is getting soooo close to being ready for its’ moment in the spotlight as a short-term vacation rental, but there are a few project we need to knock out before we’re ready to open it up to guests. Since the initial wave of renovation, we’ve had a plan to build a custom bookcase surrounding the sofa in the living room. We can even prove it…
Way back when the walls were open during the initial wave of renovation, we placed the electrical outlets, light switches and HVAC vents in the walls and floors in spots that wouldn’t interfere with the project! We’re envisioning a built int ‘side table’ on each side of the sofa, with tall columns rising up to horizontal shelving near the ceiling that will box out a perfect space for a vintage sofa and a piece of statement art. It’s going to be the icing on the cake for a room that we already love.
2| Complete the Red House Back Deck
We haven’t mentioned it here on the blog yet, but have covered this a bunch on our IG stories over the last couple of weeks; (Be sure to follow along there for a more behind-the-scenes look at what we’re up to!) Our contracting team is actively, currently on-site at the Red House building the back deck of our dreams! Like the front porch, it’ll perfectly fill the negative space framed out by the home’s unique shape, but unlike the front porch, this deck is going to be big. Like, really big. The overall footprint is around 26′ wide and 18′ deep. The deck will feature a built-in bench along the left side and a full-width staircase to offer unobstructed views of the ‘field’ out back. 2026 will be the year that we truly spend time outdoors at the Red House!
Kim took this photo right before our contractors broke ground. This view is going to look a heck of a lot different in a few weeks if the weather cooperates!
Once again, this is a project that we’ve envisioned ever since the renovation kicked off and it’s incredible to see it finally coming to fruition! We’ve had some weather and supply chain related delays, but our incredible team is pushing through and making fantastic progress when many teams would have stopped work all together.
3| Plan + Execute the Red House Kids’ Room Design
This project has had us a little bit stumped since we first walked into the space. The Red House kids’ room is large and it needs to serve multiple purposes. We need it act as a comfortable sleeping space while maintaining a largely-open floor plan for kids to spread out a bit. The room already houses a secret laundry closet and has space for a queen bed, a twin bed and an oversized chair with a hidden second twin mattress, so we feel like we’ve made some progress so far.
Our goal is for this space to sleep up to four people without feeling like a ‘bunk room’. We plan to keep the queen bed (or maybe upgrade to a king?) on the floor and loft a perpendicular twin bed above it. We’ll also integrate a large desk for art, work or writing and the ‘hide a bed’ chair will likely get some fresh upholstery and stay in service as a 4th sleeping space as needed. We’ve played with a few configurations and haven’t quite nailed the design, but we’re sure we’ll get there.
4| DIY Final Details In the Red House Primary Bedroom
Surprise! It’s yet another project that we’ve been planning for years, haha. On the other side of the home from the kids’ room is the primary bedroom. This space is compact and cozy compared to the ‘big bedroom’ but it also houses a tiny half bathroom with heated floors for a bit of added luxury.
We’ve been heavily inspired by this stunning design by andandand studio and we’re hoping to construct a similar integrated headboard with upholstery, walnut touches and floating side tables to really maximize the utility and beauty of the compact space. The amount of times we’ve sketched the design on a napkin or scrap of paper is borderline insane. We’ll get there!
5| Upgrade the Vinyl Siding On Our City House
Now, back to our home in Chicago for a change of pace! Once again, we’ve been dreaming of the day we could tackle the busted vinyl siding on our home since before we even owned it! We think it started life as a light grey finish, but over the years, it’s faded into a sort of non-color. Not quite white, not quite grey, not quite beige. But also it’s somehow all of those things.
Back in 2021, we tackled a pretty hefty exterior update that included a brand new roof, gutters and soffits, as well as a new tongue and groove wood ceiling on the covered porch. At that time, we added a sectional sofa, eliminated the porch swing and added a cute coffee table. We’ve spent more time out there than ever before, but it’s time to finish the job.
We’re in the final budgeting and hiring stage of the bid process and we hope to kick things off early spring as soon as the weather breaks! It’s going to absolutely transform the look and feel of the home. This will potentially shake out as the most substantial project this home has ever seen and we’re honored to be the ones to take it on. We’ve love this home for over a decade and this feels like the project we’ve owed it the whole time. Now we just need to pick a color!
Are We Ready for It?
Can we do it all? Time will tell, but we’re feeling refreshed and eager to dive in! It’s going to take a lot of behind-the-scenes sketching, planning, budgeting and creativity to bring our ideas to life, and we’re itching to get started. 2026, we’re ready for you!
If you’re curious, you can have a look back at our goals for 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 here.
Excited to watch it all unfold!
Thanks Brenda! So are we.
Great project list! To free up floor space in the kids room, you could do a twin Murphy bed oriented lengthwise (not height wise) against the wall. It would protrude about a foot off the wall and you could create built in storage around it. Pinterest has images!
Great list, I’m actually excited for your siding project. What a big impact it will have. Do you have a word of the year for 2026?
Not sure if you receive Kim’s Substack Coffee Talk emails, but she talked about our word of the year today!
As someone who has just finished digging through a hundred airbnb listings for the Great Lakes area, THANK YOU for doing something other than a bunk room. I have really young kids and a bunk room usually means danger for a very adventurous three year old, completely eliminating the square footage. Great choice!